Fiction. Based on real life events, this is the story of a young Indian man raised in a rural village surrounded by alcoholism, poverty, and dissolution, and about the contemporary urban social problems which define and affect his life. The NEW YORK STAR TRIBUNE calls this A stunning and powerful first novel, while Allen Ginsberg describes Saghani as Among the most brilliant younger writers in recent American literature. Strong narrative and sharp writing offset equally strong and sharp exploration of the politics and problematics of contemporary life for Native Alaskans.