The word interdisciplinary seems to have been invented just for Michael Dorris: his writing embraces both fiction and nonfiction, the themes are personal and political, and his concerns are for the individual and the group, particularly the Native American community. Dorris is part Modoc on his father's side, an inheritance he has explored by co-authoring a North American Indian research guide, founding the Native American Studies Department at Dartmouth College, and doing research on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)--the abnormalities in children that result from ingestion of alcohol during pregnancy which causes brain cell damage in the fetus. Because alcohol abuse rates on Native American reservations tend to be higher than the national average, FAS poses a significant threat to some Native Americans. Dorris has also written juvenile fiction with Native American characters and situations that reflect Native American life. Resisting easy categorization, Dorris forces his readers to...