I live near Alexie's home Rez and drive by the area where the movie "Smoke Signals" was shot often. So much of his writing reminds me of the experiences my Native students had, plus they share his dry sense of humor.
He also gave an author's talk last year in Moscow we attended. My son goes to a lot of author's talks and said Alexie's was different and funnier than any he has ever been too. There were a lot of other Natives in the audience and he really razzed them.