Laughing Boy

Laughing Boy is a novel by Oliver La Farge, published in 1929. It is set in the American Southwest in the early 20th century and tells the story of a young Navajo man named Laughing Boy and his romance with Slim Girl, a fellow Navajo who has been influenced by white culture.

The novel explores themes of cultural conflict, identity, and love as Laughing Boy tries to reconcile his traditional Navajo upbringing with the pressures of assimilation into American society. The story portrays the struggles and resilience of Native Americans during a time of significant change.

La Farge’s Laughing Boy won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1930 and remains an important work for depicting Navajo life and culture.

Oliver La Farge’s work bridges literature and anthropology, offering insights into the complexities of Native American life during cultural upheaval. While his writing has been celebrated, it has also been critiqued for portraying Indigenous characters through a non-Native lens.