Dawn Dumont,
Nobody Cries at Bingo
Thistledown Press, 2011.

Rating: G-E

While being marketed as a novel, Nobody Cries At Bingo is really a roughly chronological series of vignettes about life on a modern day reserve (Okanese First Nation) in Saskatchewan. Memoir style, Dawn Dumont portrays life with her nuclear family (three sisters, one brother, Mom and sometimes Dad) and her big extended family from her first memories in kindergarten through her graduation from law school.

In her other life, the author Dawn Dumont is a successful stand-up comic, playwright and broadcaster. Although she does not shy away from any of the social issues confronting the aboriginal population today, she paints a wicked picture of rez life with great affection and understanding and humour. She has a sly eye for the human condition. In fact, several of the stories are absolutely hilarious as Dawn stands outside the event and comments on the absurdity of the situation; such as the time her youngest sister was charged on a neighboring reserve with witchcraft, or the day the Mormons rescued Mom and the kids after the family station wagon breaks down at a railway crossing and Dawn, who’s a big reader, has her first experience with "The Book of Mormon".

Nobody Cries at Bingo wavers on the invisible line between a YA and an Adult offering as there is very graphic language use and certainly what some would term "mature" content. Because each chapter could almost be described as a separate monologue and the links between chapters could have been smoother, this book does not have the emotional impact of Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian. However, it’s a rich read, just the same.

Although the cover is attractive enough, the book begs for cover art that stands out, because Dawn Dumont is a young writer to be watched.

Thematic Links: First Nations; Humour

Anne Letain
Vol. 16, number 5
June 2011

*Rating System:
E - Excellent, enduring, everyone should see it!
G - Good, even great at times, generally useful!
A - Average, all right, has its applications.
P - Problematic, puzzling, poorly presented.