Review: Nobody Cries at Bingo

Nobody Cries at Bingo by Dawn Dumont
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When I had Lindy Pratch on the podcast, she mentioned this book in passing as one of the books her book club had read and liked recently. I requested it from interlibrary loan on impulse!

This is a series of autobiographical fictions, not quite short stories that are self contained but a series of scenes from the life of the main character, who is largely the author. Dawn Dumont grew up on the Okanese First Nation in Saskatchewan, Canada, and most of this book focuses on her childhood, from having to accompany her mother to bingo to navigating the very complex social hierarchy of the playground. There are some very hilarious parts, in fact I can still laugh over the college visit in the cabbage sweater.

But to me what is most impressive is the very authentic voice - the naivete of a young girl who knows a lot about her world but does not really fully understand the external forces. She does her best and can be pretty stubborn at times, but I felt like I knew her by the end of the book!

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