Author relays rez life with humour

Each night, I read a couple of chapters of Dawn Dumont's Nobody Cries at Bingo and I was virtually guaranteed a gut busting fit of laughter every few pages.

I am of European extraction, raised on a farm outside Sherwood Park. Dumont is Métis/Cree from the Okanese First Nation.

On the surface, we have nothing in common. Yet her story of a teenage girl's hopes and dreams wrapped in the cocoon of a slightly eccentric but loving family of brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins was extraordinarily relatable.

Dumont tackles life on the Rez with all its richness and vibrancy. Certainly she brings into play the stereotypes of reservation life - drinking, bingos, poverty, wife abuse and the school caste system.

However, the book's universal appeal lies in the small hilarious moments, such as learning to ride a bike, applying makeup for a rock-punk Halloween costume, discovering a lack of athleticism and attending an older sister's wedding.

These moments might appear insignificant. But Dumont is a stand-up comedian by trade whose work is highly sought after by CBC. In fact, the Saskatchewan native was featured in two CBC comedy specials taped at the Arden Theatre - Turtle Island Too (2010) and The Debaters (2009).

Each chapter is an individual story recounted by a narrator called Dawn, leading you to believe the stories are at least partially autobiographical.

But Dumont's strength as a writer is her easy-going street language and the way she sets up a funny situation with a clever turn of phrase for maximum effect. And you never really see the comedic clobbering coming until it hits you.

For example, the first two paragraphs really set the book's tone.

"I was born in a small Saskatchewan town called Balcarres. The town had given itself the nickname 'Pride of the Prairie,' which is a pretty bold statement for a community that boasts more boarded-up stores and businesses than regular ones.

"Shortly after my debut, I was relocated to the Okanese reserve via a ride in our grandparents' car. Okanese is Cree for Rosebud. The reserve doesn't really have a nickname, although many people call it the 'armpit of the universe,' usually after they've lost an election."

And from this point on, the sassy, spirited humour just keeps barrelling along.

There is nothing quite like laughter to erase intolerance and embrace cultural differences, and this is one of the best antidotes to racism on bookshelves to date.