A difficult work to review, mostly as the individual glimpses the author permits the reader to get are brief, and quite wary behind that trenchantly sarcastic hip wit. Plenty of emotion (angry, mostly, and contemptuous) in Midge's takedown of "pretendians"--those who cuddle up to Native folks and then use them for vitue signaling, or for other colonialist purposes.

A lot of the book contains short notes on things that happen to animals or in national parks, etc. These are "tells" rather than "shows" in the sense that there is no real understanding to be gleaned here, only glances at humans being dangerous (or stupid) animals among the animals.

Even if the humor is pretty scant, it made absorbing reading.

I especially enjoyed the author’s sense of humor in her writing! The book is structured as short essays, many containing factoids such as dumb things people do in parks and around animals, but my favorite parts are about her personal life experiences. Reflections on living as a Native American connect the parts. As it jumps from one story to another, it’s easy to read in brief segments. I needed to move through quickly since I received the #Netgalley ebook ARC and wanted to post a timely review.

BOOK REPORT
Received a complimentary copy of The Dreamcatcher in the Wry, by Tiffany Midge, from University of Nebraska Press | Bison Books/NetGalley, for which I am appreciative, in exchange for a fair and honest review. Scroll past the BOOK REPORT section for a cut-and-paste of the DESCRIPTION of it from them if you want to read my thoughts on the book in the context of that summary.

I tried, I really tried, to like this book.

I gave it four separate chances, and still only made it to 25 percent finished (electronic version).

I keep trying to figure out how to explain why Tiffany Midge’s writing felt so very flat to me……definitely not “bitingly hilarious” nor brimming “with insight.”

I mean, it wasn’t a _bad_ collection of columns/essays/whatevers. It just wasn’t anywhere near as smart and/or funny as most of what I see from friends and family in various formats. I’d probably even have enjoyed some of what she wrote if I lived in her area and read her in the local paper. But I don’t. There you have it.

Good for her, though, for getting books published, even if they aren’t my slice of fry bread.

DESCRIPTION
Building on the critical acclaim of Tiffany Midge’s Bury My Heart at Chuck E. Cheese’s, The Dreamcatcher in the Wry is Midge’s bitingly hilarious collection of essays written during the COVID-19 pandemic. A Standing Rock Sioux citizen, Midge offers up her unique satire about the foibles of politics, consumerism, world affairs, pandemic anxieties, and other subjects from the pandemic years of 2020 through 2023.

The Dreamcatcher in the Wry brims with insight, considering pig heart transplants, wedding-crashing grizzly bears, truffle-snuffling dogs, bison-petting tourists—and a plethora of other animal and wildlife hijinks—not to mention wienermobiles, the controversial Mount Rushmore, meeting Iron Eyes Cody in a parade, Elizabeth Warren’s quaint family lore, and Buffy Sainte-Marie. Midge brilliantly unpacks her observations and day-to-day concerns through the lens of an urban-raised Lakota living in the West, a writer of poetry, op-eds, church bulletins, fridge magnets, and Twitter posts who is allergic to horses and most outdoor recreation—except for berry picking and the occasional romp through a dewy meadow.

Turning over the colonizer’s society and culture for some good old Native American roasting, Midge informs as she entertains, gleaning wisdom from the incongruities of daily life with a much-needed dose of Indigenous common sense.

This book is so particularly original and wildly Midge, almost no review can speak better to its sensitivities than an assortment of favorite passages might do. The first section is from columns appearing in the Moscow, ID paper, and begin to cultivate a person's taste buds for her stylistic satire with a peppery punch. But my favorite pieces build up in the next two sections, with so many excellent options, until my chosen passages seem almost random.
From the second section, which features "Heard Around the West' columns published in High Country News, a sample of simple hilarity while sharing information about a Colorado Tarantula festival: "attendees celebrated the arachnids and their annual mating ritual, which isn’t a dating app called “Spinder,” but a natural occurrence that extends across the 443,000-plus acres on the Comanche National Grassland—rather like Burning Man for spiders, with even more legs for dancing."

The final section, Bonus Slices and Outtakes with Extra Cheese, includes pieces published in a wide variety of places, and their richness will founder a greedy reader. Taste-test these three tidbits and I dare you NOT to be so addicted that you must have your own copy of Midge's book.

First, from "American (Indian) Dirt” comes this spot-on instructional information that so many U.S. bureaucrats (and authors, and readers too) need to tape to the wall in their favorite restroom where they can re-read it until something sinks in. This isn't the only piece addressing pretendians, but it also covers poverty porn in much the same effort Percival Everett has made in his scathing novels about the entertainment industry and Black 'authenticity.'. Describing some of the harm done, Midge writes “misrepresentation is only the tip of the iceberg. When non-Native writers publish and appropriate Indigenous content and themes for their own aims, it furthers the colonialist project, continues acts of theft and dispossession, and usurps authentic Indigenous voices. It’s one thing to steal Native stories, it’s another to write those stories badly.”

From “50 Shades of Buckskin”—with an easy clue for finding qualifying bodice-rippers; look for SAVAGE in title. She writes with pride of contemporary satirical uses those stories now perform for Native writers. “If Native humor can be used as an act of resistance, then decolonizing can be as simple as mockery, a version of counting coup.” Midge here sings out her own deeply valuable purpose and gift of her own work.

A list essay closes this collection with "Reductress Headlines for Native Women," and this one found me with at least one more laugh-out-loud moment before I dove into this review: "Are You of Descent or Are You Spelunking?” For non-Native readers like myself, I'm not sure whether to say Hang on! (for the ride) or Let Loose (of preconceptions), but whichever option you choose, be sure you buy the book.

Thank you to Tiffany Midge & Bison Books for providing me with this ARC! I Really enjoyed this collection of essays and learning about another culture in a fun way. The perspective on current events was hilarious!