Bury My Heart at Chuck E. Cheese's

by Tiffany Midge, Geary Hobson (Foreword)

Why is there no Native woman David Sedaris? Or Native Anne Lamott? Humor categories in publishing are packed with books by funny women and humorous sociocultural-political commentary—but no Native women. There are presumably more important concerns in Indian Country. More important than humor? Among the Diné/Navajo, a ceremony is held in honor of a baby’s first laugh. While the context is different, it nonetheless reminds us that laughter is precious, even sacred.

Bury My Heart at Chuck E. Cheese’s is a powerful and compelling collection of Tiffany Midge’s musings on life, politics, and identity as a Native woman in America. Artfully blending sly humor, social commentary, and meditations on love and loss, Midge weaves short, stand-alone musings into a memoir that stares down colonialism while chastising hipsters for abusing pumpkin spice. She explains why she does not like pussy hats, mercilessly dismantles pretendians, and confesses her own struggles with white-bread privilege.  

Midge goes on to ponder Standing Rock, feminism, and a tweeting president, all while exploring her own complex identity and the loss of her mother. Employing humor as an act of resistance, these slices of life and matchless takes on urban-Indigenous identity disrupt the colonial narrative and provide commentary on popular culture, media, feminism, and the complications of identity, race, and politics.

 

Genres: Nonfiction, Essays, Memoir, Indigenous, Humor, Feminism, Native American

216 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2019

About the author

Tiffany Midge is a citizen of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and was raised in the Pacific Northwest. She is a former humor columnist for Indian Country Today and teaches multi-genre humor writing that elevates awareness of social justice issues. Her writing has appeared in McSweeney’s, the Offing, Waxwing, Moss, and World Literature Today. She’s a Pushcart Prize recipient, an award-winning poet of three collections of poetry and has served as poet laureate for the small university town where she resides.

Her newest book Bury My Heart at Chuck E. Cheese’s is a powerful and compelling prose collection about life, politics, and identity as a Native woman in America. Bury My Heart at Chuck E. Cheese's artfully blends sly humor, social commentary, and meditations on love and loss. Sarah Vowell praised Midge as “a wry, astute charmer with an eye for detail and an ear for the scruffy rhythms of American lingo.”

Currently, the 2019 Simons Public Humanities fellow for University of Kansas Hall Center for the Humanities, Midge aspires to be the Distinguished Writer in Residence in the Seattle Space Needle. Visit her website: https://tiffanymidge.wixsite.com/website

Reviews

[Nikki · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to love this. When I say I wanted to love this, I mean I wanted to LOVE THIS. A book of humorous essays and social commentary written by a Native woman? Sign me the fuck up.

But. Turns out these essays aren't really funny. They're satirical. They're angry. Their middle fingers are all up in your face. So I had to pivot, but only slightly because I really really enjoy when extremely articulate people talk shit. It's one of my greatest joys in life.

Unfortunately, her writing is mostly inaccessible, too broad in its satire, and too expected in its commentary. She's right about everything, but being right isn't nearly enough. These pieces (with a few notable but ultimately forgettable exceptions) just aren't compelling. I kept trying to dive in and more often than not, I hit a brick wall.

[Alvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection really deserves two ratings: The pieces in which Midge writes about herself and her world are five stars... funny and fresh. Her satiric political pieces are more like two stars because her political stances (though I totally agree with them!) are predictable and written with a sort of exasperated, self-righteousness that's totally understandable, but which dulls the humor. Full disclosure: by the end of the book I was skipping over bits because there is just no way anyone can effectively satirize a presidential administration that's already beyond absurd.

[Erica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read the first half of this, briefly skimmed the second half, and gave up.

I keep thinking about the foreword by Geary Hobson
In it, he states that Native Americans are thought to be a humorless bunch by the rest of the invasive Americans (my term, not his), like we all picture Native Americans as stoic, wooden...well, as Calijah, I racistly guess. Oh, sorry, Hank spelled it Kaw-Liga.
Anyway, not a laugh within hearing distance.

Reading this was the third time in as many months that I had come across such a notion. Each time, I did that head-tilt thing and wondered:
Is it true?

This isn't my area of expertise and I'm not invested enough to prove or disprove the theory.
However, I believe Hobson has probably heard that Native Americans are not funny much in the way I have heard that women are not funny.
I can't imagine what Tiffany Midge has heard.

And that's why I feel like a bad person for not finding these essays/thought pieces funny.
Well-written? Sure, for the most part.
Thought-provoking? Yup. For the most part.
Stabby? Absolutely. Mostly. Mostly absolutely.
Funny? Only the title. The title made me grin, which is why I checked this out in the first place.
Actually, I don't feel bad. This isn't about her because humor is subjective.
I don't share a sense of humor with the author but I am sure there are plenty who do so I hope those readers find this book and are absolutely delighted by it.
Maybe it will even change the minds of folks who believe Native Americans or/and women are not funny.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was very excited to get to this one and moooost of it did deliver. Tiffany Midge made me laugh throughout the entire collection and she picked very creative formats for getting her ideas out which I liked. I struggled getting through the beginning and the end, but for different reasons. I think I was just getting used to the writing in the first couple of sections, but once she started talking more about race, micro aggressions, feminism, Hollywood, and many other things I flew through it. Towards the end she touches on very specific political names and situations (which she's right about) but I didn't feel like she had a fresh take on anything. It was very punchliney and predictable which wasn't really for me. Overall, I do recommend this memoir if you want to someone who can talk about serious topics in a sarcastic, wry, way that will make you laugh.

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I loved the entire collection as much as I loved the title and the first couple of stories, this likely would have been five stars. However, as the collection went on, I encountered more and more pieces that didn't connect with me as much.
There were definitely things that went over my head, which isn't the fault of the author. She mentioned the lack of American literacy in Native American culture, and I definitely saw that in myself. I am interested in picking up more books by indigenous authors after having read this one.
Midge seems to be very naturally funny, but the satirical pieces felt a little forced. The political commentary was somewhat predictable and rehashed and overdid many of the most stereotypical digs at Trump. There wasn't any real subtly to it, which took a lot away from the humor for me.
Because many of these pieces were published in other places before making it into this collection, many stories were repetitive or re-used punchlines. Individually, most of the pieces were great. Read as a collection, however, it became slightly tedious. I did appreciate the short length of many of the pieces, however. It made it easy to fly through and get wrapped up in it.

[TaraReadsBooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I listened to the audiobook and think I would have enjoyed this book more in physical form. The way it’s written (short essays, episodes, vignettes) did not lend itself to a compelling listen where I was reading to see what happens next in a sequence, and for audiobooks I find a sequence easier to follow along.

Overall, the essays are a good balance of humour and criticism. I just don’t think this book was for me. Though as a Canadian, I loved learning about the Indigenous experience in America, though I think some things (the current/recent past USA political criticism) went a bit over my head.

[Tamara Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Bury My Heart at Chuck E. Cheese’s” is both a collection of humorous essays as well as a touching memoir. Throughout the book, Midge aims to break the stereotype of unfunny and stoic Native Americans/Indigenous people.

The writing style used by Midge is conversational and honest as well as educational. Throughout the course of this book, Midge navigates between being an Native American woman living in American and is also a memoir ranging from her childhood to her adulthood and living through the Trump presidency. Essays are at times tender and touching while other times raw and aggressive in its tone.

My favorite essays in the book are as follows: "Feast Smudge Snag" which is Midge's Indigenous reimagining of popular books and movies, "Red Like Me" in which Midges writes about her encounter with Rachel Dolezal during a time she was pretending to be an Indigenous woman named Faith Eagle Nebula, and "Fifty Shades of Buckskin" in which Midge calls out the tired romance novel trope of shirt Native American men paired with white maidens and instead provides alternative and more realistic Indigenous romance novel plots.

As someone who has a sarcastic sense of humor, I really enjoyed this book. The book is a fast read which is fun to read until the last part which can be depressing since it focuses on the Trump presidency and the absurdity that goes with this.

In closing, while some readers of this book may find some of Midge's essays to be too sarcastic, angry and hostile to me, considering what Indigenous people have had to endure, I feel that her anger is justified.

[Caitlin Kunkel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of essays, memoir, and satire/humor pieces is immensely satisfying, thought-provoking, and laugh-out-loud funny. Midge's strong voice as an author ties everything together, from shorter satire piece like "Politically Correct Alternatives to Culturally Insensitive Halloween Costumes" to the title essay about grief and death "Bury My Heart at Chuck E. Cheese's." Highly recommend!

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bury My Heart at Chuck E. Cheese’s collects fifty short satirical essays by Tiffany Midge, a citizen of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and all around hilarious person. Midge is so witty and thoughtful, and shows tremendous range in this collection that cleverly plays with various essay forms and repeatedly eviscerates the ever-present popular media tropes of the Native American. It’s a collection in turns both laugh out loud funny and necessarily somber, broken into themed parts with titles like “Me, Cutting in Front of All the People in All the Lines Forever: ‘It’s Okay, I Literally Was Here First’ #DecolonizedAF”, and “Breaking News - Your Neighbor Who Said, ‘Whoa, Dude, This Whole Trump Thing’s, Like, So Fricken Surreal,’ Might Actually Be on to Something”. This collection was a thought-provoking and deeply enjoyable can’t-put-down read, I’m sure I missed many of Midge’s references but it never detracted from the experience. Do recommend!

[Howard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read for a book group. I often don't find written comedy any where as funny as the spoken word. I will update this if it feels appropriate after discussing as part of a group.

[Meliss · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this so much, but I just didn’t. The title is incredible tho.

[MCZ Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tiffany Midges’s humorous collection sparks with wit and stings because she’s right. She covers a vast array of subjects in her essays, and each piece has something valuable to offer. While the organization of the essays made sense, there was the definite feeling that these were essays that had been published before, and later essays would make me go, “Oh, that’s what she’s referring to earlier.” This is a worthwhile book for fans of satire.

[Teresa]

A lot of this went waaaaay over my head. I did like the open letters to white women and white girls.

[Siobhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read. Indigenous. Humor!

[Laura Sackton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't realize going in that this book is 90% straight-up satire. It wasn't bad, it's just not really my thing. There were a few pieces that I found hilarious. There were also a few not 100% satirical essays that I enjoyed. But the rest just felt dry to me. This is definitely personal preference; I just like humor mixed with other things. I might have felt differently if I'd listened to this or seen Midge performing some of these pieces. If you like dry humor and satirical shorts, this book is absolutely a gem.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny and insightful essays about urban Native life. A unique voice that is often full of justified rage and absolute truth, which I appreciate. Indians in America are not part of our past - they are here, and deserving of our attention, and their stories need to be heard. This is one of many works that does not sugarcoat the effects of European colonialism on America's Native population, and to me, it's one of the best I've read. raw, honest, hilarious, and scathing all at once.

[Cathy Sites · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first 1/3 of this book had several gems and laugh out loud moments (boxed wine pairs with reptiles!) - and the author's brief reminder that The Handmaid's Tale isn't something that "could happen" was a great essay.
The remainder of the book was disjointed, lackluster, and angry (rightfully so, but not a good read).

[Mallory Whiteduck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny, political hot takes by a Lakota satire writer. Short chapters that are quick to digest. My favourite is still the opening, where the author describes watching her family members trying to stuff a star blanket into the coffin at a funeral—one of those moments when you shouldn’t laugh but you can’t help it LOL

[Elise · Rating 4 out of 5]

"What’s the Lakota word for intersectional feminism? Is it just an emoji of a knife?"

[Carol Palmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started out really funny, but then it slowly got less and less funny.

[Caroline Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed it a bit less than I was hoping - mostly because Trump/Republican political jokes that implicitly idealize the equally psychopathic Democratic Party do not interest me.

[Beth Gordon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had picked this one up based on the title, and I thought it would be full of humorous essays.

Not so.

This is an Indigenous woman’s play on Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (I think). The essays are raw, satirical, and in your face.

I struggled with this book. As a white woman, I want to know how I can be an ally. However, I didn’t really come away with much in the way I could work to improve other than not cause more trauma. Other than not culturally appropriating Indigenous Halloween costumes (which I don’t think I’ve ever done), I didn’t come away with much in the way of a meaningful to do list.

I picked up on her anger, and it’s completely justified. The writing was so hostile, though, that I wonder about the access points.

Then I feel bad (and perhaps very white and ignorant) by wondering about access. These essays reflect her experiences, so who am I to say these would be more accessible if she toned down the hostility and tried to give earnest ways that readers could support advancing Indigenous people and specifically Indigenous women?

I came away from this with “white people suck.” Yes, I know a contingent of us do, but I feel what would be more productive is to come away with “here’s how you can suck less.”

For example, there was an essay on how she doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving. I totally understand her perspective. But what should be done? Should we petition to have it removed as a holiday? Should I refuse to celebrate it? (I think I’ve really celebrated the concept of giving thanks as an adult rather than the origin of the holiday anyway.) As long as it’s a holiday, my mom is going to expect a turkey and stuffing on the table on the fourth Thursday of November. And probably even if it was taken away as a holiday, those expectations would still be there. Most of the essays had that same vibe.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great collection of short essays/bitingly humorous parodies (such as "Trump Pardons Zombie Apocalypse") that talk about No DAPL protestors, police and institutional violence against Native/Indigenous Americans, representations in media, "pretendians", performative feminism, and the election of Trump (and that's just for starters). If you like Samantha Irby's brand of humor, you'll like this humor.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always enjoy a book that makes me question things and shows me a different perspective than I am used to. Tiffany Midge is a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and satirizes many events during the Trump presidency, racist Disney depictions, the "basic white girl" co-opted pumpkin spice latte, Halloween costumes, the Dakota Access Pipeline, Thanksgiving. It's interesting reading something so political that was written before 2020, it definitely feels like a blast from the past, and not really in a pleasant way.

[Kristin Towers · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 stars, for humor ⭐️

You have to break this up when reading — there are parts in which beautifully articulate, personal stories touch on important topics. The rest is Midge hypocritically ranting in her kitchen (decidedly not satire).

Every point made is juxtaposed with stories of old, rich, White men. This continued framing and its subsequent belittling of virtually every other community ensures you’ll walk away feeling personally offended, and probably not thinking about Native advocacy.

Overall, I’m glad to consume more Native-authored content, but “Bury My Heart…” just wasn’t connected or focused enough for me to do anything other than conclude Tiffany Midge is ostentatiously negative, inadvertently misogynistic, and doesn’t know the difference between correlation and causation.

This book doesn’t want you to think about progress or provide clarity around misconceptions, it doesn’t even want to break Native peoples out of a monolith (in ways, the opposite). It just wants to complain about anything and anyone in sight. My expectations were too high.

Edit on 4/30/25: Dropping to one star overall, I couldn’t get it out of my head how defensive this book made me feel.

[Laurie W · Rating 4 out of 5]

This indigenous writer is extremely funny, and quite edgy. She covers a wide variety of topics and situations, bouncing quickly from one thing to another. Reading it made me feel somewhat breathless and a little confused but very amused. I really enjoyed her unique perspective on some things that I clearly need to think about more.

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 3 out of 5]

The personal humor essay is a hard one to pull off--not only do you have to relate your experiences in an engaging (if not super-meaningful, changing every reader's life way because that is too much to ask anyone), but the reader has to jibe with the author's sense of humor.

This collection was in the middle for me, mostly, but I would recommend everyone give it a read.

[Adrienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not nearly as funny as the introduction would lead you to believe, but it's still a good read. There are a few laugh out louds I'm still chuckling about--calling Trump an orange windigo and "I bought a Disney Pocahontas Halloween costume and went as a racist" are just *chef's kiss*

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title essay was easily my favorite of the collection. The personal reflections and all the bits about family and real life, I loved. The political satire was just okay for me-- I probably would have enjoyed it more had I read it when it was published in 2019.

[Katherine R · Rating 5 out of 5]

Biting wit and sharp critique, this was an uncomfortable read even as I laughed. Really worth the listening, reminds me strongly of Vine Deloria, Jr. in style but with references to the much more recent past. Worth reading a few times I think.