From poet/filmmaker Kudaka, a hefty gathering (almost 90 stories and poems, many specifically written for this anthology) from Asian-Americans both notable and obscure. Asians and Asian-Americans have been victimized by some rather insidious sexual stereotypes, so it's refreshing to encounter so many well-crafted forays into this burgeoning subgenre of literary publishing. And literary is what most of the offerings here are: The boffing is more often alluded to than described. Still, the book pretty well trashes the myth of the undersexed Asian, along with the notion that all Asians are family-mongering heterosexuals. Sandra Mizumoto Posey's ``Buying Shoes'' has the central character musing on the difficulties of making love in the front seat of a car; Eric Wat's graceful meditation on the way two gay male lovers fit together (``The Dark Room'') reminds us that beneath every affair lurks an inevitable parting; Julie Shigekuni, in ``Krista Rising,'' demonstrates suspense playing a strong role in a lesbian narrative (she literally holds everything until the suggestive end); and L.T. Goto, in ``Asian Penis: The Long and Short of It,'' gleefully attacks one of the most prevalent sexual misconceptions foisted on Asian men. Few of the pieces, however, can match Charlie Chin's ``Winston and Samantha'' for sheer vindictive hilarity: Winston has a foot fetish, Samantha the fetching foot, and the two act out their loving rituals in the backseat of a cab. Russell Leong, who contributes a foreword, also weighs in with a near- perfect, dialogue-driven story, ``A Yin and Her Man.'' Light on the friction and debauchery, but top bedtime reading nonetheless—and more than a nod to multicultural faddishness. (Author tour)
Pub Date: Nov. 16, 1995
ISBN: 0-385-47640-X
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Anchor
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1995
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...
Sisters in and out of love.
Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-345-45073-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003
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