'Seventeen Syllables': Hisaye Yamamoto (Women Writers) [Paperback]

King-Kok Cheung (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1994 | Series: Women Writers

Hisaye Yamamoto's often-reprinted tale of a naive American daughter and her Japanese mother captures the essence of the cultural and generational conflicts so common among immigrants and their American-born children. On the surface, "Seventeen Syllables" is the story of Rosie and her preoccupation with adolescent life. Between the lines, however, lurks the tragedy of her mother, who is trapped in a marriage of desperation. Tome's deep absorption in writing haiku causes a rift with her husband, which escalates to a tragic event that changes Rosie's life forever. Yamamoto's disarming style matches the verbal economy of haiku, in which all meaning is contained within seventeen syllables. Her deft characterizations and her delineations of sexuality create a haunting story of a young girl's transformation from innocence to adulthood. This casebook includes an introductin and an essay by the editor, an interview with the author, a chronology, authoritative texts of "Seventeen Syllables" (1949) and "Yoneko's Earthquake" (1951), critical essays, and a bibliography. The contributors are Charles L. Crow, Donald C. Goellnicht, Elaine H. Kim, Dorothy Ritsuko McDonald, Zenobia Baxter Mistri, Katharine Newman, Robert M. Payne, Robert T. Rolf, and Stan Yogi.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Yamamoto, winner of the 1986 American Book Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Before Columbus Foundation, is a talented and sensitive writer whose work often focuses on the conflict between the Issei (first-generation Japanese Americans) and the Nissei (second-generation Japanese Americans). The two stories collected here are "Seventeen Syllables" and "Yoneko's Earthquake," in which the author paints in scant strokes the pain and suffering of Issei mothers through the eyes of Nissei daughters. The accompanying material--interviews with the author, a chronology of highlights from Japanese American history, and critical essays--provides useful background for understanding and teaching the two short stories, upon which Emiko Omori's movie Hot Summer Winds is based. As a more complete collection of Yamamoto's short stories, however, Seventeen Syllables and Other Stories (Kitchen Table, 1988) is a much better buy for most libraries.
- Cherry W. Li, Univ. of Southern California Lib., Los Angeles
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press (March 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813520533
• ISBN-13: 978-0813520537
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,384,968 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.