From Publishers Weekly
Although Yamauchi's works have previously appeared in anthologies, admirers of her lyrical short stories will welcome this first collection of her work. Yamauchi, a second-generation Japanese American, or nisei , writes about the wrenching experiences of Japanese (particularly women) in the United States--of families coping with the relocation to internment centers during WW II; of the desire for acceptance into American society and the concurrent yearnings for the mother country. The stories begin with the mundane, with the goings-on in her own backyard, but slowly reveal the immense landscape beyond--plains that ripple with the larger dramas of family and society. Though informed by her own experiences, Yamauchi's heroines might be anyone familiar with missed opportunities and the subsequent resignation to loss. Her compassionate voice is neither pitying nor sad; these women and their families survive, carrying seeds of hope within themselves. In ``Shirley Temple, Hotcha-cha,'' a Shirley Temple doll, a mother's gift to her daughter, is a resilient stand-in for the daughter who must endure the war and later, her husband's desertion. ``I bought her a new wig and made a fancy nylon dress for her. She smiles at me. Her lips are cracked, she's a bit sallow, the luster is gone from her blue eyes. She's not what she used to be. But she's been around for a long time now.'' A general audience may find two plays based on stories in the collection distracting but they and the lengthy foreword by Hongo and afterword by Valerie Miner will be of value to scholars. First serial to Ms.
Copyright 1994 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
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From School Library Journal
When the English-Japanese weekly Los Angeles Rafu Shimpo began running her stories in 1960, Yamauchi became one of the first Asian American writers to be published. She writes of the immigrant experience, of the hard lives of the Japanese, particularly the women, struggling to make a home in a foreign and inhospitable land. As a young woman, Yamauchi, who was born in the United States to Japanese parents, was among the Japanese Americans interred in relocation camps during World War II. Many of her stories grow out of this experience. For this collection, editor Hongo has gathered a representative selection of Yamauchi's writings, including two plays (adapted from earlier stories also included) and more recent recollections. Yamauchi writes of bleak times without bitterness, and the reader cannot help but empathize with her characters. Warmly recommended for Asian American and women's studies collections and for larger fiction collections.-Debbie Bogenschutz, Cincinnati Technical Coll.
Copyright 1994 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
