Tales of the Tikongs [Paperback]

Epeli Hau'ofa (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hau'ofa (Kisses in the Nederends) serves up a delightfully fresh and funny collection of tales about his South Pacific homeland. In this first book of stories, he wryly describes daily life on the tiny isle of Tiko where "truth is flexible and can be bent this way so and that way so." The book contains comic, well-developed characters like Ti Pilo Simini (in "The Wages of Sin"), a "weedy little man . . . who may be seen with two or even three cigarettes stuck between his lips," but Hau'ofa's talent is most evident in his satires of human frailties. In "Blessed Are the Meek," Puku Leka receives "excellent training in bowing and bending and crawling" from his family in preparation for a farmer's life. Hau'ofa also skillfully parodies the "development" of underdeveloped countries. In "The Seventh and Other Days," an Australian "Overseas Expert" named Dolittle is hired to "look into the feasibility of making Tikongs work on weekdays" but despairs after speaking with a VIP who fritters away the office hours playing cards with his secretary.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 93 pages
• Publisher: University of Hawaii Press (August 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0824815947
• ISBN-13: 978-0824815943
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #680,791 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Satire of Life in Paradise, March 2, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Tales of the Tikongs (Paperback)

As a former expatriate in Polynesia, I recognized much in and enjoyed all of this collection of short stories. Hau'ofa spares no one--he skews expats, aid workers and his fellow Polynesians with equal glee. If you live in or have ever lived in the islands, you'll love this. If you want to learn what Polynesia is really like, this book is for you as well.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Island Life - as seen by a Pacific Islander, April 12, 2000

By 

Morgan Armstrong (London, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tales of the Tikongs (Mass Market Paperback)

A fabulous collection of short stories that more or less piece together to create a fully formed humorous novella. The author spares no-one with his cruel wit and sharp eye for the details of some of the more outrageous aspects of colonialism in the troubled paradise that is the Pacific. The finger of fun is pointed at locals and expatriates alike but what is especially refreshing is that this time it is a Pacific islander that is doing the pointing and not some foppish Englishman (Somerset Maughan) or frazzled American (Paul Theroux). For too long it has been the expats writing about the locals and this book is a great step forward and should be an inspiration for local writers wherever they may be. And best of all, you suspect that most of what he writes about isn't that far from reality.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So Funny, April 28, 2002

By 

Zoe Zeichner (Hurley, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tales of the Tikongs (Paperback)

so accurate so funny, looks at development in Tonga but could also be used to describe much of the pacific island region. Warm but critical.