Poet Hamby’s fiction debut is a story collection that begins with the last moments in the life of Lester Higata, a second-generation Japanese head of a small Honolulu family, before working backwards through time to unpack his romances, friendships, and personal history against the backdrop of an ever-evolving Hawaii. In the opening story, “Lester Higata’s String Theory Paradise,” Hamby lyrically marks Lester’s death as “the house disappeared along with the roads and all the buildings,” leaving him “moving through the jungle that had covered Oahu before it had that name.” And while Hamby evokes the peculiar rhythms of island patois and effortlessly conveys the modern and ancient aspects of the cultural and physical environment for a mainland reader, the collection’s finest moments deal with the complex work of defining racial and cultural identity, from the prejudices of elderly Japanese in “Sayonara, Mrs. Higata,” to the smalltown venom of Lester’s wife Katherine’s mother, who, in “Invasion of the Haoles,” implores her daughter to do the right thing and return to Ohio. Hamby’s Hawaii is less than a paradise, more than a postcard, and definitely worth the trip.

Honolulu Star Bulletin-Advertiser

“‘Lester Higata knew his life was about to end when he walked out on the lanai behind his house in Makiki and saw his long-dead father sitting in a lawn chair near the little greenhouse where Lester kept his orchids.’

OK, you had us with that first sentence in this lovely collection of short stories. Thematically arranged around the life of a nisei veteran who married a haole, each tale providing a glimpse into Higata’s universe — and neighborhood — Hamby’s sense of character and motivation glitters like a jewel’s facets. Her sense of the changes Hawaii went through over the last half-dozen decades, and the way families and friends are interwoven within, is pretty amazing.

What’s more, unlike the turgid, self-pitying, self-important exposition you usually get from most “generational” literary works, Hamby’s style is light and bemused, even when dealing with horrors like mainland haole mothers-in-law. Or when a guy hides from his crazy ex-wife by becoming a cash-only carpenter on Iniki-slammed Kauai. Or even when the neighborhood mango trees are cut down to make way for a parking lot.

The author was previously known as a poet, and her unerring sense of wordplay is evident here, as is her delight in craftsmanship. This is the sort of literature that makes you glad writing was invented.” —Burl Burlingame, December 12, 2010

Starred Review Library Journal

This collection of 12 linked stories, winner of the 2010 John Simmons Short Fiction Award, begins in 1999 with Lester Higata talking to a vision of his dead father, a sure premonition of his own death from lung cancer. Lester soon joins his father, and the stories about his Honolulu friends and family begin. Mr. Manago treasures his mango trees, but when he falls ill, his shallow son, Roland, destroys them and paves over the lot. Lester’s son, Paul, helps rebuild the Imamoto family house after a fierce tropical storm. The Imamotos never knew their neighbors until the remodeling brings everyone out to help. The last story takes place in 1946, the year Lester’s life really begins. That’s when he meets his future wife, Katherine, at a military hospital while recuperating from a war wound. Poet Hamby fills her stories with humor as well as compassion both for the older generation, which continues to practice traditional Japanese and Hawaiian customs, and for the rudderless younger Hawaiians. VERDICT Readers who enjoy diversity and the enchantment of thoughtful storytelling will appreciate these family-centered stories steeped in the history, lore, and magic of Hawaii. Essential and enthusiastically recommended.—Donna Bettencourt