Reviews

Saturday Night at the Pahala Theatre by Lois-Ann Yamanaka

floralfox's review against another edition

4.0

What to say except that I think Yamanaka's poetry is powerful, moving, and often gut-wrenching? I want to read everything she has written. The sound of the poetry alone makes this volume worth it; the fact that Yamanaka tackles difficult subjects that need to be talked about makes it that much better. In this volume, her voices alternate as different personalities of young girls that are subject to sexism, violence, racism, and the pain of being forced to grow up too fast.

My favorite poem from here is "Kid."

britlaccetti's review against another edition

4.0

This is Yamanaka's first published book. I probably should have read this first because all of her other books have some elements from this book, which made me feel so bored.
I just had that, "I-have-read-this-before" feeling the entire time reading this, the taxidermy shop, the language, the sex...bored, bored, bored.

cassieperry's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-paced

4.0

catgirl_luna's review

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.25

storiesandsidequests's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

 I don’t know that I enjoyed this, so much as I appreciated the raw emotions and experiences in this book, which takes the form of poetic novellas set in Hawaii. There are a lot of difficult issues that come up, including rape/sexual assult, violence, and racism, among other things, so this is definitely not a feel good poetry book. Part 3 has a bit of a respite with the introduction of Bernie, who is just the kindest person. For someone unfamiliar with local culture and especially pidgin (Hawaiian Creole English), this might be difficult to understand, but I’d still recommend it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Racism