Read This Book…

Megan Kamalei Kakimoto’s new collection, Every Drop Is a Man’s Nightmare, is a multifaceted look at what it’s like to be Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian). Of mixed Japanese and Native Hawaiian ancestry, Kakimoto’s stories examine the lives of the Indigenous women from the islands of Hawai’i. 

In “Aiko, the Writer,” a queer writer is on a writer’s panel on the continent, fully aware that the conference is less interested in her work and really just wants her to check an Indigenous diversity box. As she attends the conference, she grapples with whether or not she should write about some closed cultural practices from her community. Does she share these ideas with the world to benefit her career, or does she respect her cultural heritage?

“The Love and Decline of the Corpse Flower” features a woman whose partner has died, but a woman who looks strikingly similar is growing out of a corpse flower. In “Touch Me Like One of Your Island Girls: A Love Story,” a woman struggling financially answers an ad for a Native Hawaiian woman to star in adult films for white men. In “Hotel Molokai,” a teenage girl is taken to a secret location by her grandmother—against her mother’s wishes—to participate in a ceremony that signifies her new womanhood.

Each of Kakimoto’s stories centers around different ideas of Indigeneity in the face of ongoing colonialism. These women and girls are making their way in the world, defining for themselves what it means to be Kānaka Maoli. There is no singular answer, and each person works through their ideas, deciding their futures for themselves.

Kakimoto uses elements of fabulism in her storytelling, reminding me of other queer writers, like K-Ming Chang, who use qualities of folklore and fables in their fiction. Each tale is a unique gem, perfectly polished. Her messy, complex protagonists are fully formed and glorious. I could go on, but it’s safe to say that Every Drop Is a Man’s Nightmare is one of my favorite books of the year.