A Bit of a Pan
Review Notation: A Bit of a Pan


THE LOOM AND OTHER STORIES
 by R.A. Sasaki

Published by Graywolf Press


The Loom and Other Stories is not a great book, and it's not a bad book. If we were at the point in U.S. multicultural literature where Asian American writings had become more fully represented, rather than heralded as a triumph with each new publication, Ms. Sasaki's book might simply be passed off as "good summer reading." Having said that, those of us who seek in earnest to find new and engaging ways to bring multiculturalism home or into the classrooms through literature are left with the task of considering each new work as it may or may not fit within various literary and cultural traditions.

In terms of length and ease of reading, Sasaki's book is comparable to Cisnero's wildly popular House on Mango Street, yet The Loom and Other Stories does not delight the reader with the plump thrill of the emerging, here-to-stay protagonist created by Cisneros. Alternately, we could consider this book in light of, say, David Wong Louie's Pangs of Love, which is not driven by a central character and operates around several interrelated motifs, like The Loom, but Wong is a maverick writer, unafraid of the delving into a depth of irony at which Sasaki only gently nods.

What we have, in the end, is what I would consider a "cute" book: one that doesn't disrupt the intelligence of the reader enough to insult; is a quick literary jaunt; has some nice imagery; and could be accessible for high school and undergraduate students. In fact, we tested this theory with some of our high school-level readers, and found that they did, in fact, enjoy The Loom and Other Stories and, when asked to compare this work to the similar narratives in Fae Myenne Ng's novel, Bone (NY: Hyperion, 1993), these early readers did, in fact, prefer the accessibility of the plot and ease of character development in The Loom, while our editorial staff relies more on works like Ng's for college-level courses.

If Sasaki wrote novels, this effort would be a plot-driven easy-arc narrative, like Terry MacMillan's How Stella Got Her Groove Back, a book which is, proudly, little more than "a good summer read." The problem here is that it's hard to know what to say about Sasaki's work without placing it in a larger context that the writer, herself, does not provide.

We have recommended this book with greater praise in our Juvenile Literature section.



NOTE: For further readings on Japanese-American culture, visit The Japanese American Network, (JA*Net) and explore their bibliography of 100 works by Japanese American authors.


Review by Emmanuela de Léon

Forward to review of Elizabeth Searle's A Four-Sided Bed
Back to V6N2 Reviews Home Page
Contents by Genre
V6N2 Journal Contents Page
Submit to STANDARDS

Original Graphic © 1998 by
Clarise
Background design by Ace of Space.


email