Please Define: A collection of short-short fiction.

摘要

This is a collection of short-short stories on the subjects of identity, disillusionment, isolation and alienation, confinement and enclosure, gender, and local culture in Hawai'i, particularly Japanese. These stories are about children facing moments which will define who they become or how parents shape who their children grow up to be. These are stories about women struggling with their role in society or with an image they feel they must fulfill. Others focus on isolated adults trying to gap lapsed relationships, cope with their loneliness, or deal with crushed expectations. Some stories acknowledge how technology and modern life have changed our landscape and lifestyles. Part of this collection examines the effect of Japanese expectations of honor and shame, the traditional Asian household where the father is ruler and the mother plays a subservient, diminished role, and portrays locals who struggle with fitting into the perceived local image. All the stories explore essential questions of the human condition. Many of these stories are set in Hawaii in the late 20th or early 21st century.