The Loom and Other Stories (Graywolf Short Fiction Series)
A nice addition to the growing body of Asian American literature, this is a loosely related collection of short stories of Japanese American life under the twin shadows of the internment and the atomic bomb. The titular story traces the emotional burrowing in of a nisei (second-generation Japanese American) woman after the family's pursuit of the American dream is cruelly dashed by the internment. The rest of the stories deal with such diverse topics as coping with death in the family, the doomed relationship between a sansei (third-generation Japanese American) girl and an FOB fresh-off-the-boat boy, the longing for a peaceful life before the bombing in Hiroshima, and the inevitable though sad split of Japanese American families as different generations go their own ways. All the stories are sensitive and often poignant recollections of life with "the bond of obligation, of suffering, of love." Highly recommended.- Cherry Wenying Li, Dickinson Coll. Lib., Carlisle, Pa.Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.