Helpful Score: 1
This is a tragic-comedy novel of a lower-middle class Japanese-American family. The family lives above their family business, a taxidermy shop called Heads by Harry, on the island of Hawaii. The author captures the true essence of working people on the big island. She exposes the dark side of paradise that tourists don't see!
Helpful Score: 1
Anyone who has lived on the Big Island of Hawaii, or a rural small town anywhere, will see familiar characters in Yamanaka's books. Having lived north of Hilo for many years, the people and situations in Heads by Harry, Wild Meat and the Bully Burgers and Blu's Hanging (set mainly on Molokai) remind me of home. A real slice of island life.
