Significant Moments in da Life of Oriental Faddah and Son: One Hawai‘i Okinawan Journal

by Lee A. Tonouchi

Oriental Faddah and Son delivers Da Pidgin Guerrilla's most entertaining yet poignant work to date through a combination of lamenting and humorous poems. As you read, you will journey with author Lee A. Tonouchi through childhood and adolescence into adulthood. You will laugh out loud, sometimes cry, and maybe even discover things about yourself along the way. Awardwinning author Tonouchi delivers a captivating, semi-autobiographical tale through his mastery of the Pidgin language. Tonouchi intricately weaves life's most basic human elementsùlove and loss, birth and deathùwith uncovering the identity of one's true self. In the Guerrilla's case, it's the essence of being an Okinawan in Hawai'i.

Genres: Poetry

176 pages, Paperback

First published October 11, 2012

About the author

Lee A. Tonouchi (born circa 1972) is a Hawaii born writer and editor, who calls himself "Da Pidgin Guerilla" because of his strong advocacy of the Hawaiian Pidgin language.

Tonouchi graduated from Aiea High School in 1990. He promotes the idea that the Creole language known as Hawaiian Pidgin is an appropriate language for both creative and academic writing.[1] He was inspired by the works of Eric Chock in the journal Bamboo Ridge.[2] All of his writing, including his Master's Thesis, is in Pidgin. He was an instructor of English at Kapiolani Community College in 2007.[3] He also taught at Hawaii Pacific University during 2005,[4] and later.[5] His works often address family relationship in a humorous way.[6]

(from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Ton...)

Reviews

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh this is a treasure. Lee Tonouchi is Da Pidgin Guerrilla-- using Hawaiian Creole English as a form of activism in his scholarly linguistic work. But he is also one funny buggah and ho dis book had make me buss one gut!
But fo realz, you know wat, when I had find dis book, an stay reading um, had buss laugh one sentence, an den da next, ho!-- was crying like one little bebe. So good dis book. Go read um already. Go. Chrai go. Costco get. Mebbe juss Hawaii Costco, but. Still yet.

So, Yeah. Go read dis. If you from Hawaii, if you one mainland kine katonk, if you one oriento, asian american, or just somebody like hear real honest, hilarious kine memoir, den dis da book fo you.

[Bookfanatic · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up in Hawaii though not in a Pidgin English speaking family. Pidgin English is common among some of the people here especially with those who have roots in the sugar cane plantations that used to dominate the local landscape. Pidgin English is what the author promotes. All the poems in the book are written in Pidgin. He's a guerrilla warrior for this much maligned creole English. You don't have to grow up in the 50th State to appreciate the talent he has. I'm not a big fan of poetry, but I read all the poems. Some of them strike a punch right to the heart like the poems dealing with his mother's untimely death. At times very humorous and poignant of a bygone era in Hawaii, I highly recommend this to anyone interested in Hawaii, poetry or the Asian American (not Oriental!) history. This book would be a wonderful addition to an ethnic studies class.

[Lehua Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hawaiian Pidgin, as a language, is raw. It communicates on a visceral, no shibai level, cutting to the heart of the matter with a few quick words in an inflection that can leave you bloody on the floor. There’s a reason my kids don’t worry if I’m scolding in English; they know when I’m really mad the Pidgin comes out.

Significant Moments in da Life of Oriental Faddah and Son, One Hawai‘i Okinawan Journal by Lee A. Tonouchi is a powerful collection of epic poems written in Hawaiian Pidgin that tell the complicated story of multigenerational relationships. It’s a semi-autobiographical journey from childhood into adulthood that made me laugh out loud, cry, and shake my head at Tonouchi’s very personal experiences that are so universal.

Tonouchi’s mastery of Pidgin rings true to the ear and heart with an eye for the significant detail that conveys pages of meaning in a few well-chosen phrases. I’ve never met Tonouchi, but I know his voice. I’m sure we hung out at the swings at Kahului Elementary, played shambattle at Summer Fun, and hid behind the oleander bushes at neighborhood backyard kanikapila jam sessions, talking story, playing trumps, and swapping Diamond Head strawberry sodas.
Fo’real. His poetry is that good. If you’re a native Pidgin speaker, this book is a treasure.

Oriental Faddah and Son by Lee A. Tonouchi, published by Bess Press is available as a trade paperback directly from the publisher, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble and most stores where books are sold in Hawai‘i.

[Rebekah Keiser · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book from my principal as we move towards more place based learning. I loved the introduction essay which gave great background information. The book of poems written in Pidgin is entertaining and heartbreaking. I found myself laughing and sighing. Some of the language is hard to read, especially the Okinawan words, but the effort to read these memoir poems is worth it. They leave the reader with lots of room for discussion about race, stereotypes, immigration, etc.

[AlohaKarina · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like Hawaiian Creole, aka Pidgin, you’re going to love this book. It’s written in Pidgin and is funny, sad, dark, happy, all da kine tings. It’s a book of poetry, and it really makes you think deeply. Lee Tonouchi is an excellent writer and I would read anything he wrote in a heartbeat.

[Leikela · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so good.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Words no can describe! Loved this. Full stop.