Folks You Meet in Longs and Other Stories

by Lee Cataluna

Fiction. Cross-Cultural Writing. Set in Hawaii. 'FOLKS YOU MEET IN LONGS is simply magical. Through voice, Lee Ctaluna conjures up your neighbor, your co-worker, your raucous classmates, the old ladies you see in Chinatown, the uncles sitting in the garage, and you. Their images appear before you as you listen to Cataluna's dead-on capturing of sound with an incredible sensibility, artistry, and poignancy" - Lois-Ann Yamanaka.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories

144 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2005

About the author

Lee Cataluna’s stories reflect the cultural acuity of an island artist who grew up in an international crossroads. Her work is often uproariously funny, deeply emotional, and tightly wrought.

Her recent work includes commissions from Arena Stage, La Jolla Playhouse, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Dramatic Publishing, Honolulu Theatre for Youth and San Francisco Playhouse. Her work has been produced many times in the islands and studied in schools and universities. Her play Home of the Brave has been performed by school children around the country. Several of her projects have been supported by NEA grants.

She writes plays for children as well as general audiences, and has written for digital theater and television. She has worked on historically based plays and theatrical pieces based on oral histories and interviews. Many of her plays are about people and things that are not easy to love, and the magic found in everyday life. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from UC Riverside. She is of Native Hawaiian descent and lives in Honolulu.

Reviews

[Shawna · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are not from Hawaii, have never lived in Hawaii, have never spent an extended period of time in Hawaii (in other words, you have never made it beyond the tourist Hawaii), chances are you just won't get this book. Having said that, I enjoyed it and thought many of the stories were funny.

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lee Cataluna introduces this collection of monologues with two guidelights for readers: people come to Longs when they're in NEED, and the aisles serve as passageways to the stages of their lives. With that in mind, she then lets us eavesdrop on dozens of conversations and inner thoughts, that could have been "overheard" in the aisles of Longs. Yes, the drug store.

These micro stories are so Hawaiian, so funny, sometimes so dark and sad, but all showing Cataluna's surgical understanding of and deep affection for people in Hawaii. The voices are distinct, the characters are illuminated as if by lightening for the few moments their stories are heard. Although the book doesn't aspire to anything lofty, it hints at the webbed connectedness of local culture, with disparate monologues referencing each other, completing each other-- different sides of the same stories.

It's a light read, so funny, with a slight tragic undertow. And even though it's silly, I know I'll always stop first at Longs just hoping to overhear a snippet of something this rich and local.

[Lauri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a bsolutely hysterical! If you were born & raised in Hawaii, you actually know people exactly like those portrayed in the vignettes! You may even recognize yourself amongst them. (I am
'Foodland, Long's, Zippy's', sadly.) I laughed out loud throughout the whole book and read excerpts aloud to my family. Even if you only lived in Hawaii briefly or have visited, you will probably find this entertaining. If you have not had the opportunity to live here, sorry, but you will need a local facilitator/interpreter. (PS. Long's is a drugstore where you can get everything. Now it's been bought out by CVS...

[Winpat · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delicious slice of local life. Little bit sweet, little bit salty. Small kine sour in some parts, but in the end, all you can say is: “was ono” 😘

[Becca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very fast read. Silly. It reads like one person is talking to you, or you're overhearing one-sided conversations.

Only the first section takes place in Longs.

[S D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unexpectedly deranged which is always a good thing

[Eric Edwards · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you are familiar with the website "The People of Wal-Mart", this book is very similar but with short monologues instead of pictures. Most of the stories are just making fun of "trashy" people. There's an occasional story that tries for poignancy instead of meanness and the difference in tone can be quite jarring.

This doesn't mean there aren't any amusing moments or good turns of phrase. The book needed a stronger editorial hand to develop some of the monologues that were almost there and cut the ones that ended up being a lot of filler for one or two good lines (and to catch the typos). The author seems like she has a knack for the vernacular, but could use some developing in structure and timing.

In the authors bio, she notes "Her favorite stories, fiction and non-fiction, are about ordinary people struggling to live lives of dignity and purpose." From reading this book though, it seems like she enjoys those stories in order to laugh at their struggle. I hope this isn't true. There is a fine line between laughing at "those poor losers" and laughing at a piece of your own culture that you can identify with. The author grew up on island and I want to believe that puts her in the latter group. Then I look at the text and the setting of overheard events at Longs feels leeringly voyeuristic. The brevity of the monologues did not leave her much room to humanize the characters and I expected the same characters to show up again later like Greater Tuna but they did not. In the end I did not feel this was a love letter to a quirky milieu.

[Dawn Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A swift, sassy, satirical read. If you aren’t local or haven’t lived in Hawaii for an extended period of time, you probably won’t relate. But, if you are born and raised here, you’ll easily recognize Cataluna’s colorful characters as people you are familiar with, if not in Long’s than in you every day life, heck even your family. I actually felt like calling some family and old friends after reading this book. This book made me laugh, made me think, made me nostalgic. Worthy of a light afternoon read.

[Bonnie Irwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everyone in Hawaii goes to Longs Drugs. Cataluna takes this fact and develops a series of vignettes about these folks, their lives both in the aisles of Longs and outside. Longs thus becomes an equalizer: diverse people come and go from all walks of life, each of whom has their story and their challenges. I liked almost all of these stories, but my favorite might have been "Kaimuki," a poignant but poetic story as a woman reflects of her life:
This is my whole life.
This is the rest of my life.
Zippyʻs, Foodland, Longs.
Zippyʻs Foodland Longs.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is absolutely one of my favorites. Maybe because I've been one of those weirdos you're sure to encounter on a visit to Longs... Just a warning: You will laugh out loud as you read several passages. And even more when you happen to run into Longs to pick up a prescription, a bag of chips and/or a bottle of wine, and you see one of these characters, live and in person at the register, or behind you in line. Freaking hilarious!!!

[Betsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant, funny, and poignant all at the same time! I loved the authenticity of the voices and could hear (and often picture) the individual speakers.

This book is not so much a single narrative as a set of very short monologues, each given by a different person, but all grounded in the very real likelihood that they are people you might meet at Longs, the store where everyone in Hawaiʻi shops for the things they need on a day-to-day basis.

[Teresa Thompson Arcangel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hardly ever get emotional over a book, but Folks You Meet in Longs had me laughing out loud. I left Hawaii 8 years ago, and this book made me feel so homesick. I'll be picking up another by Lee Cataluna!

[Wendi Giles · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sorry but this was not my kind of book and I felt it was a complete waste of time to read.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very local (Oahu). Very funny. Very true.

[Christine Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's so much life in these people. I loved reading this, and I love reading books in pidgin

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a funny and piquant collection of short stories told from various points of view, all congregating around any one of the Longs stores in Hawaii. If you want a glimpse of real, everyday Hawaii and its people--no beaches or mystical adventures here--look no further. Cataluna's keen observation of humanity is full of humor and compassion. I can think of no better summation of Hawaiian local life than "Zippy's. Foodland. Longs."

[Leikela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got to watch the play over a decade ago, but it was in Hilo, and it was the Hilo version. It was nice to read the original book and get the Oahu references, now that I live here. I laughed, I winced, I got sad, I rolled my eyes.

I can imagine any one of these people in our Longs. (That's me at the end of the book, trying fo remember my shopping list)

[AlohaKarina · Rating 5 out of 5]

If can speak pidgin, then can unnastan. If no can, no can and da kine maybe not so funny. I tink was hysterical, remind me for da hanabata days when was keiki and wen Longs, Daiei, or Shirokiya for EVERYTING. Da Bus was 25 cents and da Mac nut factory chocolates sampols on Kalakaua stay free. Das da kine and still stay my best memories.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this would be like the "people of Walmart" series but for local Hawaiians. There are no pictures and the stories are told in pidgin. Would probably recommend for locals or someone familiar with local culture and/or language.

[Kenny Stevenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this for a project that I am researching because that is all I do now, but this was a fun read. Didn't occur to me until I was about half way through that this was a series of monologues for actors, but it's a great reflection of Hawaiian culture all centered around Longs Drugs.

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the local bookstore of my hometown, my love of yellow drew me to this book. Then my love of Longs Drugs. I bought my first tube of mocha lipstick there. During a rebellious streak, I bought green hair color there. Before my brother’s wedding, I bought safety pins to fix the hem of my skirt there. Whenever I forgot shaving cream or contact solution or sunscreen for the journey home, I drove to Longs. This collection features the people that wander the aisles of this beloved store that sells everything from liquor and tampons to rubber slippers and mochi crunch. In the hopeful book’s opening monologue (“Nadine Tam Sing—Longs Worker”), the speaker says, “I seen it all. I seen it all two, three times. The whole world comes into Longs.” Yes, they do.

from “4 Books That Kept Me Alive While Missing Maui: A Reading List” via BOOK RIOT: https://bookriot.com/127204/

[Yoonmee · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing collection of short stories/monologues about locals in Hawaii. I loved it! If you're interested in Hawaii's local culture, read this book. If you grew up in or live in Hawaii, you'll definitely be able to relate to some of the stories; you'll probably laugh, shake your head, roll your eyes, smile, and think about life in Hawaii. Just read it. It's a short, quick, painless read that offers great insight into the minds and lives of locals in Hawaii.

[Talia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining short vignettes about some typical local characters...I think I recognize some of these people from my regular visits to the Hotel street Longs in downtown Honolulu!

Ha! Not really, but it was fun anyways...I heard some of these tales read aloud in a Hawaii Public Radio show and I think they're even better told that way...talk story...

[Eric Stinton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Considered a classic of Hawaii literature, I found it irresistibly charming. It’s a book of short stories, each about a page and a half, and all taking place in the aisles of a Longs (a drug store or CVS). It’s a clever storytelling technique, and through it Cataluna — the best Hawaii columnist in my lifetime, for my money — captures a sample of a lot of different flavors of island life.

[Anna Brandes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of monologues was a funny mix of daily life, interesting encounters, and good anecdotes. Some pieces were better others, however the tone throughout made it a choesive unit. Lighthearted and fun, this book set in Hawaii, does a good job of incorporating local knowledge and history through the Pidgin of each of the chapters characters.

[Carrie]

Found this in Hawaii and because of all the funny stories Dominic has come home with I just had to get it...

[molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

good for a few chuckles

[Lee Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

In spite of some language that made me uncomfortable, I enjoyed these little windows into life in Hawaii.

[Hannah Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very smart, funny, and poignant vignettes of local life.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfectly captures Honolulu life, centered on the store where simply *everyone* shops.