EVERY DROP IS A MAN'S NIGHTMARE by Megan Kamalei Kakimoto

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Oct 09, 2024

∙ Paid

“I stare at the girl. A nest of golden weeds collects just above her head; she looks as though she’s been crowned. I think of all the words that have been used to describe the Kaua‘i coalition, its members still intent on taking back their land: empowered, irrational, organized, mysterious, embittered, vindictive, dangerous. Then I think of all the words I would use to describe this girl beside me, and the words don’t change.” — from “Temporary Dwellers”

TITLE—Every Drop Is A Man’s Nightmare

AUTHOR—Megan Kamalei Kakimoto

AUDIOBOOK NARRATOR—Michelle Sekine

PUBLISHED—2023

PUBLISHER—Bloomsbury

GENRE—short stories—speculative horror magical realism

SETTING—Hawai’i

MAIN THEMES/SUBJECTS—wisdom & cultural knowledge of the kānaka Hawaiʻi, blood & folklore, menstruation & pregnancy, wāhine ka wā haumia, Menehune (a domovoy-/elf-adjacent character from Hawaiian folklore), ‘āina, the Kaua’i bombing, highschool, love in times of crisis & under colonization, queer identity & themes, displacement & dispossession, fairy tales for naughty children, ‘ōlelo Hawai’i, motherhood, interracial families & identity, feminism, objectification of Native women, the Night Watchers, mo’o, ancestors, assimilation & culturcide, appropriation & exploitation of Indigenous voices, “no ethical production?/survival? under tourism & colonialism”, grief, corpse flower, who is lucky?

“Don’t whistle at night! You know what happens if the Night Marchers hear you? You know how fast they’ll climb over the Ko‘olaus just to whittle down your spirit? You’ll have to put everything you’ve got into evading them should you hope to whistle and live. My baby honey girl, don’t you want to live?” — from “A Catalogue of Kānaka Superstitions, as Told by Your Mother”

Premise:

“…both a fierce love letter to Hawaiian identity and mythology, and a searing dispatch from an occupied territory threatening to erupt with violent secrets” set in “a contemporary landscape thick with inherited wisdom and the ghosts of colonization.”

My thoughts:

PREMISE—★ ★ ★ ★ ★—felt like looking at personal & sociocultural contemporary themes & realities of being kanaka wahine in Hawai’i today through the lens of Hawaiian folklore, ‘āina, mo’olelo, family history & legends, modern structures & impacts of colonialism, while keeping the focus narrowed on each individual MC of each story so it feels very personal while also demonstrating how the personal is also always political…

EXECUTION—flawless.

NARRATION—I was going through a difficult time when I was reading this book so all I could manage was the audiobook & I thought it was pretty good. It was actually really fun & satisfying to be able to recognize all the Hawaiian words from my studies. I actually only really had to look up like 25% of the words. So that’s motivating me to continue with my lessons a lot.

WRITING STYLE—★ ★ ★ ★ ★—beautiful writing, very literary in that college-educated, writers’ communities & fellowships kind of way…

“the plane’s propellers rotate ecstatically to keep us suspended above the sea”
“two middle-aged haole couples with hysterical sunburns”
“her back is fixed straight like a doorway I could walk through”
“her tūtū’s tales still rang orchestral in her ears all these years later”
“it resembles the sound of her own unmaking”
“summer turning over on its side like a creature roused from slumber”
“she was breathing so horribly, like broken fingers grasping for rope”

CHARACTERS—loved that they were queer, honest, vulnerable, & imperfect.

STORIES—each one like a jewel, a pearl, a precious cowrie shell, cast here in moonlight, there in shadow.

WORLDBUILDING—very evocative, so many different elements of Hawai'i on the page; really enjoyed all the 'ōlelo Hawai'i in the stories too.

“I want you to be extremely careful with the words you deliver to the universe, she’d warned Aiko. I know you are a writer. It’s important to be a writer whose work retains a strong, ethical framework… Don’t bother with accessibility. Even when you write white, the white readers won’t make sense of it. Bother with specificity. Be exacting and specific. Write in ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i when you can. Write dialogue in pidgin, because dialect is important. Most importantly, honor the kapu. Do not write about what you cannot write about.” — from “Aiko, The Writer”

BONUS ELEMENT/S—All the folklore elements were so interesting & such a great lens through which to engage with the characters & themes of these stories. Also loved getting to practice my ‘ōlelo Hawai’i listening comprehension while reading on audiobook.

PHILOSOPHY—★ ★ ★ ★ ★

I loved all of these stories but my favorites were “Madwoman”, “Hotel Molokai”, & “Aiko, The Writer”.

I would recommend this book to readers who like unsettling, literary short stories (like Irenosen, Enriquez, , especially by Indigenous authors with lots of folkloric inspiration, themes & elements. This book is best read on audiobook! especially for non-Hawaiian-speakers. I loved hearing the correct pronunciation of all the ‘ōlelo Hawai’i & pigin dialect with which I am not yet familiar enough to be able to imagine properly in my head.

Final note: This is one of the best short story collections I’ve ever read & the fact that all the stories are grounded in Kānaka Maoli folklore refracted through a modern lens, analyzing issues such as queer identity, loss of ancestral lands/knowledge/connection to colonialism, ecocide, & culturcide, it’s definitely one of those books that will teach on deeper & deeper levels with each reread.

“The Madwoman in the Sea… is always watching... Creeping along the turquoise undertow, She is all tempest and commotion, an effulgent vapor of light that lures not only miniature fish but also unsuspecting men and children—the very surfers and divers who proclaim with jolly-happy guts to have softened Her spirit. She flashes her beam of light so that it dances along the water’s crystalline surface, watching, waiting, waiting longer. They are so startled by Her speed and agility, the poor bastards never stand a chance.” — from “Madwomen”

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

CW // explicit sexual content & porn, blood, pregnancy, death, grief

Season: Summer

Music pairing: kī hō’alu

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EVERY DROP IS A MAN'S NIGHTMARE by Megan Kamalei Kakimoto

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

TITLE—Every Drop Is A Man’s Nightmare

GENRE—short stories—speculative horror magical realism

Premise:

My thoughts:

Further Reading—

Click on the star ratings beside the titles I’ve read to read my reviews/thoughts about the book.

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Subscribe below to see more of my favorite quotes & some of my annotations from this book!

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial