Peter Nathaniel Malae takes us on a rough airboat ride across the thick multi-cultural marsh of a novel, “What We Are”. [1] Malae eventually emerges using his effectively rhythmic rants to waddle readers through a maze of cultural convergences and conflicts. His palate of characters include his Jamaican muse-cum-sex-partner, Latino immigration activists, his Polynesian real estate con-artist uncle, Filipino cock-fighting aficionados, his more heavily assimilated half sister, among others. Discomforts grace each encounter but perhaps the greatest discomfort is that which bellows from within.
Being a half-breed must be part my problem. When I applied to college out of high school, I didn’t know what to fill in under the category of race. Long distance from American Samoa, my father said over the phone, “Mark Polynesian,” but I couldn’t. Neither could I mark white. I just left the damned thing blank. And that’s exactly how I felt about it: blank. Still do, actually, don’t care either way. By now I know that every culture in the world is equally beautiful, equally ugly.
Malae could have aptly titled his work, “Who I Am”. That would have been apt. His sights overshoot: “What We Are”. Imagine walking down the grocery’s cereal aisle—boxes upon boxes, flavors upon flavors, brands upon brands. There’s something for everyone. Yet, one can leave empty-handed.
***
Never judge a book by its cover, they say. This reader first perceived the image in the cover as a heavily tattooed Samoan man’s face. Upon closer inspection, these astigmatic lenses reveal that the tattooed images were in fact flags of different nations.
[1] Peter Nathaniel Malae, “What We Are”, Grove Press, NY: 2010, page 4
Comments