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INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand corner and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. o·M·I University Microfilms International A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor. M148106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Order Number 9312204 Hours of Operation: Life Sketches from the Archipelago. [Original writing] Lee, Lanning Christophersen, Ph.D. University of Hawaii, 1992 Copyright @1992 by Lee, Lanning Christophersen. All rights reserved. V·M·I 300N. ZeebRd. AnnArbor,MI 48106 - - ---------------- HOURS OF OPERATION: LIFE SKETCHES FROM THE ARCHIPELAGO A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI' I IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN ENGLISH DECEMBER 1992 BY Lanning Lee Dissertation committee: Barry Menikoff, Chairperson Arnold Edelstein Alan MacGregor Robert Shapard James D. Ellsworth (§) Copyright by Lanning Lee 1992 All Rights Reserved iii DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my parents Henry C. and Thordis C. Lee Mr. Jim Harstad Mr. Shige Yamada the members of my dissertation committee and the following writers for helping my work come together: Seema Ahmed, Kawehi Anderson, Kyle Arsiga, Joan Bunao, Klaylan Burchett, Adam Campbell, Soo Jin Choi, Wincha Chong, Christine Chu, Steven Ginoza, Dalia Hanna, Keith Hirata, Clifford Jara, Gordon Kim, Kristine Kim, Mel Kubota, Garrett Leong, Lisa McIntosh, GUy Mello, Kimberly Palma, Junko peterson, Edward Ripley, Roselyn Ripley, Garrett Smith, Dana Smrekar, Todd Tokunaga, Jo-Ann uchimura, Ralph Williams, and Caroline Wong. iv ABSTRACT When critics discuss the short story cycle, they point to characteristics such as consistency of setting, recurrence of characters, language and image patterns, coherence of narrative voice, thematic unity, and structural strategy, in order to argue that individual stories piece together for a specific purpose. While each of the stories in this collection was written to stand alone, their selection and ordering is directed toward a larger unity. The stories divide into four sections: Work, Family, Love, and Friendship. In a world completely dedicated to work, the need for personal fulfillment, physical health and psychological stability, in short, compensation which stands for more than economic gain, is a primary concern. This collection suggests that, beyond work, this compensation may be found in relationships, interconnections with loved ones and friends as they help create life's meaning along the way. A story cycle which parallels most closely the crafting of this collection is washington Irving's Sketch Book. As writers often do, Irving inscribes himself as a character in many of his stories, convincing his readers that the narrative is indeed autobiographical. My fascination with fiction of this type has less to do with deciding whether a story is "true" than with discovering how an author persuades the reader that the experience could have occurred. v As Irving also may have done, I learned to write fiction by first attempting to produce concrete personal narrative essays. The next step involved finding areas in those essays where I could invent details, could move from the factual event into the realm of absolute invention. This led to a mild obsession with dedicating more and more space to the imagined detail, and far less to the actual fact. Finally, just as in the chronicle of Geoffrey Crayon's search for meaning, for identity, for self-realization, much of what takes place in this collection never happened. But it is my hope that readers will believe, as Irving's readers must, that almost everything I write could, in fact, have happened. vi ----- ------------------- TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication iv Abstract • v Foreword ix I. WORK 1 BRINGING US BOTH BACK • 2 GROUNDSKEEPING: 14 Raoul Call Me. • Ravi Manuel HE TAUGHT US HOW TO DO IT • 23 FROM A. • BOX BUILDER 32 RESEARCH PAPER 45 BORN AGAIN 53 WE'VE GOT A TEAM 59 READING, WRITING, AND • 69 COMING ONE MORE TIME 76 TEACHING THE GAP 79 CROSSWORD PUZZLE, JIGSAW BLADE 86 II. FAMILY 109 IN KAREN'S FOOTSTEPS 110 ED AND ROZ 114 WHAT REAL MEN DO 115 JUST ANOTHER TORNADO 123 TURNING THIRTY-TWO 126 WHOSE BASEBALL IS THIS? 129 PICK ME UP 134 SOLITAIRE 145 IN PASSING: 151 Punchbowl Bleak House CARRY-ON BAGGAGE 154 ADAM 163 UNCLE KNOWS BEST 164 BITE THE BULLET • 175 JO-ANN 185 III. LOVE 187 HEART OF GLASS 188 MAKING BELIEVE 193 BORN AND BRED • 206 DISORDER 226 MOVING 229 LOVE AT LAST 238 CLIFF WALK 241 OLD ACQUAINTANCE 242 PARTING SHOTS 252 BILINGUAL 254 IV. FRIENDSHIP 269 ALL KIDDING ASIDE 270 vii ENTERTAINING CHRISTMAS PRESENT •••• • 293 MANOA GARDEN: ••••• • • .' • • • 303 Alan, Barbara, Bill, Craig, Linda SHARING A LITTLE GIN WITH PELE • 305 TOO SMART TO SLOW DOWN: ••••• 313 A One-Roach Play in One Act MAINTAINING VOLCANO •••• • • 323 20-20 NIGHT VISION •••• 325 DIGGING OUR PITS ••••• • 340 Afterword • • • • • • 342 viii FOREWORD OPEN • • o Eh, eh, I get one joke fo axe. No--I mean one riddo. Yeah, one riddo fo axe. 'Kaaay? Okay, shut up den. 'Kay. What da tree doctah wen say to da monkeypod jes befo he wen start cuttin? Geev? You folks geev up already 0 wot? 'Kay den. Da tree doctah wen say to da monkeypod, "Eh, brah, no worry. Prison not dat bad." Catch? You folks catch 0 wot? HOURS OF OPERATION ix I. WORK 1 But, every night, when the curtain falls, truth comes in with darkness. No light shows from the mountains. To and fro I walk the piazza deck, haunted by Marianna's face, and many as real a story. Berman Melville TBE PIAZZA BRINGING US BOTH BACK That summer I was slaving at the record store. Galaxy of Sound, where the stars come out. I still remember that advertising slogan. Must have been effective; it's burned in my brain. Every time I recite it, I picture faces materializing in a dark sky. Gordon Lightfoot or Linda Ronstadt, at the speed of light, coming right at me out of the blackness of the Milky Way. Maybe I should have moved back to Honolulu after I finished school, but I couldn't bring myself to go back home. Not yet. Even though it was July in Madison, which is the nearest thing to hell imaginable. Except maybe Madison in February, if you're into Dante and alternative representations of the Inferno. Madison in July is hot. Not Honolulu-hot though, except on the worst island days when the trades die and the humidity hovers just under one-hundred percent. Madison is surrounded by two lakes, and because there aren't any tradewinds, when the water starts to evaporate it's sauna time. Fortunately West Towne Mall had said screw it to federal regulations. It was always a cool 65 degrees. 2 Down on my knees behind the glass showcase next to the register, I'd just finished repricing the top twenty cassettes for the week and was rearranging them in their new order. I had my hand on Supertramp, the week's number-one bestseller in the midwest region. Breakfast in America had been coming on slow all summer. Springsteen's Darkness on the Edge of Town stood at number two. Saturday Night Fever held on to third, but it looked like the BeeGees were finally headed down. The first thing I saw were two legs walking toward the case. "Excuse me," her voice said, "isn't that a Hawaiian group I hear?" I stared through the glass at the legs. Don Ho, everyone expected. But Cecilia and Kapono sang at least once a day when I worked. El Santos, my district manager, a 1959 Kamehameha Schools graduate, said it was okay to play C & K so long as we had product in the store. We always did; I made sure of it. "Yes it is," I answered, leaning back and looking up. "Hey, Lanny," she said, smiling. "Great aloha shirtl" "Kathy?" "Yeahl It's mel Customers ever ask you about the shirt?" "Every day. Especially winter. What brings you to Madison?" "I had the day off, so I flew up, uh, to see you." 3 Kathy and I had known each other since preschool at the university Laboratory School. After high school, we'd both done our undergraduate work at UH-Manoa. Then I'd come to Madison for my master's degree, and she'd gone to the Art Institute in Chicago for her MFA. We wrote to each other but had never found time to visit. It was always, "Yeah! Let's get together," but we could always seem to find some excuse not to do it.