THREE YEARS ON DOREEN'S SOFA #FridayReview 3 of 71

Lee Cataluna is Hawaii-born. She is a writer, Honolulu newspaper reporter/columnist, and actress, known for stage plays E Ho'omau!: Pele Searches for a Home (2011), E Ho'omau!: Why Maui Snared the Sun (2011) and Ho'olawe: Give and Take (2001). She is also the author OF Folks You Meet in Longs, a humorous take on local living. 

Three Years on Doreen’s Sofa by Lee Cataluna is not your typical novel about life in Hawai‘i. If you like lots of good laughs, though, give it a read. You may know someone just like Bobby. 

Hawaiian Pidgin English is an inherent part of this author’s vocabulary. The words she uses in dialogue and description are often not pidgin, but her rhythm and cadence suggest local-style with every sentence. Once you catch the beat, it all makes perfect sense. At times, maybe more so than regular English. 

The main character, Bobby, is a resident of Maui. He is a recent parolee after three years one month in prison for “driving one fork lift that wasn’t mine into a car that wasn’t mine while carrying a bunch of cocaine in one fanny pack that was mine …” 

Now Bobby is sleeping, temporarily, on his sister/cousin’s sofa, trying to get his life back on track. His sister/cousin, Doreen, has given him the list of rules to follow while he stays with her. Bobby intends to follow those rules to the letter because he understands his sister/cousin and her three kids are doing him a huge favor by letting him sleep on the living room sofa. 

Only one problem: Bobby’s social skills are lacking. Try as he might, well, things don’t always work out as he’d planned. If you like “slap-your-head-to-make-you-shape-up” kind of humor, you’ll love Three Years on Doreen’s Sofa. 

I sure did. 

 

Next up for review is:

 

Route 66 to the Milky Way by Janet Rendall