Ebook296 pages
The Tattoo: A Novel
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
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About this ebook
Two prisoners form a bond in this “powerful” novel that reveals the darker side of Hawaii (Time Out Chicago).
Ken Hideyoshi is the new guy in Halawa Correctional Institute. He’s tough looking, a hard case. His cellmate is Cal—the mute tattoo artist of the prison who murdered his own wife. Ken, already inked with a gang symbol and a Japanese emblem, eventually asks Cal to create an elaborate tattoo on his back, in kanji script, of Musashi’s Book of the Void.
While he is being worked on, he tells Cal his life story. Motherless, he was raised by a distant father, a Vietnam War veteran, in the impoverished hinterlands. In his teen years he hung out with the native Hawaiian gangs and was drawn into the Hawaiian-Korean underworld of strip bars and massage parlors. As Cal’s artistry takes shape on Ken’s back, the story of Ken’s life takes shape as well—a tale of hardship and abuse, ambition and proud samurai spirit, and, ultimately, his downfall, in this gritty novel about “the other Hawai’i, the one tourists never get to see” (Ian MacMillan).
Ken Hideyoshi is the new guy in Halawa Correctional Institute. He’s tough looking, a hard case. His cellmate is Cal—the mute tattoo artist of the prison who murdered his own wife. Ken, already inked with a gang symbol and a Japanese emblem, eventually asks Cal to create an elaborate tattoo on his back, in kanji script, of Musashi’s Book of the Void.
While he is being worked on, he tells Cal his life story. Motherless, he was raised by a distant father, a Vietnam War veteran, in the impoverished hinterlands. In his teen years he hung out with the native Hawaiian gangs and was drawn into the Hawaiian-Korean underworld of strip bars and massage parlors. As Cal’s artistry takes shape on Ken’s back, the story of Ken’s life takes shape as well—a tale of hardship and abuse, ambition and proud samurai spirit, and, ultimately, his downfall, in this gritty novel about “the other Hawai’i, the one tourists never get to see” (Ian MacMillan).
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Reviews for The Tattoo
Rating: 4.038461507692308 out of 5 stars
4/5
13 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tourist only see what they see in catalogs and magazines of Hawaii, they will never know TRUE Hawaii and the poverty we live in. Real experience of how some of us local boys grow up in Hawaii. MUST READ!! E ku’u home o’kahaluu!
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I tried to get into the book but it just didn't hold my interest.
Book preview
The Tattoo - Chris McKinney
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