EAST IS EAST by T.C. Boyle

Hiro is a young seaman, half Japanese and half American, who dives overboard near the coast of a Georgia island.  A tony writer’s retreat on the island becomes his safe haven for a while, as Ruth Dershowitz surreptitiously shares her lunch with him, brings him clothes, and helps him hide from the authorities.  Ruth is not the same caliber of writer as some of her housemates, but she is the girlfriend of the owner’s son, Saxby.  This novel is primarily Ruth’s story, and T.C. Boyle does not disappoint.  We see Ruth’s rise and fall in the pecking order of the colony, as we follow Hiro’s struggle to survive in an environment that is basically an inhabited jungle.  Boyle never shies away from controversial topics, and here the theme of bigotry is what makes Hiro’s story so poignant.  He was bullied in Japan for being only half-Japanese, and in the U.S., he is branded as a “Nip” and hunted by the authorities like an animal, without having committed a serious crime.  He ricochets from one bad situation to another throughout the book, relying on his wits and his will to keep him one step ahead of the INS, represented by one man who is overly concerned about his reputation and another who is an incompetent fool.  Hiro is the hero, and Ruth is the damsel who tries to save him, even as she is repeatedly thwarted by her own mistakes and hubris.  The pace of this novel never lets up, especially while Hiro is on the run.  When he’s not, Ruth and Saxby dominate the storyline, and they are just as captivating.