Book reviewed in the Seattle Times

David Takami reviewed my book for the Seattle Times. I thought his comments were thoughtful and well informed, generous in his description and overview of Minidoka: An American Concentration Camp.

Takami, the book reviewer, also authored Divided Destiny: A History of Japanese Americans in Seattle (1998). I first read this book, an "expanded" version of a catalog for an exhibition in 1992 at the Wing Luke Asian Museum, when I lived in Seattle. 

As I worked on the book mock-up for Minidoka, I reread Divided Destiny and noted it in the bibliography. On my copy, there's still a yellow Post-it on the cover. Four pages are noted along with brief descriptions of what I wanted to remember such as "p. 59 Boys eat wieners," which was a photo of three young boys eating in a Minidoka mess hall during their incarceration. Takami also mentions the picture in his review. (See pages 108-109 of the Minidoka book.)

My copy of the book by David Takami. 

I was surprised to see the review was posted, in part, under the "International" heading of India's Times of Mumbai website. 

Once again, I looked at Takami's book. Ron Chew, then executive director of the Wing Luke Asian Museum, wrote in the foreword: "David – in his patient, efficient manner – synthesized endless mounds of information generated by the exhibit and other sources into a crisp, readable text."

Takami's book review was another exampIe of his ability to absorb and synthesize. I certainly appreciate his book review.

As a final aside, I don't know Takami from my own past affiliation as a staff photographer for the Seattle Times.