My trip to Ayama Na was definitely an interesting one. I met a lot of unique characters, which is usually fun, but the odd cultural differences made it out to be an uncomfortable place and one that I would not ever want to visit. Overall, I found this collection to be good, but felt a bit of gloom over most of the stories.

Originally posted on: Thoughts of Joy ( )

This is a moving collection of short stories centered around a fictional Asian country, Ayama Na. Ayama Na has its poor and its rich, its beauty contests, its factories, and its tourists, all of which provide a basis for these enchanting stories. The country is recovering from both an internal coup and a long and devastating drought, providing an emotional and political backdrop for a series of stories which serve to get us acquainted with not only the country but the people it harbors.

As many others have said, getting to know the country of Ayama Na was perhaps the best part of this book. It links all these stories together in a way that would not be possible if they were set in a less colorful, distinctive country, or even one with which we were better acquainted. Ayama Na is fictional, but it doesn’t feel that way. Rather, it feels alive and peeks out through each and every story.

Of course, the stories themselves are well worth reading. I normally worry with short stories. Will I get attached to the characters only to have them taken away? Or will I feel absolutely nothing because the story is just too short for me to care? Luckily, neither of these things happened with this book. Each story is very different but is a fully encapsulated burst of character. In one, “Skin Deep”, a beautiful girl from a very poor family wins the Miss Lake Sporee beauty pageant, moving on to vie for the title of Miss Ayama Na. For her talent, she learns to throw her voice and becomes a ventriloquist. Song and her dummy have a fascinating relationship, and in the end it is through the dummy, Lulu, that important truths about their country are exposed, rather than smiling lies which normally make up such events.

In another story, “The Cut the Crap Machine”, two of the country’s only remaining playwrights together attempt to compose a play. They both have emerged from the crisis with completely different views on life and to say that they struggle to work together is an understatement. All hope, however, is not lost, and bitterness doesn’t last forever.

My favorite, though, is the last story. “Tea”. Pania’s father announces to her that she is going to a dinner to meet a potential future husband. Pania has embraced the western world and is infuriated, convinced that she has a right to choice. She immediately asks her brother Kol to do something. They meet for tea, but Kol does and says nothing; they don’t even have tea. Pania is outraged still further and only with time does she learn exactly what she is meant to learn.

There are so many stunning contrasts in this book. By using a fictional country, Eleanor Bluestein has been able to show the immense divides between rich and poor, between western and eastern culture, between the farm and the factory. It feels like a behind-the-scenes look that the tourists don’t go see, like in the story “The Blanks”, when the tour guide finally takes an exasperating American couple to an impoverished village so they can see the reality of Ayama Nan lives.

Honestly, this is a wonderful collection. Writing about it has convinced me even more of its beauty. If Asia interests you, if short stories interest you, if anything in this review has captured your interest at all, you should read this book.

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Bluestein's short stories in Tea & Other Ayama Na Tales read like morality plays in which flawed characters struggle with what actions will lead them on the right path and bring about justice. From the McDonald's worker, Mahala, who wants to set things right for her friend, co-worker, and fellow student, Raylee, to Dali-Roo, a down-on-his-luck farmer working at a Sony factory to make ends meet, Bluestein uses scene breaks to build tension and quicken the pace for some of her more ambitious story lines. She also does an excellent job of weaving in details of her fictional South Asian location, Ayama Na, including the setting, the language, and Asian mysticism.

"Home was a houseboat in a floating village not far from the mouth of the lake, a squalid kitchen and cramped bunk beds ruled over by a mother who hadn't attended school three days in her life, who worked morning to night cooking and mending nets for Song's father and brothers, whose stained and wrinkled hands smelled of shrimp and dried fish. The houseboat lapped up and down and moved in and out at the mercy of the weather, and in the dry season, it flowed with the whole floating village closer to the center of the lake, exposing garbage-strewn banks." ("Skin Deep," Page 77)

Readers will enjoy many of the stories in this volume, including "Skin Deep," in which a university student, Song, enters a beauty pageant and takes a year off from school. She has no talents to speak of, but eventually writes and recites three poems before the local judges and wins the competition. Once at the nationals, she concludes she needs a more dazzling talent and embarks upon a journey. She becomes an amateur ventriloquist. The scenes between Song and her mother are wrought with tension because Song is not fulfilling her destiny, and her automaton, Lulu, agrees. The final scene of this story drives the moral home and--like many of the other stories in this book--with a bang.

"While he waited for the artist to take a breath and notice him, Jackman studied the tiny iridescent beetle exploring the edge of Faraway's beard, the grime sloshing in the creases of his sweaty forehead, the shivers regularly shaking a body swaddled for a brisk fall Philadelphia day." ("The Artist's Story," Page 94)

Each of these stories highlights the struggles facing the people of Ayama Na, which may mirror the struggles of many emerging nations today, as they strive to hold onto their traditions in the face of modernization and globalization. In many cases the modern world is juxtaposed with the cultural norms of this fictional society, and almost all of the characters are faced with a moral dilemma. From the surprise endings in "Skin Deep" and "Pineapple Wars" to quieter changes in character in "The Artist's Story," Bluestein is a gifted storyteller who will have readers examining their own lives and learning how to integrate their own cultural roots into their modern lives. These stories also help us examine larger societal issues, like providing aid to devastated nations and cities like New Orleans and China and providing assistance to developing nations. Bluestein's short story collection showcases her talents, and the book will provide fodder for book club discussion. ( )