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Rolling the R's
Illuminated by pop fantasies, Donna Summer disco tracks and teen passion, the fiercely earnest characters in Rolling the R’s come to life against a background of burning dreams and neglect in a small 1970s Hawaiian community. In his daring first novel, R. Zamora Linmark treats the music of the Bee Gees and schoolyard bullying as equally formative experiences in the lives of a group of Filipino fourth-graders living in Kalihi, Honolulu, who call themselves the "Farrah Fawcett Fan Club." The characters’ stories unfold largely in the documentary detritus of their lives―their poems and prayers, book reports and teacher evaluations―all written in carefully observed, pitch-perfect vernacular. Now back in stock, Linmark’s tour-de-force experiments in narrative structure, pidgin and perspective roll every "are," throwing new light on gay identity and the trauma of cultural assimilation. Rolling the R’s goes beyond "coming of age" and "coming out" to address the realities of cultural confusion, prejudice and spiraling levels of desire in humorous yet haunting portrayals that are, as Matthew Stadler writes, "stylish, shameless and beautiful." This special twentieth anniversary edition includes a new essay by the author, introducing one of the most original and iconic stories of the Asian diasporic experience and an essential work of fiction in the Asian American literary canon.
R. Zamora Linmark (born 1968) is a writer and poet currently based in Honolulu and Manila. He has published three poetry collections, two novels and adapted Rolling the R’s for the stage in 2008.
R. Zamora Linmark (born 1968) is a writer and poet currently based in Honolulu and Manila. He has published three poetry collections, two novels and adapted Rolling the R’s for the stage in 2008.
180 pages, Paperback
First published December 2, 1995
16 people are currently reading
841 people want to read
About the author
R. Zamora Linmark
21 books49 followersR. Zamora Linmark is the author of Rolling The R’s, Prime Time Apparitions, The Evolution of a Sigh, and Leche, sequel to Rolling The R’s. A two-time Fulbright Scholar, he has received grants and fellowships from the U.S.-Japan Friendship Commission, National Endowment for the Arts, San Francisco Arts Commission, and twice from the Fulbright Foundation, in 1998, and as a Senior Scholar in 2005.
His residencies include the Macdowell Colony, the Corporation of Yaddo, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and, most recently, Fundacion Valparaiso in Spain. He has taught at the U.C. Santa Cruz, De La Salle University in the Philippines, and most recently, at the University of Hawaii in Manoa where he was the Distinguished Visiting Writer. His writings can be found in many anthologies including Charlie Chan is Dead (edited by Jessica Hagedorn).
His residencies include the Macdowell Colony, the Corporation of Yaddo, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and, most recently, Fundacion Valparaiso in Spain. He has taught at the U.C. Santa Cruz, De La Salle University in the Philippines, and most recently, at the University of Hawaii in Manoa where he was the Distinguished Visiting Writer. His writings can be found in many anthologies including Charlie Chan is Dead (edited by Jessica Hagedorn).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews
July 28, 2015
An experimental book about a bunch of Filipino, genderqueer kids living in 1970s Hawaii. While the fragmented structure of the story did not do too much for me, I appreciated Zamora Linmark's honest and sometimes brutal portrayal of postcolonial trauma and race relations. Linmark incorporated a ton of pop references that offset the serious stuff the fifth-graders in Rolling the R's face, and his consistent use of Pidgin English made the novel a unique read. Recommended to those interested in its synopsis as well as to those searching for something different, diverse, and meaningful in a zany way.
June 6, 2008
this book is fragmented the way childhood feels. about a community of (mostly) genderqueer pilipina kids living in hawaii in the seventies. lots of pop culture references mixed with religion mixed with violence and poetry and school and assimilation and family. there is a lot of unprocessed abuse in here, raw and confusing like it feels as a kid. kids leading other kids into violent situations thinking they are helping. kids still being kids pretending to be charlie's angels, arguing over who gets to play which part, who's the prettiest, the toughest, the best singer, the worldliest. it's interesting because in the beginning i kept trying to figure out who the main character was and then i realized it kept switching and all the characters are connected, they live in a small community and everybody's stories flow into each other. except maybe a couple - like the freshman in high school who is a straight a student and comes to school dressed like farrah fawcet. who was he?
October 16, 2008
Wow. Unlike anything I've ever read. Poetic, chaotic, disturbing and fragmented to reflect the world of the main characters, mostly a bunch of queer/lost/melodramatic/using/abusing/abused 5th grade Filipino students in one of O'ahu's most downtrodden immigrant neighborhoods in the 70's. (The burro, Kalihi, is still the island epicenter for the freshest immigrants, the worst schools, drug problems, and gang acivity.)
A huge portion of the book is written in Pidgin, the local dialect which evolved from the mismash of languages spoken by the early plantation workers, and might be a chore to read if you didn't have some sense of the spoken tempo and "feel." On the islands, it's everywhere, so for me reading just a few chapters actually helped me understand people better.
Fascinating book. They just made it into a play which debuts this month at the small kine theater in Chinatown...can't wait. =)
A huge portion of the book is written in Pidgin, the local dialect which evolved from the mismash of languages spoken by the early plantation workers, and might be a chore to read if you didn't have some sense of the spoken tempo and "feel." On the islands, it's everywhere, so for me reading just a few chapters actually helped me understand people better.
Fascinating book. They just made it into a play which debuts this month at the small kine theater in Chinatown...can't wait. =)
February 11, 2017
Parts of this reminded me of a boxer, dodging, diving, punting, going in for the K.O.
"The Sentencing of Lives, Or Why Edgar Almost Failed Mrs. Takemoto's Class" Words! What a mastery of words! I want to call it a double entendre, but it's more, so much more.
Encapsulated everything I've been thinking about, and went beyond it. on rage, on love, on being young and wanting-- no, needing to be loved, on the violence of the English language, on colonization as an act of penetration, of fragility sheathed in strength, these words quiver on the page, simultaneously desperate and elusive.
"The Sentencing of Lives, Or Why Edgar Almost Failed Mrs. Takemoto's Class" Words! What a mastery of words! I want to call it a double entendre, but it's more, so much more.
Encapsulated everything I've been thinking about, and went beyond it. on rage, on love, on being young and wanting-- no, needing to be loved, on the violence of the English language, on colonization as an act of penetration, of fragility sheathed in strength, these words quiver on the page, simultaneously desperate and elusive.
January 24, 2013
I originally read this in 2002 and re-read it this month while I was in Hawaii, because apparently that's the kind of book I bring with me on vacation, fabulous prose poems about growing up queer in Hawaii in the 1970s. I brought it with me partly because I remembered it as more light-hearted than it is. What I remembered most was the brilliance with which it acts as a cultural artifact; any book that describes playing Charlie's Angels with friends is going to resonate with me. This time through, I realized that, for people who weren't 70s children, this book must be as opaque as T.S. Eliot's "The Wasteland" was for me. When it is read years from now, it will require a compendium of footnotes explaining, among other things, who Mrs. Garrett was and why the mention of her should make you laugh. It will need to explain exactly how important Scott Baio and Farrah Fawcett were, how ubiquitous they were, how they represented a certain kind of lush desire for children still wearing Garanimals. What doesn't need translation -- and this is where the emotional heart of the book lies -- is how, amidst all that decadent cultural effusion, there were real children trying to navigate real sexuality, to understand and protect their real bodies, failing and flying at the same time. So I hope it stays around, I hope it gets those footnotes, because yeah.
June 20, 2007
There's a term,gender-F@$&, which basically means to screw up any accepted idea one has about gender. In Rolling the Rs it is done superbly, not only by screwing up notions of gender, but also with the entire structure of the novel itself, right down to the packaging (oversized, non-standard book - make what puns you will). The book is posed to f#$% over our asscoiations with gender, nationality, ethinicity, language, and even narrative form.
I loved this book. It is smart, it is literary, and I think provides another look at the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and ethinicity/national identity. It's also written as if you're in the midst of all your best friends and they're telling you this fantastic story, while impersonating each person who's in the story, and getting attitude with those who deserve to be handed their business on a smack-you-silly platter.
I loved this book. It is smart, it is literary, and I think provides another look at the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and ethinicity/national identity. It's also written as if you're in the midst of all your best friends and they're telling you this fantastic story, while impersonating each person who's in the story, and getting attitude with those who deserve to be handed their business on a smack-you-silly platter.
April 22, 2008
i bought a copy of this book off the street one day for a dollar because I liked it so much the first time i read it. sometimes i think i missed out on the era of tiger beat, andy gibb, farrah fawcett hair, disco and i glamorize it a bit...this is a book about growing up in oahu- Filipino, immigrant, mixed race, queer, trans, dealing with drug addicted/alcoholic adults, precarious first sexual experiences, domestic violence, class-oppression, racism and homophobia- and it reminds me that the u.s. pop culture in the 70's wasn't as glamorous as it was a way for kids to express their inner fag. for working class qweers everywhere- read this book about the intersections of oppression and enjoy cultural references to the bee gees and charlie's angels at the same time!
November 21, 2008
A wonderful book that I recently read and saw in play form. The jacket descriptions focuses on the coming out tale of a young boy in a Filipino American community in Kalihi, Hawai'i, circa 1970, but this book is also so much more. Language politics (pidgin vs. "standard" English); intergenerational and more-often-than-not disturbing love affairs, immigrant politics, etc etc all run through this text. The book will take you a day to read, but the story will stay with you for much longer. I highly recommend it!
October 15, 2019
I love that this novel just goes for it. It's balls to the walls and out there. Sometimes when I read fiction by and about people of color I cringe when there's too much explanation of the culture/lifestyle/etc. I love it when a novel just tells its story and fuck you if you don't know what a jherri curl is. This is one of those kinds of books. It's not really for everyone but that's okay. The best novels never are.
July 13, 2025
Excellent and tragic story of children who were forced to grow up way too fast. A bit of a difficult read dealing with topics such as child sexual abuse, racism, colonization, and bullying along with an anecdotal style of prose told through various points of view and fictionalized documents. Despite this it is a book that makes you think. Once you get connected to the characters-recognizing their talking styles and internal struggles-you are thrown between laughing at the crazy situations to crying at the reality of their lives. Would love to add to my physical book collection one day!
August 2, 2022
I think this book would benefit from a second read, as I felt the narratives fragmenting tended to lean more on the confusing side than the falling together side. (If that even makes sense.) I still appreciate the book for what it brings to the table and think this would be amazing to read in a group setting.
January 14, 2012
Perhaps the most enjoyable literature is one that is immediate, which means extremely familiar: you just get it from the get go, no Wikipedia necessary.
It doesn't happen often. As many of the middle-class, university-bred, English-fluent, postmodern, Filipino intelligentsia members are, I am quite estranged to my own literature. I am not proud of this.
So what joy to have stumbled upon Rolling The R's, and to have seen it, well, roll. To identify with it is a no-brainer: it's chiefly about Filipino youth in Hawaii. Bingo. It even has that characteristic zeal (from F For Book Report):
At first, Katherine try for pretend she not really into Michael, but after two chapters, she stay letting him hold hand and touch her boobs and here and there, but not her tight bilat cuz she still one virgin...
Get it? Good.
I recommend this book most to any Filipino who's young and homesick, whether in and out of the country. During these times of exile and estrangement, the imperative is to go back to your roots.
It doesn't happen often. As many of the middle-class, university-bred, English-fluent, postmodern, Filipino intelligentsia members are, I am quite estranged to my own literature. I am not proud of this.
So what joy to have stumbled upon Rolling The R's, and to have seen it, well, roll. To identify with it is a no-brainer: it's chiefly about Filipino youth in Hawaii. Bingo. It even has that characteristic zeal (from F For Book Report):
At first, Katherine try for pretend she not really into Michael, but after two chapters, she stay letting him hold hand and touch her boobs and here and there, but not her tight bilat cuz she still one virgin...
Get it? Good.
I recommend this book most to any Filipino who's young and homesick, whether in and out of the country. During these times of exile and estrangement, the imperative is to go back to your roots.
November 2, 2013
Read for class, probably wouldn't read again. Thirty-one of us and only me and one other person (a pidgin speaker) liked it.
I wonder if Rolling was written contemporaneously, like from a journal or did Linmark research his extensive pop culture references? Heavy references to Farrah Fawcett aside, this is a tough read. Ultimately, I coped with reading this by suspending my awareness that the main characters were supposed to be in elementary school; as if they were X-rated Peanuts—sans Snoopy and Woodstock. If I could engage the athor, I’d want to know were the experiences of multiple instances of child molestation and abuse real within his circle or if he exaggerated. Because if this were anything close to truth, it’s too terrible to contemplate.
Frustrating poor editing: typos and formatting errors made for annoying distractions in an already challenging book.
I wonder if Rolling was written contemporaneously, like from a journal or did Linmark research his extensive pop culture references? Heavy references to Farrah Fawcett aside, this is a tough read. Ultimately, I coped with reading this by suspending my awareness that the main characters were supposed to be in elementary school; as if they were X-rated Peanuts—sans Snoopy and Woodstock. If I could engage the athor, I’d want to know were the experiences of multiple instances of child molestation and abuse real within his circle or if he exaggerated. Because if this were anything close to truth, it’s too terrible to contemplate.
Frustrating poor editing: typos and formatting errors made for annoying distractions in an already challenging book.
September 8, 2017
In theory, I love this book. First-person narratives of queer kids exploring their intersectional identities with a backdrop of 70's disco fever and Farrah Fawcett obsessions. What's not to love? In practice, this book was chaotic and it was really hard for me to focus on what was happening, as the storytelling structure, point-of-view, and language pattern switches every few pages. I appreciate this book for what it is and what it does, but I will only recommend it if you're ready to tackle all that.
May 28, 2008
"11. clandestine, adj. In this class is a clandestine boy who freaked out after I gave him a torrid kiss."
Each chapter in Rolling the R's is a different form. I'm not really into experimental fiction, but I recommend this book to those who are interested in experimental writing and race/class/gender/queer issues. Rolling the R's is pretty hilarious at points. The vocab test (excerpt above), book report, and progress notes chapters were most entertaining.
Each chapter in Rolling the R's is a different form. I'm not really into experimental fiction, but I recommend this book to those who are interested in experimental writing and race/class/gender/queer issues. Rolling the R's is pretty hilarious at points. The vocab test (excerpt above), book report, and progress notes chapters were most entertaining.
February 24, 2012
I read this book for a Comparative Literature class, where we are focusing on Language and Diasporas. A perfect book for such topics. I ended up reading ahead, got through the entire book within a day. Man did I love it. The use of pidgin, the pop culture references. The book has it's own basic soundtrack, this meant coming into my lecture class while my professor played Donna Summers and other disco music. An amazing books, though it appears easy when reading, there is so much for it it.
November 21, 2012
An absolutely amazing, not to mention unapologetically queer, novel that explores the performativity of identity, the iconic status of Farrah Fawcett of the disco queens, and the importance of queerness in creating community in the face of an assimilationist agenda.
December 22, 2012
I think this is out of print now, a forgotten favorite. Written partly in pidgin, narrative fiction from the point of view of queer/trans filipina young people, growing up is hard. Loved the pop culture references, loved the multicultural setting in Hawaii.
August 1, 2007
One of my fave books of all time, and the one title I look forward to teaching all semester.
July 8, 2008
Holy moly. This is an awesome book about young Filipino queer pre-teens growing up in Hawaii. Written in pidgin, mostly. Awesome experimental fiction.
June 14, 2015
Rolling the R's is an amazing book! I highly recommend it if you want to learn about growing up on Hawaii as a QPOC.
October 27, 2019
1.5 stars.
......?
Screw you, Dr. Nessly.
......?
Screw you, Dr. Nessly.
November 13, 2018
2.5
it was just not my thing, especially stylistically
it was just not my thing, especially stylistically
August 17, 2019
Rolling the R's is a very realistic book on the Filipino culture. It brings to life the struggles of filipinos and the pressure they are put under to represent their family. This book used lots of slangs mixed with filipino and somewhat pidgin. This gave the book a more connecting use of vocabulary with the readers. I highly recommend this book to mature audience over 18 because of the use of sex and the choice of words. This is a story about a young girl who is facing the hardships of the real world while at the same time experiences the coming out of sexuality. She experiences racism, ethnic prejudice, and gives a real life perspective on a young filipino girl's life here in Hawaii.
January 5, 2018
A series of scenes following the life of a group of children in a small Hawaii community.
This year I want to get more into reading filipino authors who write filipino characters, just I am a filipino. So I did my research and from a anthology I read last year, Manila Noir, I found this book. What strike me about this book was the fact it was set in Hawaii, where I live, but also it is set in the same exact place I rise. Theres something about a book that brings your hometown into the story right, and captures it, and makes you smile. Janet Mock Redefining Realness did that for me.
So while reading it I was baised to the setting as I grew up in the area and know what places Linmark was saying. It brought a connection to me to this novel. Also how Linmark did pidgin was well done, how he captures the people who live there were well done (I knew people like that). Linmark hinted a lot of things about race, about being filipino at that time, being local, fob or hoele. Sexuality, assault, family dynamics and more. He captures a lot, a lot of true things.
What I did not care for was how Linmark told the story. It was experimental as there was poetry, changing from 1st to 3rd person out of each chapter and no way of telling who talking, dialogue, text, report card, book report. It was interesting but at times confusing I was wondering who was who, and what was happening. And there was no plot, but more of a slice of life putting us into the lives of the community which was an interesting way of doing it, but I wished there was a solid plot. I think this book could have done great with a plot, a character arch, but it is Linmark book and got to respect that. I also could not believe the children were only in elementary, they sounded way older.
Overall Linmark capture the heart and the insides of a community I was raised in, even though this was se tin 70's, I could still see it. The plot and the way of story telling to me did not do all it needed to do. So I gave this a 3.25 out of 5 book reports.
This year I want to get more into reading filipino authors who write filipino characters, just I am a filipino. So I did my research and from a anthology I read last year, Manila Noir, I found this book. What strike me about this book was the fact it was set in Hawaii, where I live, but also it is set in the same exact place I rise. Theres something about a book that brings your hometown into the story right, and captures it, and makes you smile. Janet Mock Redefining Realness did that for me.
So while reading it I was baised to the setting as I grew up in the area and know what places Linmark was saying. It brought a connection to me to this novel. Also how Linmark did pidgin was well done, how he captures the people who live there were well done (I knew people like that). Linmark hinted a lot of things about race, about being filipino at that time, being local, fob or hoele. Sexuality, assault, family dynamics and more. He captures a lot, a lot of true things.
What I did not care for was how Linmark told the story. It was experimental as there was poetry, changing from 1st to 3rd person out of each chapter and no way of telling who talking, dialogue, text, report card, book report. It was interesting but at times confusing I was wondering who was who, and what was happening. And there was no plot, but more of a slice of life putting us into the lives of the community which was an interesting way of doing it, but I wished there was a solid plot. I think this book could have done great with a plot, a character arch, but it is Linmark book and got to respect that. I also could not believe the children were only in elementary, they sounded way older.
Overall Linmark capture the heart and the insides of a community I was raised in, even though this was se tin 70's, I could still see it. The plot and the way of story telling to me did not do all it needed to do. So I gave this a 3.25 out of 5 book reports.
September 16, 2023
"So what? Like me teach you how for French kiss. make hickeys, and M&M too? Dumb ass, not candles. Mutual mastication, hand-to-hand resuscitation. Learned 'em from Afterschool Special with Mr. Campos and late-nite TV. Not Johnny Carson or Wolfman Jack More like Pinocchio, grown-up version. The one that says: When he lies, it's not his nose that grows. Yeah, my parents know I watch skin-flix. What they goin' do?"
I don't know why I was so hesitant to read this. It doesn't make sense now; I can only describe it as a vibe that put me off. Now, I am so glad I got past it and gave it a try because it is one of my favourite books of the year. I'm reluctant to call it delightful since it deals with very serious themes but reading the book was so much fun. Much of it has to do with the experimental bits, how the book is structured and written while it narrates the lives of precocious kids in Hawaii, through their book reports, poems, prayers and teacher evaluations, with notable use of pidgin.
The book is composed of short chapters, each unique in the way it employs form, perspective, voice, and language. There's queer chaos, both joy and tragedy, and layered exploration of how and where one belongs. Our central characters might be children, but the issues they face are not trivial and inconsequential, even if the way they sometimes approach them is childish. I'm sure many pop culture references were lost on me since the book has such a strong sense of time & place. In as much as a written narrative can achieve verisimilitude, this comes closest.
February 24, 2016
So there are books that don't necessarily have a definite ending and I am normally okay with it. Take for example, Murakami's work. But THIS book totally threw me off. I think its really very interesting the way it has been fragmented though. Had I simply seen it on a self I would have definitely not read it but being mandatory as it was, I had to and I thought it was truly an eye opening in many senses. its actually a fun packed book, only, structured in a weird manner. Its amazing how fast kids mature and we often forget how young we ourselves were when we first got acquainted to sexuality. There's also this theme of assimilation and the whole "fitting in" dilemma. All in all, its a fantastic piece but not to my liking. I mean, when I think of the book, I know its a work of brilliance (atleast in my book) but I don't necessarily like it. Not because its about homosexuality or because its pretty profane, but I can't really connect to it.
April 10, 2009
Linmark's first collection of fiction contains episodes about several teens, mostly Filipino, queer, and speak in Pidgin English. He experiments a lot with voice - episodes vary from 3rd person commentary on the peeping Tom habits of boy's father to angry letter writing to made-for-stage dialogue. His characters are rebellious, sexual, and talented in ways that go unrecognized by their teachers and parents.
This is definitely a piece of post-modern literature in that you will have some difficulty understanding nuances of the characters without understanding the writer's references to television shows of the 80s ("Charlie's Angels," "Dynasty"). It also helps to have some background in Catholicism, since some of the stories are send-ups of how popular culture interprets religious icons.
This is definitely a piece of post-modern literature in that you will have some difficulty understanding nuances of the characters without understanding the writer's references to television shows of the 80s ("Charlie's Angels," "Dynasty"). It also helps to have some background in Catholicism, since some of the stories are send-ups of how popular culture interprets religious icons.
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May 21, 2007This is a hybridized text that follows the childhood experiences of (lower class) Hawiian youth. In a mixture of personal essay, short story, book report, poetry, and first person narration, Linmark blends many scraps of literature in order to portray identity as fragmented yet combined. In what can be labeled as a post-modern text, the divided sections follow the children (Edgar, Vincente Katrina, etc)as they attend school, interact with family and friends, and engage in early sexual activity. The text takes a primary look into the subjects of sexual molestation and homosexuality in regards to the children. All the while, it does flesh out imperatives of ethnicity and culture as the children cope with the aging process.
February 14, 2018
i can only speak to my own internal experience of this book.
i find myself wanting to follow the fragrance of automotive fumes, Old Spice, my own valleyʻs rains, of once-forgotten favorite songs of once-forgotten yearnings, of echoes that waft through my mind of desire, fear, anger, shame, of what i might dare to say are memories that reverberate today, that still scrawl their graffiti on my soul, that still cry out, to be given voice, to be heard, to be recognized.
not a very useful review. but, there it is.
i find myself wanting to follow the fragrance of automotive fumes, Old Spice, my own valleyʻs rains, of once-forgotten favorite songs of once-forgotten yearnings, of echoes that waft through my mind of desire, fear, anger, shame, of what i might dare to say are memories that reverberate today, that still scrawl their graffiti on my soul, that still cry out, to be given voice, to be heard, to be recognized.
not a very useful review. but, there it is.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews