The Ninth Island: Poems

For half a century, people from Hawai’i have called Las Vegas “The Ninth Island.” First the product of relentless advertising from casinos and airlines, now a strange truth as so many have left the islands to make lives in the desert. The Ninth Island follows Yim’s family and their years of displacement, from childhood homes to the far western edges of O’ahu, into the delirious heat of Southern Nevada. With humor, clear-eyed rage, and an abiding tenderness, Yim’s wandering poems craft makes...