Teahouse of the August Moon

Literature & Fiction

Sneider, Vern

Dramas & Plays

Signet

A play that depicts the experiences of American soldiers stationed in Okinawa, Japan after World War II.

The Teahouse of the August Moon. (Acting Edition for Theater Productions)

Patrick, John

John Patrick, based on the novel by Vern Sneider

Dramatist's Play Service

The Teahouse of the August Moon

American-style democracy and capitalism come to the sleepy village of Tobiki in this uplifting comedy of cultural conflict set on Okinawa at the end of World War II.
The hapless Captain Fisby, with the help of his local interpreter, Sakini, is implementing the U.S. Army’s Plan B, which includes establishing a Women’s League for Democratic Action and building a pentagon-shaped schoolhouse where the children will learn English.
When Fisby mistakenly accepts a gift of souvenirs in the form of two geishas, life in the village and his plans for it spin out of control. The vainglorious area commander, Colonel Wainwright Purdy III, sends a spy to Tobiki to discover what is going on.
This immensely likeable satire of the American civilizing mission was a phenomenon when it was published in 1951. An award-winning play and hit movie of the same name soon followed. The many-layered novel retains its charm and power today; beneath the comical mayhem that engulfs Tobiki we see the pitfalls and possibilities of cultural exchange.
Author Vern Sneider drew directly on his personal experiences as the military administrator in charge of the Okinawan village of Tobaru. This new Camphor Press edition features an introduction revealing the autobiographical elements in Sneider’s masterpiece and its important place in post-war American literature.

Humor & Satire

Camphor Press Ltd

Vern Sneider’s A Pail of Oysters is the most important English-language novel ever written about Taiwan. Yet despite critical acclaim, this exciting and controversial book has long been unavailable to readers. Unlike Sneider’s previous novel, the humorous bestseller The Teahouse of the August Moon, this 1953 publication has a dark, menacing tone. Set against the political repression and poverty of the White Terror era, A Pail of Oysters tells the moving story of nineteen-year-old villager Li Liu and his quest to recover his family’s stolen kitchen god. Li Liu’s fate becomes entwined with that of American journalist Ralph Barton, who, in trying to report honestly about KMT rule of the island, investigates the situation beyond the propaganda, learns of a massacre, and is drawn into the world of the Formosan underground. The Chicago Sunday Tribune said, “This book will hold the reader enthralled to the very end and will probably give him more information about this unhappy spot than he has gathered before. It will certainly not win converts to the side of the generalissimo.” Indeed, the novel made enemies. Banned in Taiwan, in the United States it was denounced by Chiang Kai-shek’s supporters: the powerful China Lobby. Anecdotal evidence suggests – and Sneider himself suspected – that his book was subject to suppression even in the United States by pro-KMT agents. A Pail of Oysters is a landmark work from a time when novels were often seen as a moral force. But politics and historical importance aside, A Pail of Oysters is simply a good story well told. In the words of the San Francisco Chronicle, “The novel is touching, tragic and oddly gay sometimes in spite of this; a testimony to the stubbornly optimistic human spirit.” This Camphor Press edition comes with a new introduction and a brief biography of the author.

A Pail of Oysters

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Thrillers & Suspense

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Sneider, Vern. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Sneider, Vern