The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Kakimoto, Megan Kamalei. Every Drop Is a Man's Nightmare. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2023.

Megan Kamalei Kakimoto's Every Drop Is a Man's Nightmare is a collection of 11 short stories. Each of the enclosed short stories is written from a distinct point of view and set in a distinct setting, traces a distinct protagonist and abides by a distinct formal structure. The following summary primarily employs the present tense and a linear mode of explanation for the sake of clarity.

In "A Catalog of Kānaka Superstitions," a superstitious mother gives her daughter a series of warnings. If the daughter disobeys these warnings, the mother assures her that there will be severe repercussions, be they literal, mythic, or spiritual.

In "Every Drop Is a Man's Nightmare," when Sadie is 12 years old, she gets her period for the first time. That same day, she and her family attend her stepfather's family's gathering. Afterwards, they drive home through the Pali, a road outside of Honolulu. They are carrying pork in their car, which according to legend could lead to bad luck. It is not until years later that Sadie attributes her misfortune to this childhood drive over the Pali.

In "Story of Men," Leimomi looks inside her broken dryer one morning and discovers a Menehune, or mythical master builder. The Menehune, who goes by Men, does not speak often, but Leimomi and her family quickly fall in love with her. When Men becomes the subject of debate between the family members, Men disappears from their lives.

In "Temporary Dwellers," the narrator falls in love with the young girl who her mother is hosting. The girl's island is being bombed and she needs a safe place to stay. The narrator dismisses this crisis, as she is consumed by her feelings for the girl.

In "Madwomen," three years after her husband left her and her young son, the narrator is still struggling to adapt to single parenthood. In order to withstand her hurt, loneliness, and confusion, she tells her son an ongoing story about a madwoman in the sea. As time passes, more and more of the story's invented elements begin to manifest in the narrator's life.

In "Ms. Amelia's Salon for Women in Charge," Kehaulani makes an appointment at Ms. Amelia's Salon after her boyfriend urges her to get a bikini wax. Although she is desperate to be free of the boyfriend, Kehaulani submits to his wishes so as to appease him.

In "Hotel Molokai," the narrator travels to Kaunakakai, Molokai with her grandmother when she is 13 years old. Although they are meant to visit the fabled Kaule Nānāhoa to guarantee the narrator's future fertility, the narrator is more preoccupied with missing her own mother. Years later, when she has a child of her own, she finally understands the significance of the trip.

In "Aiko, the Writer," almost immediately after Aiko finishes the manuscript she has been working on for 10 years, the pages of the draft begin to vibrate. Aiko fears that her work is betraying her grandmother and exploiting her ancestry.

In "Some Things I Know About Elvis," the narrator tells her friend Sara a lengthy story about getting trapped in a hotel with Elvis impersonators. She does so as a way to avoid telling Sara the truth about her father she is afraid to reveal.

In "Touch Me Like One of Your Island Girls: A Love Story," Mehana feels lonely, unsatisfied, and unhappy in her life. Her romantic relationship and office job bring her no pleasure. Therefore, in an attempt to change her life, she auditions for Get Wild Productions' Island Girl role.

In "The Love and Decline of the Corpse Flower," after the narrator's wife dies, the narrator struggles to orient to her life on her own. She obsesses over the corpse flower a wake attendee left her and muses on her relationships over the years.