Recounting the brief, remarkable history of a unified and independent
Hawaii, Vowell, a public radio star and bestselling author (The Wordy
Shipmates), retraces the impact of New England missionaries who began
arriving in the early 1800s to remake the island paradise into a version
of New England. In her usual wry tone, Vowell brings out the ironies of
their efforts: while the missionaries tried to prevent prostitution with
seamen and the resulting deadly diseases, the natives believed it was
the missionaries who would kill them: "they will pray us all to death."
Along the way, and with the best of intentions, the missionaries
eradicated an environmentally friendly, laid-back native culture
(although the Hawaiians did have taboos against women sharing a table
with men, upon penalty of death, and a reverence for "royal incest").
Freely admitting her own prejudices, Vowell gives contemporary relevance
to the past as she weaves in, for instance, Obama's boyhood memories.
Outrageous and wise-cracking, educational but never dry, this book is
a thought-provoking and entertaining glimpse into the U.S.'s most unusual
state and its unanticipated twists on the familiar story of Americanization.

Read by the author a cast that includes Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, John
Hodgman, Catherine Keener, Edward Norton, Keanu Reeves, Paul Rudd, Maya
Rudolph, and John Slattery. Music by Michael Giacchino with Grant Lee-
Phillips. The score contains excerpts from "Hawai'i Pono'i" (words by
David Kalakaua and music by Henri Berger) performed by Grant-Lee Phillips.

Download File Size:385.75 MB

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