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.

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