marthaspong 's review for:

Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell

4.0

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Sarah Vowell, whose voice for both speaking and writing is familiar from "This American Life," takes on Hawaii, religion and American imperialism in a very interesting and quirky book. My knowledge of Hawaii is limited to James Michener's novel and the movie based upon it, and I caught some familiar threads (since Michener is also hard on the missionaries!). Vowell quotes a lot of sources, and at times I was not sure which was which. But she's a good reporter on the whole, and her own experience of going to Hawaii to work on the book becomes part of the story. I recommend it if you're interested in Hawaii or American History or New England missionaries.