Loved her book of essays, Partly Cloudy Patriot, but not so crazy about this one.
Unfamiliar Fishes is a short book about the history of Hawaii. One sentence summary: Ruled by a monarchy for many years, visited by many foreigner sailors, and then by Christian missionaries, whose ancestors gradually took over the government, which lead eventually to it being annexed by the United States. Like most history, a very sordid story.
In my opinion Vowell get’s a bit carried away with mundane details that most people, including me, won’t find all that interesting. On the other hand, it’s an unfamiliar story, I learned a lot.
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