Unfamiliar Fishes

The book is Unfamiliar Fishes and the author is Sarah Vowell. The author writes about history -- and achieves the unlikely result of making it funny. This story begins with the arrival of US missionaries in Hawaii, followed by the development of sugar plantations, and finally the deposition of the last native ruler, Queen Liliuokalani. Vowell takes an ironic look at the benefits brought by the haoles (whites) -- such as literacy, balanced against the native Hawaiins loss of culture and autonomy. She is unsparing as she recounts the foibles of both sides in the many conflicts involved. Somebody once commented that an author is well on the way to fame when his/her name appears on the book cover in larger print than the title. If this is true, then Sarah Vowell is on her way.