Frommer's Kauai - Jeanette Foster [28]
Nonfiction
Mark Twain’s writing on Hawaii in the 1860s offers a wonderful introduction to Hawaii’s history. One of his best books is Mark Twain in Hawaii: Roughing It in the Sandwich Islands (Mutual Publishing, 1990). A great depiction of the Hawaii of 1889 is Travels in Hawaii, by Robert Louis Stevenson (University of Hawaii Press, 1973).
For contemporary voices on Hawaii’s unique culture, one of the best books to get is Voices of Wisdom: Hawaiian Elders Speak, by M. J. Harden (Aka Press, 1999). Some 24 different kahuna (experts) in their fields were interviewed about their talent, skill, or artistic practice. These living treasures talk about how Hawaiians of yesteryear viewed nature, spirituality and healing, preservation and history, dance and music, arts and crafts, canoes, and the next generation.
Native Planters in Old Hawaii: Their Life, Lore, and Environment (Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, 2004) was originally published in 1972 but is still one of the most important ethnographic works on traditional Hawaiian culture, portraying the lives of the common folk and their relationship with the land before the arrival of Westerners. This revised edition, with a great index that allows you to find anything, is an excellent resource for anyone interested in Hawaii.
The just-released Honolulu Stories: Two Centuries of Writing, edited by Gavan Daws and Bennett Hymer (Mutual Publishing, 2008), is a fascinating 1,000-plus-page book filled with the writings of various authors over the past 200 years. More than 350 selections—ranging from short stories, excerpts from novels, and scenes from plays, musicals, and operas to poems, songs, Hawaiian chants, cartoons, slams, and even stand-up comedy routines—are contained in this must-read for anyone interested in Hawaii. The authors range from Hawaiian kings and queens to Hawaiian chefs and commoners, including some well-known writers (translated from seven different languages)—all telling their own stories about Honolulu.
FLORA & FAUNA Because Hawaii is so lush with nature and blessed with plants, animals, and reef fish seen nowhere else on the planet, a few reference books can help you identify what you’re looking at and make your trip more interesting. In the botanical world, Angela Kay Kepler’s Hawaiian Heritage Plants (A Latitude 20 Book, University of Hawaii Press, 1998) is the standard for plant reference. In a series of essays, Kepler weaves culture, history, geography, botany, and even spirituality into her vivid descriptions of plants. You’ll never look at plants the same way. There are great color photos and drawings to help you sort through the myriad species. Another great resource is Tropicals, by Gordon Courtright (Timber Press, 1988), which is filled with color photos identifying everything from hibiscus and heliconia to trees and palms.
The other necessary reference to have in Hawaii is one that identifies the colorful reef fish you will see snorkeling. The best of the bunch is John E. Randall’s Shore Fishes of Hawaii (University of Hawaii Press, 1998). Two other books on reef-fish identification, with easy-to-use spiral bindings, are Hawaiian Reef Fish: The Identification Book, by Casey Mahaney (Blue Kirio Publishing, 1993), and Hawaiian Reef Fish, by Astrid Witte and Casey Mahaney (Island Heritage, 1998).
To learn everything you need to identify Hawaii’s unique birds, try H. Douglas Pratt’s A Pocket Guide to Hawaii’s Birds (Mutual Publishing, 1996).
HISTORY There are many great books on Hawaii’s history, but one of the best places to start is with the formation of the Hawaiian Islands, vividly described in David E. Eyre’s By Wind, By Wave: An Introduction to Hawaii’s Natural History (Bess Press, 2000). In addition to chronicling the natural history of Hawaii, Eyre describes the complex interrelationships among the plants, animals, ocean, and people. He points out that Hawaii has become the