Hawai'i One Summer (Latitude 20 Book) (Paperback)

by Maxine Hong Kingston (Author) "It has been a month now since we moved into our own bought house..." (more)
Key Phrases: Lew Welch, Talk Story, Eddie Aikau (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
The appeal of these pieces lies in Kingston's understanding of the past's importance... -- The New York Times Book Review, Sandra L. Mardenfeld

Product Description
In this collection of eleven pieces, originally issued as a limited hand-printed edition, Maxine Hong Kingston does not attempt to capture Hawai'i but "instead and incidentally" to describe her "piece by piece, and hope that the sum praises her." The essays provide readers with a generous sampling of Kingston's signature: an angle of vision, exquisitely balanced and clear-sighted, that awakens one to a knowledge of things.

Product Details

• Paperback: 72 pages
• Publisher: University of Hawaii Press (December 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0824818873
• ISBN-13: 978-0824818876
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,122,475 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Wonderful, November 28, 1999

By A Customer

HAWAI'I ONE SUMMER is probably Kingston's least-read work, but I think it's the piece which captures this writer's clear and graceful prose style the best. Her essays range from surfing to dishwashing. Who'd ever guess that someone could write a substantial essay on a mundane activity like dishwashing? Well, Maxine Hong Kingston achieved this task. HAWAI'I ONE SUMMER would probably be good to use in an expository writing course.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kingston knows local lit scene in Hawai'i, and cosmos too., May 20, 1999

By	Rob Wilson (Honolulu and Santa Cruz) - See all my reviews

A memoir of Maxine Hong Kingston's memorable years in Hawai'i, when she went from Viet Nam protests and virtual street existence to pedagogies and mythologies of empowerment that took on national and global impact. This, I find, an insightful, wry, even caustic book on the local literature movements in Hawai'i, always fresh and insightful even when New Yorkerish.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Soothing and nostalgic, January 29, 2001

By	Me "Boo!" (Southern California) - See all my reviews

Hawai'i One Summer is a slim collection of luminous essays reflecting diversal topics ranging from surfing to house chores. Indeed, this is the least read book by Hong-Kingston. Her prose is clear and evocative. It is very different from the radical Woman Warrior. It evokes a zen quality, like sipping a soulful cup of ginseng tea.