White Savages in the South Seas [Hardcover]

Mel Kernahan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1995

"Before getting tickets for that Tahitian holiday you've dreamed about, read this book."—Publishers Weekly

This is a book about Polynesia after the cruise ship has left, the jet has flown off into the sunset, and the mai tai curtain has dropped on a dream that was more performance than reality. This first-hand narrative introduces the reader to the Cook Islands and an extraordinary array of their inhabitants: Susy No Pants who lives an uproarious life of pleasure, but never strays far from who she is or where she came from; a nuclear nomad from the Tuamotus who attempts suicide by ancient means in California's Balboa Fun Zone, home of the chocolate-dipped banana; and French bureaucrats who concoct an elaborate charade to create an uplifting image of the Foreign Legion in Papeete, Tahiti. The author encounters missionaries, randy kings, dictators, sailors, drunk island tyrants and visionaries on remote isles where tourists seldom tread. Kernahan does not find paradise, although she admits to having looked for it.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Before getting tickets for that Tahitian holiday you've dreamed about, read this book. It's not another tourist guide-rather, a quick study in cultural (mis)understanding that could avert a few embarrassing mistakes, especially for women traveling (like the author) alone. Kernahan's collection reads like a compendium of troubles in paradise, patching together outrageous comedy, incisive observation and caustic social comment in bold swatches like those she used when stitching appliques on her tifaifai-the Polynesian equivalent of a quilt. Her demystifying of one of the few remaining fantasy frontiers left in late-20th-century life is bound to seem a tad cruel to the white savages of the title, but she makes quick work of debunking some unattractive myths and prejudices held by islanders as well. Readers will take in the confessions of a Cook Island queen; share the amorous escapades of Suzy No Pants-doyenne of Papeete's most raucous bar; decode homesick ritual played out nightly at a Tahitian restaurant in California; trace nuclear fallout; and witness the final return from French prison of a revered freedom fighter. These privileged intimacies were won by the author in her many years studying the region, they are signal moments readers would never catch on a two-week cruise in paradise, but can be savored here, served up crisply, with wit, candor and charm.

Copyright 1995 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review

"A feast for anyone who knows or is curious about the South Pacific." -- Herb Kawainul Kane

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 216 pages
• Publisher: Verso; illustrated edition edition (October 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1859849784
• ISBN-13: 978-1859849781
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Much more than a travel expose....loaded with wit & reality, September 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: White Savages in the South Seas (Paperback)

A thinking person's look at life in the South Pacific as seen through the eyes of an imaginative and involved participant in life. You'll laugh and you'll cry and you will get an insight into the lives of many unusual and colorful people. Definitely not a "travel book," but rather a carefully written volumne which will forever effect the way you see life in the South Pacific.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An extrodinary real life look at Polynesian people & places., September 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: White Savages in the South Seas (Paperback)

White Savages in the South Seas is a candid look at the not so glamourous lives of real people living in the South Pacific. This book is filled with fasinating characters like Susy No Pants and interesting adventures. Their stories are well written with great passion and witty humor. I enjoyed every moment.