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Unfamiliar Fishes
256 pages
A witty, conversational road trip through the dark, messy, and often absurd history of American imperialism in the Pacific.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like taking a road trip with your smartest, most cynical friend who won't stop pointing out the historical hypocrisies hidden behind beautiful scenery. The pace is brisk and conversational, effortlessly weaving deep archival research with sharp, pop-culture-laden commentary. While the tone is undeniably wry and often laugh-out-loud funny, the underlying mood is sobering, as the narrative strips away the sunny mythology of American expansion to reveal a tragic story of cultural erasure and corporate greed. The prose is accessible and punchy, making complex geopolitical shifts feel immediate and deeply human. It is a perfect fit for readers who enjoy history that challenges the traditional textbook narrative while remaining highly entertaining, balancing irreverent humor with genuine empathy for the marginalized.
- Mood
- intellectually stimulating
- breezy but sobering
- cynical
- Tone
- wry
- conversational
- sarcastic
- inquisitive
- critical
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- the myth of American exceptionalism · cultural erasure · the collision of religion and commerce · historical amnesia · the messy reality of imperialism
- The writing
- The prose is sharp, conversational, and heavily peppered with dry wit and unexpected pop culture references.
- The arc
- The journey begins with amused curiosity at historical eccentricities and gradually deepens into a sobering reflection on the tragic costs of American imperialism.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love their history lessons delivered with a heavy dose of sarcasm, NPR-style storytelling, and a critical eye toward national myths.
Content notes
- colonialism
- cultural erasure
- racism
- disease and epidemics
About the book
From the bestselling author of The Wordy Shipmates, comes an examination of Hawaii, the place where Manifest Destiny got a sunburn.
Many think of 1776 as the defining year of American history, when we became a nation devoted to the pursuit of happiness through self-government. In Unfamiliar Fishes, Sarah Vowell argues that 1898 might be a year just as defining, when, in an orgy of imperialism, the United States annexed Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Guam, and invaded first Cuba, then the Philippines, becoming an international superpower practically overnight.
Among the developments in these outposts of 1898, Vowell considers the Americanization of Hawaii the most intriguing. From the arrival of New England missionaries in 1820, their goal to Christianize the local heathen, to the coup d'état of the missionaries' sons in 1893, which overthrew the Hawaiian queen, the events leading up to American annexation feature a cast of beguiling, and often appealing or tragic, characters: whalers who fired cannons at the Bible-thumpers denying them their God-given right to whores, an incestuous princess pulled between her new god and her brother-husband, sugar barons, lepers, con men, Theodore Roosevelt, and the last Hawaiian queen, a songwriter whose sentimental ode "Aloha 'Oe" serenaded the first Hawaiian president of the United States during his 2009 inaugural parade.
With her trademark smart-alecky insights and reporting, Vowell lights out to discover the off, emblematic, and exceptional history of the fiftieth state, and in so doing finds America, warts and all.
Description from Open Library.
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