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By Joleen Oshiro
Special to the Star-Bulletin
HAWAII lifestyle -- surfing especially -- is explored through the perspective of "Short-Timers in Paradise: Misplaced Surfers, New-Age Scammer, Despotic Developers, Wave-Riding Hydroponic Man," a collection of work by John Wythe White.The book's lengthy title is reflective of the broad literary ground White covers in this anthology, which includes several essays and a play in addition to his short stories.
White traces familiar territory in the book. Raised in Los Angeles, he moved to Hawaii after surfing attracted him here 30 years ago. Since then, free-lance writing has kept food on his table and his mind flexible. Numerous pieces in "Short-Timers in Paradise" have been recognized locally through Kumu Kahua and Honolulu magazine's annual fiction contest.
"Unstill Life With Mangoes" is one such piece. It tells the story of a woman's evolution into "localness," revealed through her adventures with the mango tree at her new home.
"Short-Timers in Paradise: Misplaced Surfers, New-Age Scammer, Despotic Developers, Wave-Riding Hydroponic Man": By John Wythe White (Anoai Press); 176 pages; ISBN 0-9653971-9-X; $14.95. Contact Anoai Press at www.anoaipress.com
At first, the woman is horrified by a torturous allergic reaction to the tree. By the end of the tale, however, she has put herself in the midst of a booming crop. Now confident and in control, "she carries two plastic supermarket bags, one for keepers, one for throwaways. ... Bagged by the dozen, she gives them away to neighbors, friends, people at work, the landlord, the new owners ... In return, some bring her mango bread, mango jam, mango chutney, pickled mango, mango ice cream."
It is in these vivid, intimate and familiar details that White so eloquently illustrates the woman's subtle, yet surefooted shift into local culture.
After all, one of the most common expressions of local living is to give away a bag of mangoes or receive a homemade loaf of mango bread. It is the essence of culture contained in a tiny slice of local life. "Mangoes" is sheer artistry for capturing that.
Other fiction pieces fare less well. The most problematic is "Welcome to the Generic Islands," a futuristic look at a Hawaii owned by developers. Its trite theme has the islands transformed, predictably, into a strictly capitalist enterprise, a place where only the world's financially elite can afford to reside. "Generic Islands" provides some shock value in the details of its future society and little else.
BOOK SIGNINGS
White shines in section two of the book, the essays, where he takes a musty 18th century biography and regurgitates it as engaging educational reading. "The Second Life of John Young" chronicles the contributions of pre-missionary era Young, who was adviser to Kamehameha the Great and in his own right earned the distinction of becoming the namesake of Honolulu's Young Street.
"Confessions of an Aging Surfer," White's take on the religion of surfing, is also enjoyable. But two additional surfing essays add up to overkill.
The play "Biff Finds Himself in Hawaii" rounds out the collection. Aside from locale, the work has nothing at all to do with Hawaii. It is instead a stirring study of an empty soul trying to fill himself up - and failing miserably.
"Biff" is rich with biting comedy and deeply emotional moments, garnering power in its theme of self redemption -- or in Biff's case, the lack of it. White's crisp, punchy writing serves this piece well.
Through all its meanderings, "Short-Timers in Paradise" speaks, mostly eloquently, about what it means to live in Hawaii, and sometimes, simply about what it means to live.
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