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The Local Literary Scene
Isle pages
New releases from
Hawaii authors
"Good Medicine, Great Sex!"
by David R. Ford
(Good Press, $29.95)This is same Dave Ford who ruled Hawaii TV in the mid-'60s with goofball ads and cheerful interviews with celebrities, but he was also a successful businessman, pilot and entrepeneur, a guy who spoke in fluent italics and exclamation points. The title of this breezy memoir hints at his marketing skills and refers to a subtext running through his life -- a belief that marijuana is not only a safe high, it is life-enhancing and serves as a serious medical need. Turns out ol' Dave was stoned much of the last half-century, and it not only made him creative and mellow, it helped him deal with injuries and terrible personal tragedy. What could be a strident diatribe here is instead funny, gossipy and insightful, as well as level-headed about recreational drug use. Warning: You might get the munchies while reading.
"The Great One's Little People"
by Mark Farnsworth
(AmErica House, $24.95)This is a modern fable about a mainland family who quits the rat race and moves to Kauai, where they fall in with the secretive Hawaiian folk called menehune. Entertaining, but not written for kids, and clearly smitten with Hawaiians-are-special dogma, an ambitious novel might not be the best vehicle for this notion. Maybe an animated film or a sitcom might be better.
"Ain't Life a Beach?"
by Linda Andrade Wheeler, Ed.D.
(Island Heritage, $9.99)You know it's a local author when they give their high school in the first sentence of the jacket-flap blurb. This is another in a series of Andrade's "Ain't Life ... " meditations on life and getting through it. This time out, professional motivator Andrade zeroes in on change and the challenges it presents, told in uplifting style and attractively packaged by designer Joe Hunt. This will make a thoughtful little remembrance or stocking-stuffer for anyone you know who's standing at a crossroads, feeling the cold wind blow.
"Lei Aloha"
by Marsha Heckman
(Island Heritage, $12.99)Heckman's now-classic oral history of lei and lei-making, illustrated with bright color photos, is now available in Japanese. At least, it looks like Japanese to me. Pretty pictures!
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