Paradise of the Pacific: Approaching Hawaii - Hardcover

Susanna Moore is the author of the novels The Life of Objects, The Big Girls, One Last Look, In the Cut, Sleeping Beauties, The Whiteness of Bones, and My Old Sweetheart, and two books of nonfiction, Light Years: A Girlhood in Hawai'i and I Myself Have Seen It: The Myth of Hawai'i. She is from Hawaii.

“Paradise of the Pacific, Ms. Moore’s new nonfiction book about Hawaii . . . provides a fascinating history of that Pacific archipelago . . . It is an elegantly written and conscientiously researched book.” ―Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

“[Paradise of the Pacific is] an astonishingly learned summation of the Hawaiian meaning, elegantly written, often delightfully entertaining and ultimately sad.” ―Jan Morris, The New York Times Book Review

“[A] fascinating account . . . The power of Paradise of the Pacific, then―as well as its bitter beauty―resides in Moore's ability to lay out this progression as a set of turning points, inevitable from the standpoint of the present, but in their own time more a matter of human ambition and fallibility.” ―David Ulin, The Los Angeles Times

“ Paradise of the Pacific, a superb telling of the Hawaiian story from the earliest voyages, is immensely satisfying on so many levels-as a detailed history, as a startling drama, as a cultural heritage of bellicosity and beauty. Susanna Moore, a brilliant novelist, a scrupulous researcher, gives this complex history an astonishing vitality.” ―Paul Theroux

“Just when I think I know all there is to know about Hawaiian history, Susanna Moore (once again) proves me wrong. With a voice of friendly authority and wit, she translates meticulous research into gripping prose.” ―Kaui Hemmings, author of The Descendants

“This is a fascinating and well-balanced look at how a unique culture came to be and the heartbreaking manner of its end.” ―Publishers Weekly

“Moore digs deep and delivers a thoroughly researched account of Hawaii's distinct culture and history . . . Moore's background in storytelling radiates throughout this work, creating a quick-paced and well-crafted narrative. Highly recommended for the armchair historian and those intrigued by Hawaiian history, maritime exploration, and the history of Christian missionaries.” ―Library Journal

“Paradise of the Pacific is a work of scholarship, sympathy, and, as with all Susanna Moore's books, literary elegance. It is also a long amazement. One figure after another steps from the shadows in a world that sometimes seems as remote as Homer's.” ―Alec Wilkinson, author of The Ice Balloon―Library Journal