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Unfamiliar Fishes  By  cover art

Unfamiliar Fishes

By: Sarah Vowell
Narrated by: Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, John Hodgman, Catherine Keener, Edward Norton, Keanu Reeves, Paul Rudd, Maya Rudolph, John Slattery, Sarah Vowell
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Editorial reviews

Public radio darling Sarah Vowell has written five nonfiction books over the past decade or so, and this latest installment in her personalized People’s History-type study of America’s lesser known political foibles is as charming as the previous four books. Undertaking a study of precisely how Hawaii came to be annexed by the United States in 1898, Vowell draws on a wealth of archival research and oral tradition to craft a comprehensive view of the state’s less than democratic incorporation into our union.

The bulk of the book is narrated by Vowell herself. Don’t be fooled by the plethora of well-known wise-crackers also listed as narrators. These other voices are enlisted only for help with quotations. They contribute one or two sentences per chapter, representing historical documents written by a variety of likely and unlikely suspects, from Ernest Hemingway to Grover Cleveland. The big winner here is Maya Rudolph, whose turn as the deposed Queen Lili’uokalani is completely enchanting. Her bits really stand out as a portrait conveying the majesty and optimistic strength of a monarch in decline. Otherwise, all these imminently recognizable voices conjured up to assist Vowell interrupt the flow of text just long enough for a listener to think, “Hey, that’s Bill Hader!” Then the quotation is over and it’s back to the voice of Vowell.

Oh, what a voice it is. Depending on who you ask, Sarah Vowell’s is the voice that either launched a thousand ships, or sank them. A native of Oklahoma with an extremely nasal voice and a soft lisp on her sibilants, Vowell is most definitely an acquired taste, but absolutely beloved by those who have acquired such a taste. She has been in the audio business in some form or another for quite a long while, and is a genuine expert in matters of the well-timed punch-line and the mysterious art of engrossing story-telling. Vowell is such a fountain of dry wit that it’s tempting to call her a savant. As she maps this singular strand of the American imperial impulse, listeners will be relieved to find that the violent politics of Manifest Destiny are tempered with the grain of salt that is Vowell’s limitless power of comedic contextualization.

Devotees of Vowell can expect that this listen is up to the standard of all her others. Those who have never heard Vowell before will find that Unfamiliar Fishes is as good a place to start as any other. This book does an excellent job of filling in a void glossed over by mainstream accounts of American territorial acquisition. From her explanation of how Hawaii developed a written language to her hilarious description of the self-aggrandizing missionary who undertook to establish Mormonism on the islands, Sarah Vowell once again delivers a uniquely fresh and deeply interesting perspective detailing the highly specific ways in which the history of the United States is in fact not very united. Megan Volpert

Publisher's summary

Many think of 1776 as the most defining year of American history, the year 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 crucial to our nation's identity, a year when, in an orgy of imperialism, the United States annexed Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Guam, and invaded Cuba and then the Philippines, becoming a meddling, self-serving, militaristic international superpower practically overnight.

Of all the countries the United States invaded or colonized in 1898, Vowell considers the story of the Americanization of Hawaii to be the most intriguing. From the arrival of the New England missionaries in 1820, who came to Christianize the local heathen, to the coup d'état led by the missionaries' sons in 1893, overthrowing the Hawaiian queen, the events leading up to American annexation feature a cast of beguiling, if often appalling or tragic, characters. Whalers who will fire 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, con men, Theodore Roosevelt, and the last Hawaiian queen, a songwriter whose sentimental ode "Aloha 'Oe" serenaded the first Hawaii-born president of the United States during his 2009 inaugural parade.

With Vowell's trademark wry insights and reporting, she sets out to discover the odd, emblematic, and exceptional history of the 50th state. In examining the place where Manifest Destiny got a sunburn, she finds America again, warts and all.

Read by the author a cast that includes Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, John Hodgman, Catherine Keener, Edward Norton, Keanu Reeves, Paul Rudd, Maya Rudolph, and John Slattery. Music by Michael Giacchino with Grant Lee-Phillips. The score contains excerpts from "Hawai'i Pono'i" (words by David Kalakaua and music by Henri Berger) performed by Grant-Lee Phillips.

©2011 Sarah Vowell (P)2011 Simon and Schuster
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

Critic reviews

"Vowell makes an excellent travelling companion, what with her rare combination of erudition and cheek." ( The New York Times Book Review)

What listeners say about Unfamiliar Fishes

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Sarah Vowell does it again!

Sarah Vowell's never fails to make me fall in love with her all over again!

Unfamiliar Fishes is the story of the Americanization of Hawaii, and Vowell uses her storytelling - complete with historical facts, stories and personal anecdotes of her travels - to make the tale interesting and memorable. I can't imagine hearing this story read by anyone other than the author - her unique voice, along with the interjections from other celebs, makes a great book a truly spectacular listen.

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53 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable, but celeb narrations are distracting

At first, I found the author's voice a bit distracting, but over time, I came to enjoy her voice, especially when she was doing dead pan irony. What became painful as the book progressed were the celeb readings of a sentence to a paragraph. There would be a lead up to a quote, a lengthy pause and then a quote read by a celeb. Sometimes the pause seemed to go on and on with a tiny section (7 words or so) read by the celeb. These became so distracting, and were often times difficult to hear due to difference in volume, that I just tuned them out. The use of celebs to read quotes seemed to be too gimmicky.

All in all, I enjoyed the book and the author's voice. I have stopped listening to a small number of books because of painful narration. The negative reviews seem too harsh especially the ones that complain of "America is always the bad guy." Looking back at this period through modern perspective makes it hard to justify our prior actions. One just needs to accept the difference in perspectives and move on.

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38 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Dont listen to the critics

Sarah Vowell hits the mark with this audiobook that blends history with personal reaction and historigraphy. I have enjoyed all of her books and this one is great too. . . it isnt the masterpiece Assasination Vacation was, and this audiobook is not as entertaining as that one was, but it is also more colorful and less wordy than the Wordy Shipmates. For those who sneer at the narration, half the joy of these books is listening to Vowell's dry wit and human vocality. She is not pronouncing things incorrectly, and her expression adds to the whole audiobook experience. These people would probably dislike Angela's Ashes because "they should have got a narrator without such a thick Irish accent." Sarah Vowell's naration is wonderful.

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29 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Mildly interesting history, monotone narration

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I started this book with high expectations, as multiple people had recommended it to me. I was disappointed to find that it is sporadic, confusing and surprisingly dull for such an interesting period of history. The author didn't even touch on Princess Ka'iulani, who I was most interested in.In the end, the author sums up her own book as "a story of how people like us ruined this place." Although there is much to criticize among the actions of Americans in the history of Hawai'i, the author's tone throughout is one of dry sarcasm, which simply becomes tiresome.

Would you be willing to try another one of the narrators’s performances?

No. I was already familiar with Sarah Vowell's voice through This American Life and thought I was fine with it. But while listening to this audiobook I found that I couldn't listen to her dry, ironic, sarcastic monotone for more than an hour at a time. The celebrity cameos, rather than breaking up the monotony, were abrupt and confusing, as they were mostly brief sentences scattered throughout the book rather than extended readings.

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26 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

History as story...

Sarah Vowell will eventually be listed among this generations finest historians. Because she is a fine historian. This book is deeply researched. Ms. Vowell understands the times and places she writes about so well that she is able to weave a compelling tale making the historical characters fully realized. I consumed this book over a weekend.

Ms. Vowell's voice is an acquired taste. I've been listening to Sarah Vowell since her days on NPR and This American Life. If your politics are right of center, or if you believe that the US is always right in all it does, you will not enjoy this book. But you cannot fault the accuracy of the research Ms. Vowell has done to create this masterful story.

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26 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Honest attempt falls short

This book should not have been read by the author. She sounds like she loves the culture of Hawaii but cannot pronounce the names and has a grating voice. She would draw more people to her opinion if the recording were warmer - like the islands.

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26 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Charming read!

If you love Hawaii and "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," here's your book. I didn't know much about Hawaii's history, and Vowell combines her wonderful research with a modern twist. Fun experiment having other voices read the quotes, which enlivens the book.

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25 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Not for Tourists

From the arrival of Captain Cook, to the missionaries, to the businessmen and politicians who orchestrate the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, Vowell's book is a fascinating and upsetting in-depth look at the Americanization (and eventual annexation) of Hawaii. This is not your typical tourist fare.

I knew what to expect from Vowell's reading, and don't have any issues with her voice (if you're not familiar with Vowell, definitely check out the sample to see if it'll be too much for you).

The supporting cast is generally fine, but Keanu Reeves is shocking great as David Malo. I think I could listen to him read Malo's Hawaiian Antiquities and be content.

Definitely worth checking out if you're at all interested in the history of Hawaii.

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21 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

American the "bad guy" again

Aside from the fact that the narration is so poor, I was dismayed to find that I had paid money for a book that portrays all American involvement in the world as evil and imperialistic.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Bitter

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

I am sure there is fascinating Hawaiian history to be found in this book. I just could not hear it between all the bitterness of the author.

The only thing that would have made the book worse, would be the author reading it. Oh wait, she did. Monotone and bitter. I can sum up the story in one sentence. Hawaii was ruined by the Christians.

I am not Christian, but I was so irritated by her constant monotone complaining and blaming, that I could not find the story beneath it. Our whole world develops based on choices people make of beliefs (religion) and politics. It has since the beginning of time.

I would had loved to hear about Hawaii's history, including how the missionaries and the natives choice to follow them affected Hawaii. I'll just need to find a more balanced and less monotone author.



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20 people found this helpful