Review: Unfamiliar Fishes

Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Sarah Vowell succeeds again at geeking out for us on some vector of history that she tells in her own way. This time it is the conquest and annexation of a proud Hawaiian people during the imperialist U.S. expansion of the McKinley Era. Some of the interesting things to me here I did not know about is the transition of U.S. sugar buying from Louisiana to Hawaii during the Civil War and the resultant fat cats that were pro-annexation later in order to stay competitive in that lucrative market. Also interesting is the development and growth of the Hawaiian written language as Vowell always works in something literary.

This audio edition is made more entertaining by an all-star cast of narrators including Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, John Hodgman, Catherine Keener (she should narrator more), Ed Norton, Keanu Reeves, Paul Rudd, and more.

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