Select UH Press Titles Now on Kindle

UH Press is pleased to announce 9 of its titles are now available for Kindle readers. See below plus Kindle books by the “Beaches of Hawai‘i” series’ John R. K. Clark and Stuart M. Ball, Jr., author of our popular hiking guides.

The Value of Hawai‘i: Knowing the Past, Shaping the Future
edited by Craig Howes and Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwo‘ole Osorio
How did we get here? Three-and-a-half-day school weeks. Prisoners farmed out to the mainland. Tent camps for the migratory homeless. A blinkered dependence on tourism and the military for virtually all economic activity. The steady degradation of already degraded land. Contempt for anyone employed in education, health, and social service. An almost theological belief in the evil of taxes. At a time when new leaders will be elected, and new solutions need to be found, the contributors to The Value of Hawai‘i outline the causes of our current state and offer points of departure for a Hawai‘i-wide debate on our future.

Bright Triumphs From Dark Hours: Turning Adversity into Success
by David Heenan
Bright Triumphs From Dark Hours examines the lives of ten extraordinary people who overcame great adversity in their personal or professional lives by applying winning strategies that guided them out of the darkness of near-defeat and into the light of success.

“David Heenan’s fascinating stories of overcoming adversity make Bright Triumphs both a timely and inspiring read.” —Spencer Johnson, M.D., New York Times best-selling author of Who Moved My Cheese? and Peaks and Valleys

“This is an inspiring book. All of us, if we honestly look into our hearts, we know that there have been moments when we have failed. Failed ourselves, failed our family, and failed our communities. This book tells you that failure should not be the cause and reason for your demise.” —U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye

Melal: A Novel of the Pacific
by Robert Barclay

“An absorbing, original read.” —Honolulu Weekly

“A first novel that left me dazzled. . . . All the characters—the Marshallese, the members of their spirit world, and even the Americans—are well developed and deeply, sensitively drawn.” —Manoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing

“Barclay is a first-time novelist who simply got it right. . . . Melal is a powerful and at times heart-wrenching novel that should appeal to a wide range of readers interested in the region today.” —The Contemporary Pacific

“It is wonderful to have a novel of the Pacific, of people firmly rooted in the past and present of the great ocean, its atolls, islands, homes, and spiritual homelands. This is a wrenching story of people—voiceless, powerless—as they attempt to survive the horrors of nuclear testing, relocation, Western arrogance and domination. It is a good story with robust characters—some real and contemporary, others mythical and ancient—and an important book.” —Patricia Grace

“What separates this novel from others, even highly respected ones, is its extraordinary descriptive mastery. . . . This precise and vivid evocation of experience is what writing has been about from the beginning. In all respects, this is a superb book.” —Ian MacMillan

Kindle E-Books by Stuart M. Ball, Jr.

Three books by Stuart M. Ball, Jr., are now available for Kindle readers:

The Hikers Guide to O‘ahu, Revised Edition
Whether you are an experienced or novice hiker, you will benefit from the information in this guide. The author describes in detail 50 trails that will take you to O‘ahu’s lush valleys, spectacular waterfalls, and windswept ridges.

“The strength of Ball’s guides has always been his clear, detailed route descriptions. For example, when he says you’ll encounter a grove of ‘ohia trees three miles into a hike, you do.” —Honolulu Star-Bulletin

The Hikers Guide to the Hawaiian Islands
Written in the same accessible style and format as the highly successful The Hikers Guide to O‘ahu, this volume is a detailed and fully illustrated guide to the best day hikes on the Big Island, Kaua‘i, Maui, and O‘ahu. Each island is represented by an equal number of hikes, 44 in all. Together they offer both resident and visitor alike the chance to explore some of Hawai‘i’s most spectacular scenery.

For each trip, the author provides detailed directions to the trailhead, a feature-by-feature description of the route, a topographic map keyed to the route description, and comments on common plants and animals, geological formations, historical sites, and other points of interest.

The Backpackers Guide to Hawai‘i
This book will take you where few people go—to active volcanoes, lush valleys, cascading waterfalls, secluded beaches, and windswept ridges and sea cliffs.

“Included in each trip is helpful planning information, including directions for driving to the trail head, a step-by-step route description, length of trip, elevation gain and loss, and level of difficulty. . . . Detailed topographic maps show the route and are keyed to the trip description. . . . Specific and detailed directions are given for nearly every step, providing a sense of much-needed security for those hikers taking their first steps in Hawaii.” —Honolulu Star-Bulletin

Kindle E-Books by John R. K. Clark

Three books by John R. K. Clark are now available for Kindle readers:

Beaches of O‘ahu, Revised Edition
Completely revised and updated, this edition of Beaches of O‘ahu offers sixty new color photos of the island’s spectacular beaches and coastline by photographer Mike Waggoner, a water safety section, and 22 newly drawn maps locating more than 130 beaches and shoreline parks.

“A must for Hawaii fans.” —Chicago Tribune

Hawai‘i Place Names: Shores, Beaches, and Surf Sites
Clark, the author of the highly regarded “Beaches of Hawai‘i” series, gives us the many captivating stories behind the hundreds of Hawai‘i place names associated with the ocean—the names of shores, beaches, and other sites where people fish, swim, dive, surf, and paddle.

“An awesome amount of work went into gathering the information for the 2,500 entries . . . and Clark deserves a big mahalo.” —Honolulu Advertiser

Guardian of the Sea: Jizo in Hawaii
Jizo, one of the most beloved Buddhist deities in Japan, is known primarily as the guardian of children and travelers. In coastal areas, fishermen and swimmers also look to him for protection.

“Through Clark’s meticulous documentation, we see the birth of an early culture, some of the more deadly shorelines of our state, an education on Buddhist religion, the art of fishing technique and some useful tips to avoid getting hurt in the water. Ambitious stuff for a book about statues.” —Honolulu Weekly

“John Clark has written a remarkable book about shoreline statues of Jizo, a Buddhist figure dedicated to our protection and enlightenment. Erected by issei, first-generation Japanese Americans, Jizo statues served as guardians of ulua fishermen casting in remote and dangerous coastal areas. John draws on interviews with more than three hundred individuals to document the location of these statues and in the process offers us a glimpse of the daily lives and spirituality of early Japanese Americans. We are indebted to him for making us aware of these Jizo monuments and their role in shaping Hawai‘i’s multicultural heritage.” —Dennis Ogawa, chair, American Studies Department, University of Hawai’i

Polynesia Events in October

The visual arts of Polynesia offer a richly diverse and relatively little known body of work, covering an enormous geographical area yet linked by shared artistic conventions. The collection of Mark and Carolyn Blackburn, one of the greatest private collections of Polynesian art in the world, encompasses this broad field of artistic endeavor. It features both ceremonial and functional traditional forms in diverse media, from delicate ivory ornaments and decorated barkcloth to formidable weaponry and imposing sculpture in coral, wood, and stone. In Polynesia: The Mark and Carolyn Blackburn Collection of Polynesian Art, by Adrienne Kaeppler, for the first time, these unique works of art are on display, fully described and annotated, for the enjoyment and appreciation of scholars, collectors, and interested readers alike. Celebrate the publication of this handsome volume, which features more than 800 color illustrations, this month at the following events:

Thursday, October 28, 6-8 p.m., Native Books/Na Mea Hawai‘i
Author Adrienne Kaeppler, curator of Oceanic ethnology at the Smithsonian, will give a talk on private collecting and be available to sign copies of her book. View demonstrations by cultural practitioners, and enjoy music and refreshments.

Saturday, October 30, 11-12 noon, Academy Shop, Honolulu Academy of Arts
Dr. Kaeppler will sign copies of Polynesia.

Sunday, October 31, 2-4 pm, East-West Center Gallery (Burns Hall, adjoining UH Manoa)
Dr. Kaeppler completes her visit to Honolulu with an illustrated lecture on Polynesia. Books will be available for purchase. Attendees are welcome to view the current gallery exhibition, Kyrgyzstan: Nomadic Life in the Modern World, and enjoy refreshments.

Learn more about Polynesia:
–Listen to an interview with collector Mark Blackburn on Radio Australia: Click here for the podcast.
–Read an article in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser: http://www.staradvertiser.com/features/20101024_book_celebrates_art_of_polynesia.html

October 2010 / ISBN 978-1-883528-38-6 / $100.00 (CLOTH) / ISBN 978-1-883528-40-9 / $150.00 (SLIPCASED)
Distributed for Mark and Carolyn Blackburn

Gods, Ghosts, and Gangsters

Based on fieldwork in China and Taiwan spanning nearly two decades, Gods, Ghosts, and Gangsters: Ritual Violence, Martial Arts, and Masculinity on the Margins of Chinese Society, by Avron Boretz, offers a thorough and original account of violent ritual and ritual violence in Chinese religion and society. Close-up, sensitive portrayals and the voices of ritual actors themselves—mostly working-class men, many of them members of sworn brotherhoods and gangs—convincingly link martial ritual practice to the lives and desires of men on the margins of Chinese society. This work is a significant contribution to the study of Chinese ritual and religion, the history and sociology of Chinese underworld, the history and anthropology of the martial arts, and the anthropology of masculinity.

“This is a magnificent exposition of a social world that was heretofore inaccessible to outsiders. Boretz provides both vivid description and insightful analysis of religion among the marginally criminal element in backwater areas of Taiwan, as well as among villagers in rural Yunnan. His presentation is lively, his mastery of the material is thorough, and his agile blend of relevant findings from anthropological and sinological literature makes this a delightful read.” —John McRae, Hachioji, Tokyo

“Gods, Ghosts, and Gangsters is among the best ethnographies of China I have ever read. It is a model of anthropological writing that is at once engaging as literature and theoretically sophisticated. The author’s deep and thorough engagement with the people whose experiences he analyzes has resulted in a fascinating study that contributes greatly to our understanding of Chinese society. The decision to undertake extensive—and difficult—field work in two remote regions of Taiwan and Yunnan suggests that the nexus of ritual, violence, and masculine identity extends through much of the Chinese cultural sphere. Riveting and pathbreaking, the ethnography is thick with detail that will be extremely important for scholars working on such diverse topics as ritual, martial arts history, the construction of masculinity, and Chinese father-son relations.” —Meir Shahar, Tel Aviv University, author of The Shaolin Monastery

October 2010 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3491-3 / $29.00 (PAPER)

Travel and Culture in Song China

During the Song (960-1279), all educated Chinese men traveled frequently, journeying long distances to attend school and take civil service examinations. They crisscrossed the country to assume government posts, report back to the capital, and return home between assignments and to attend to family matters. Based on a wide array of texts, Transformative Journeys: Travel and Culture in Song China, by Cong Ellen Zhang, analyzes the impact of travel on this group of elite men and the places they visited.

“Transformative Journeys breaks new and important ground in a number of areas, but most importantly, it demonstrates the ubiquitous and influential role of travel in Song culture. Zhang’s command of the relevant primary sources is astounding; her scholarship is sound; and her findings are reasonable and convincing. Her book represents a major contribution to the field of China studies in general and Song dynasty studies in particular.” —James Hargett, SUNY Albany

October 2010 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3399-2 / $49.00 (CLOTH)