The book is Volcanos, Palm Trees and Privilege: Essays on Hawaii
This is one of those books you read and wonder “how the hell did this get published “. Sure she can write and in a number of places the book is funny, especially when she is detailing the pure hell of staying at the Hilton Waikoloa Village, but nothing binds these stories together except the location, and unfortunately she feels the need to get on her high horse and beat the reader over the head about the evils of tourism, the White Man, capitalism, etc.
The author originally from Colorado but now married and living in Portland Oregon, began visiting Hawaii as a teenager and has loved visiting ever since.
Great, but this does not make you an expert on Hawaii. Which becomes painfully apparent the further you read into the book. She seems incapable of getting out of her own way, and is completely oblivious to reality, it also goes without saying that she is insanely liberal, which isn’t a problem ordinary, but she throws in stupid comments like Bush rushed financial assistance to Hawaii after the hurricane in 1992 but didn’t visit the island apparently the Bush’s don’t handle hurricanes well. Her problem is she doesn’t understand that doing some research and visiting a place doesn’t make you an expert. I have been to Hawaii as many times as she has, and I am not an expert, I also don’t lecture people about how the white man screwed the Hawaiians over ever way imaginable, its true they did and there is an awful lot of guilt to be spread around, but it is not going back to the way it was in the 1600’s. I found it especially laughable considering the reason she and her family first traveled there was because Dad ended up developing an entire subdivision on Maui. Nothing says I care about the people and their land like building a 1000 houses to drain the limited resources of an island.
But she prattles on about the land and the people and their devotion to nature and ohana, and aina and blah blah blah all the while never actually living there and living this way. Hell she doesn’t even seem capable of booking hotels on the various islands that will match her desires and beliefs of her place in this great big world, while at the same time staying on tiny islands in the largest body of water on earth.
There are so many excellent books written by people who actually know what they write about, have lived it, are a part of it and understand it, that it is a travesty that this book is considered anything but white girl whining.
She even does that most annoying thing liberals do which is applying today’s beliefs to life 40 years ago
Specifically the episodes of The Brady Bunch in Hawaii. Sorry sweetly it wasn’t sexist, xenophobic, or any other 21st century catchphrase taking place on the show, it was a TV show. ( )

The author takes a dim view of all of the development in Hawai'i and believes that it has done very little to help out the people who actually live in Hawai'i. She delves into the past colonialistic history of the take-over of Hawai'i and how that attitude of white privilege manifests itself today in low wages for the people who actually work in paradise. She is an advocate for higher wages and curbing tourism for many of the same reasons why Yosemite has had to curb visits to that park. Tourists are doing severe damage to the environment, wildlife, and to the native peoples who live there and restrictions should be put in place. This is not a screed. It is a statement of how total dependence on tourism is ruining the Hawaiian environment in a devastating physical and cultural manner. ( )