BOOK REVIEW:
ROMANTIC HAWAII—Sun, Sand, Surf & Sex! (Then & Now!), by Boyé Lafayette De Mente. Phoenix Books/Publishers. Trade paperback, 6×9, 132 pages, 4-color cover. $12.95. ISBN: 0-914778-60-9. Distributors to the trade: Ingram Book Company, Baker & Taylor. Consumer distribution: Amazon.com, Borders, Barnes & Noble, etc.
When the first white men showed up in Hawaii in 1778 it was the middle of a long fall and winter festival during which various sexual techniques were demonstrated by nude hula dancers, couples engaged in a “bowling for partners” game, and people played various other competitive sports. The foreign explorers assumed that the Hawaiians never worked and that sex was a universal sport—so to speak.
American missionaries soon put a stop to this enlightened custom, and tried their best to completely and permanently ban hula dancing and surfing (in the nude, of course). But as time passed and the first generation of missionaries went to their reward, surfing, hula dancing and the pursuit of sensual pleasures regained some of the ground they had lost.
Today’s Hawaii is not as laid back as it was in its pre-missionary days, but the sun, the sand, the surf and the islands still work their seductive magic on residents and visitors alike.
In this delightful romp through the sensual history of Hawaii before and after the coming of Europeans and Americans, the author leaves no doubt that for vacationers going to Hawaii the experience is often like a honeymoon, whether they are married or not…
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Boyé Lafayette De Mente is a graduate of Jōchi University in Tokyo and Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Arizona. He is the author of more than 50 books on the business practices, cultures and languages of China, Japan, Korea and Mexico. For a list and synopses of his books go to: www.boyedemente.com.
