When I first read these stories, I was blown away. This collection is rich with insight, is vibrant and a joy to read, feeling much more contemporary than you would expect. I enjoyed these better than any of London's other stories and novels. The themes reflect a keen understanding of the zeitgeist in Hawaii at the beginning of the 20th century. These stories should not remain obscure.

The good: I needed information on turn-of-the-20th-century Hawaii, and London's lush descriptions caused me to make many notes. The bad: overall, the content of these stories struck me as dreadfully dull, and it made for a slow, torturous read. I often read nonfiction faster than this. The character development dragged, and many stories resolved around the theme of affairs or similar interpersonal drama, plus a fixation of leprosy. I loved the actual details about Hawaii, its history, and its water; it's easy to see that London fell in love with the islands. ( )