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Hawai'i One Summer
Essays on the island and its history and traditions from the National Book Award–winning author of The Woman Warrior.
In these eleven thought-provoking pieces, acclaimed writer and feminist Maxine Hong Kingston tells stories of Hawai’i filled with both personal experience and wider perspective.
From a recipient of the National Medal of Arts and numerous other honors, the essays in this collection provide readers with a generous sampling of Kingston’s exquisite angle of vision, her balanced and clear-sighted prose, and her stunning insight that awakens one to a wealth of knowledge.
In these eleven thought-provoking pieces, acclaimed writer and feminist Maxine Hong Kingston tells stories of Hawai’i filled with both personal experience and wider perspective.
From a recipient of the National Medal of Arts and numerous other honors, the essays in this collection provide readers with a generous sampling of Kingston’s exquisite angle of vision, her balanced and clear-sighted prose, and her stunning insight that awakens one to a wealth of knowledge.
67 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 1998
39 people are currently reading
400 people want to read
About the author
Maxine Hong Kingston
58 books655 followersBest known works, including
The Woman Warrior
(1976) and
China Men
(1980), of American writer Maxine Hong Kingston combine elements of fiction and memoir.
She was born as Maxine Ting Ting Hong to a laundry house owner in Stockton, California. She was the third of eight children, and the first among them born in the United States. Her mother trained as a midwife at the To Keung School of Midwifery in Canton. Her father had been brought up a scholar and taught in his village of Sun Woi, near Canton. Tom left China for America in 1924 and took a job in a laundry.
Her works often reflect on her cultural heritage and blend fiction with non-fiction. Among her works are The Woman Warrior (1976), awarded the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, and China Men (1980), which was awarded the 1981 National Book Award. She has written one novel, Tripmaster Monkey, a story depicting a character based on the mythical Chinese character Sun Wu Kong. Her most recent books are To Be The Poet and The Fifth Book of Peace.
She was awarded the 1997 National Humanities Medal by President of the United States Bill Clinton. Kingston was a member of the committee to choose the design for the California commemorative quarter. She was arrested in March 2003 in Washington, D.C., for crossing a police line during a protest against the war in Iraq. In April, 2007, Hong Kingston was awarded the Northern California Book Award Special Award in Publishing for her most recent novel Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace (2006), edited by Maxine Hong Kingston.
She married actor Earl Kingston in 1962; they have had one child, Joseph Lawrence Chung Mei, born in 1964. They now live in Oakland.
Kingston was honored as a 175th Speaker Series writer at Emma Willard School in September 2005.
She was born as Maxine Ting Ting Hong to a laundry house owner in Stockton, California. She was the third of eight children, and the first among them born in the United States. Her mother trained as a midwife at the To Keung School of Midwifery in Canton. Her father had been brought up a scholar and taught in his village of Sun Woi, near Canton. Tom left China for America in 1924 and took a job in a laundry.
Her works often reflect on her cultural heritage and blend fiction with non-fiction. Among her works are The Woman Warrior (1976), awarded the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, and China Men (1980), which was awarded the 1981 National Book Award. She has written one novel, Tripmaster Monkey, a story depicting a character based on the mythical Chinese character Sun Wu Kong. Her most recent books are To Be The Poet and The Fifth Book of Peace.
She was awarded the 1997 National Humanities Medal by President of the United States Bill Clinton. Kingston was a member of the committee to choose the design for the California commemorative quarter. She was arrested in March 2003 in Washington, D.C., for crossing a police line during a protest against the war in Iraq. In April, 2007, Hong Kingston was awarded the Northern California Book Award Special Award in Publishing for her most recent novel Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace (2006), edited by Maxine Hong Kingston.
She married actor Earl Kingston in 1962; they have had one child, Joseph Lawrence Chung Mei, born in 1964. They now live in Oakland.
Kingston was honored as a 175th Speaker Series writer at Emma Willard School in September 2005.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
February 2, 2018
Who knew an essay on washing dishes could make me feel some type of way. Damn, MHK is legit.
May 17, 2019
Enchanting. Gritty. I need to read it 300 more times.
January 12, 2022
Loaned to me by a friend, I now discover that it's been lurking on my "to-read" list - excellent! I haven't really started yet, but will tonight. The author is pretty famous and if memory serves she was featured in a fairly recent New Yorker article. The "Aloha State" is a favorite subject of mine ever since I lived there for almost two years while in the Navy.
The author says that Hawai'i is the part of the United States closest to Vietnam. I say: What about Guam? I THINK it's considered to be part of the United States. Way closer to Vietnam than Hawai'i'.
Hmmm ... so far I'm feeling a bit left out. The writing is fine and enjoyable to read, but the content doesn't seem to be compelling for me. This is likely due to a simple case of incompatibility between the author's brain and mine. It's not a long book so I'll stick with it until the end. Reminds a bit of Grace Paley.
Last night's [portion included a description of the author's encounter with what a biologist friend called "nudibranches" - amazing sea creatures!
Finished up last night with an essay about (body)surfing at Sandy Beach. I found that as I went along through this I liked the author's writing better and better. In the last essay she mentions the names of several Hawaiian surfers, including Eddie Aikau, who was also mentioned in Bill Finnegan's book "Barbarian Days."
- 4.5* rounds down to 4*.
The author says that Hawai'i is the part of the United States closest to Vietnam. I say: What about Guam? I THINK it's considered to be part of the United States. Way closer to Vietnam than Hawai'i'.
Hmmm ... so far I'm feeling a bit left out. The writing is fine and enjoyable to read, but the content doesn't seem to be compelling for me. This is likely due to a simple case of incompatibility between the author's brain and mine. It's not a long book so I'll stick with it until the end. Reminds a bit of Grace Paley.
Last night's [portion included a description of the author's encounter with what a biologist friend called "nudibranches" - amazing sea creatures!
Finished up last night with an essay about (body)surfing at Sandy Beach. I found that as I went along through this I liked the author's writing better and better. In the last essay she mentions the names of several Hawaiian surfers, including Eddie Aikau, who was also mentioned in Bill Finnegan's book "Barbarian Days."
- 4.5* rounds down to 4*.
November 4, 2021
Excellent
September 6, 2025
Writing from a location perfectly-suited to Kingston's effervescent intertwining of the past, present, and future, Hawai'i One Summer, like many of Kingston's best works, feels like a Myth of Sisyphus-ian celebration of what makes life arduous, rewarding, mundane, and, naturally, worth living.
February 7, 2020
I'm diggin' essays at the moment, and I read this book right up.
Initially, I was motivated to get my hands on this collection because I came across and taught "Sea Worry" to my seventh graders a few years ago. It led to a surprisingly successful discussion about point of view: the teacher versus the students; and, my Hawaii born and bred students appreciated finally being able to identify the places an author is writing about.
So I wanted to attempt a repeat of this success with my current ninth graders and on this trail found myself consuming the rest of the work quickly.
I am naturally drawn towards her essays on teaching and writing, and though in the preface, she claims that she attempted to leave her [Hawaii] out, I love how she seeps through the narratives anyway. Of course she [Hawaii] does.
Through this seeping, is a pervading sense of awe for the island, as well as a nuanced sense of “outsiderness” that comes with being a mainlander, foreigner, haole, in Hawaii. It makes sense that in the preface she articulates that she struggled to determine what was hers to write about, and that she could hear the Hawaiians telling her, “’You have taken our land. Don’t take our stories.’”
I can relate to the teacher doubt she writes about in “Useful Education”. The doubt that so easily takes root in the throes of teaching the structured essay. I think I will keep telling myself the following as I continue to drill argument writing into my poor students’ brains:
“But if I become paralyzed worrying about the kid writers I am damaging, I try to remember how tough writers are. Kwan Kung, the god of war and literature, rides before us.”
…and I’m going to type this one up for my classroom wall:
“...form---the epic, the novel, drama, the various forms of poetry--is organic to the human body. Petrarch did not invent the sonnet. Human heartbeat and language and voice and breath produce these rhythms.”
Thanks, Maxine.
Initially, I was motivated to get my hands on this collection because I came across and taught "Sea Worry" to my seventh graders a few years ago. It led to a surprisingly successful discussion about point of view: the teacher versus the students; and, my Hawaii born and bred students appreciated finally being able to identify the places an author is writing about.
So I wanted to attempt a repeat of this success with my current ninth graders and on this trail found myself consuming the rest of the work quickly.
I am naturally drawn towards her essays on teaching and writing, and though in the preface, she claims that she attempted to leave her [Hawaii] out, I love how she seeps through the narratives anyway. Of course she [Hawaii] does.
Through this seeping, is a pervading sense of awe for the island, as well as a nuanced sense of “outsiderness” that comes with being a mainlander, foreigner, haole, in Hawaii. It makes sense that in the preface she articulates that she struggled to determine what was hers to write about, and that she could hear the Hawaiians telling her, “’You have taken our land. Don’t take our stories.’”
I can relate to the teacher doubt she writes about in “Useful Education”. The doubt that so easily takes root in the throes of teaching the structured essay. I think I will keep telling myself the following as I continue to drill argument writing into my poor students’ brains:
“But if I become paralyzed worrying about the kid writers I am damaging, I try to remember how tough writers are. Kwan Kung, the god of war and literature, rides before us.”
…and I’m going to type this one up for my classroom wall:
“...form---the epic, the novel, drama, the various forms of poetry--is organic to the human body. Petrarch did not invent the sonnet. Human heartbeat and language and voice and breath produce these rhythms.”
Thanks, Maxine.
May 22, 2018
This is a short essay collection, with each essay being less than ten pages long. They all discuss themes of belonging, culture, and writing, with the author pulling from her own experiences. As this is a collection of essays collected from when they were written instead of contemporaneously, some of them do seem a little dated and have references that, personally, I didn’t understand.
However, I found the author’s writing style to be accessible and at times beautiful; she has a way of perfectly setting up an emotion or setting with very few words. I particularly enjoyed the essay about hauntings; the atmosphere in that one was brilliantly done and I really got a sense of place and history whilst reading. However, there were many, particularly the one about poet Lew Welcher, where I didn’t get anything from it because I didn’t understand what the author was referencing. The final essay was about surfing and was a surprisingly uplifting way to end the collection which I enjoyed.
Overall I would say that this is a great way in to this author’s writing and I would love to pick up The Woman Warrior, arguably her most famous work at some point in the future. I would recommend this collection if you’re looking for a way into essay collections or adult non-fiction in general because it is easily accessible and contains great discussions on identity and Hawai’i as a location.
However, I found the author’s writing style to be accessible and at times beautiful; she has a way of perfectly setting up an emotion or setting with very few words. I particularly enjoyed the essay about hauntings; the atmosphere in that one was brilliantly done and I really got a sense of place and history whilst reading. However, there were many, particularly the one about poet Lew Welcher, where I didn’t get anything from it because I didn’t understand what the author was referencing. The final essay was about surfing and was a surprisingly uplifting way to end the collection which I enjoyed.
Overall I would say that this is a great way in to this author’s writing and I would love to pick up The Woman Warrior, arguably her most famous work at some point in the future. I would recommend this collection if you’re looking for a way into essay collections or adult non-fiction in general because it is easily accessible and contains great discussions on identity and Hawai’i as a location.
September 16, 2009
Simple, spare. A collection worth reading, especially Kingston's essays about her son's bodysurfing. I was fascinated by the reasoning behind her fears - it wasn't just that she was afraid for his safety, she also worried that as an athlete he would become too caught up in the world of the physical and "transcendental" and lose the ability to articulate himself verbally. A great, unexpected point, though not one that I ultimately find very convincing.
Kingston has gotten a lot of flack in the past for her "co-option" and adaptation of Chinese folklore, so the essay about the Hawaiian literary conference was pretty relevant.
Kingston has gotten a lot of flack in the past for her "co-option" and adaptation of Chinese folklore, so the essay about the Hawaiian literary conference was pretty relevant.
April 19, 2016
I love books about the culture and the traditions of a time and place. Hawaii is full of spiritual folklore and is a heavy place to penetrate. I like the ways in which Maxine describes her reservations as an outsider who is unsure of her belonging as an activist, writer, and Chinese American from the mainland. I recently moved to Hawaii and was pleasantly surprised to learn she had lived here. I, too have the same reservations about my place on an island far out in the pacific that is embraced strongly by water, wind, fire, and aloha. Great and quick read, spoken in her usual poetic rhythm that I admire.
June 22, 2010
There is a reason Kingston was declared A Living Treasure by the state of Hawaii. This book, deceptively small and liberally spiced with photographs is like collecting raindrops. She is my go-to gal whenever I want comfort books. A splendid book to read again and again.
I love all the stories and her description of the Hawaii of old and being able to hear the islands sing haunts me.
I would love,love, LOVE to own one of the hand-printed copies one day.
I love all the stories and her description of the Hawaii of old and being able to hear the islands sing haunts me.
I would love,love, LOVE to own one of the hand-printed copies one day.
May 22, 2010
I just love Maxine Hong Kingston.
April 20, 2016
50 States and at least 50 authors 2016 Reading Challenge. HAWAII.
A waste of paper. A waste of time. You will learn nothing of Hawaii and only bits about the author's pathetic life.
A waste of paper. A waste of time. You will learn nothing of Hawaii and only bits about the author's pathetic life.
March 20, 2017
A string of pearls
April 18, 2018
weird to read something about home.
January 12, 2019
So happy to read this short book of short essays.
September 9, 2021
A short read...she states right up front that as a Chinese American in Hawaii, she is an outsider presuming to relate Hawaiian culture.
The book reads as if she is writing from the outside, as an observer, rather than from the inside, as a character. I could attribute this distance to the culture of literary criticism, as she is after all, a professor at UC Berkeley in English.
However, some situations or authors don't project into the persons in their books....I find that men who write fiction have that external point of view, writing about the people in their books, whereas the subtle gift of writing from within the skin of a subject is hard to find.
This book comes across as a set of observations, without much feeling, perhaps none intended.
The book reads as if she is writing from the outside, as an observer, rather than from the inside, as a character. I could attribute this distance to the culture of literary criticism, as she is after all, a professor at UC Berkeley in English.
However, some situations or authors don't project into the persons in their books....I find that men who write fiction have that external point of view, writing about the people in their books, whereas the subtle gift of writing from within the skin of a subject is hard to find.
This book comes across as a set of observations, without much feeling, perhaps none intended.
April 10, 2022
Rounded down from a 3.5.
“The result is that I am making up meanings as I go along. Which is the way I live anyway.”
I loved the insights into Kingston’s time in Hawai’i that these short essays provide. Her prose is the perfect level of purple for me and the insights are going to be something I return to.
“Dishwashing” was such an evocative, bleak piece and “Chinaman’s Hat” felt like the most representative thematically of the collection and of Kingston’s work as a whole: beauty and dysphoria tied together with a shrewd ability to set a scene.
“The result is that I am making up meanings as I go along. Which is the way I live anyway.”
I loved the insights into Kingston’s time in Hawai’i that these short essays provide. Her prose is the perfect level of purple for me and the insights are going to be something I return to.
“Dishwashing” was such an evocative, bleak piece and “Chinaman’s Hat” felt like the most representative thematically of the collection and of Kingston’s work as a whole: beauty and dysphoria tied together with a shrewd ability to set a scene.
October 2, 2025
This collection of essays was included with the Library of American anthology of MHK’s works. It reads quite easily and reminds me of confidential diary entries. It’s interesting to me how many voices this author has. The Warrior Woman, China Men, and The Tripmaster Monkey each have a separate style, and a quick sneak preview of her book reviews shows yet another voice.
This short collection is charmingly written. The one about dishwashing is pretty entertaining. And the one about the Duck Boy - Brit Masy - was poignant. I could read her essays all day …
This short collection is charmingly written. The one about dishwashing is pretty entertaining. And the one about the Duck Boy - Brit Masy - was poignant. I could read her essays all day …
December 12, 2022
Kingston spent about twenty years in Hawaii and these are some of her reflections on her time there. Despite her writing them as they happened, one can definitely feel a bit of remoteness at times - which I guess is the point, as she said at the outset that she is an outsider there.
I would have liked a few more essays, honestly. Or a bit more in depth. But I understand the point she's trying to make.
I would have liked a few more essays, honestly. Or a bit more in depth. But I understand the point she's trying to make.
August 13, 2020
This was an all-too-short collection of essays about living in Hawaii that describes the place in an oblique, roundabout fashion. You almost have to catch Hawaii out of the side of your eye in this collection, and I think this non-straightforwardness makes for better, more subtle appreciation. I love Kingston's limpid word choice and stillness.
February 26, 2023
A delightful little book of wide-ranging and thought-provoking essays. How to walk this earth responsibly, in relationship with nature and people -- and how to reflect on our multiple allegiances in writing, in art? She provides her answers and instantly challenges them by including other possible alternatives to her answers. The part of the joy of this book is its mutli-voicedness.
October 2, 2022
I thought this collection of essays was well written. They didn’t all completely suck me in which is why I’ve only given 3 stars. I definitely related to the essay on washing dishes but some of the others I found a bit harder to connect to.
March 13, 2020
Hardly a book. But I liked this idiosyncratic, slim book of newspaper pieces.
November 16, 2020
A poetic set of essays digested in one sitting.
January 22, 2021
Slim volume of essays, more random than I expected.
May 18, 2021
Beautiful.
A collection of short essays (slightly ironic, considering the theme of one of them) that is honest and presents the inquisitive, reflective spirit of the author and her time in Hawaii.
A collection of short essays (slightly ironic, considering the theme of one of them) that is honest and presents the inquisitive, reflective spirit of the author and her time in Hawaii.
June 14, 2021
Fast read, loved the rhythm of her words. It matched the way I talk to myself.
September 27, 2022
I just learned recently that Maxine Hong Kingston and spent some of her young life in Hawaii. This small book of essays is a nice slide of life in Hawaii and reflections on the life of an author.
April 19, 2023
MHK - memories in writing
What a treasure from the writer of Warrior Woman and of China Men, etc. I love these essays from the teacher of essay writing.
What a treasure from the writer of Warrior Woman and of China Men, etc. I love these essays from the teacher of essay writing.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews