Revolt of Mamie Stover and Hotel Mamie Stover by William Bradford Huie

Revolt of Mamie Stover  by William Bradford Huie 1951

Hotel Mamie Stover by William Bradford Huie 1963


My husband came home from a yard sale one day with a bunch of old paperbacks for me which included the Revolt of Mamie Stover. At first glance I just thought it was some pulpy novel since by looking at the cover nothing would suggest that this is set in Hawaii. The cover just had some busty blond looking really pissed off, I assumed since she had to "service" 51,840 soldiers.

The fictional author, Madison, meets Mamie on board a freight to Honolulu. He finds out she is from a small southern town and went to be an actress in Hollywood but that didn't go so well for her. She got in trouble with a gangster who roughed her up and sent her packing to a whorehouse in Hawaii. Madison is sympathetic and tries to give her money to start a different kind of life but she is determined to be the best damn whore in the south pacific. It is nice to have a goal.

Madison is successful writer who lives in an exclusive part of Oahu and seems intrigued and disgusted by the whole prospect.

They keep in touch and she uses him to help squirrel her money away since she isn't allowed to open a bank account.

Once World War II hits she can really make her mark. She breaks all the 13 rules that the Hawaii whores are suppose to abide by. She also builds a "bullring."This is some multi-roomed structure where she can service as any men as she can. She makes her millions, invests in property, takes over the whore house and retires from the business. A true American success story.

Despite the book being about a whore, there is hardly any sex in it and nothing remotely graphic. I would think folks in 1951 might of been bummed by it. Here they think they are getting a raunchy sex book but instead get a meditation on the class system. It is a strange book that is actually more a commentary about social status in America and the minorities rising in the ranks. When I finished the booked I googled the author to try and get some insight and found out he was from the south and was very involved in the civil right movement in the south. Then the book made a little more sense.

Thanks to the magic of YouTube you can now watch the 1956 movie version with Jane Russell here. Though as you can imagine it is a bit cleaned up and there is no bullpen. It does appear to be filmed in Hawaii so worth watching for that alone.

The end of the book left me hanging and with a little googling I saw there is a sequel from 1963 called Hotel Mamie Stover, I ordered a used one off of Amazon and with promises of "A veritable Sexual Disneyland" pull quote from the San Francisco Chronicle on the cover I thought surely this has to be saucier.

What I received instead was kinda of a slog to get thru. And it hardly had any Mamie in it. It picked up a

few years after the first book. Mamie and 2 business partners are now running a sex resort on Maui. First you go to a Luau that Mamie puts on in Waikiki then you submit your application to the resort. They do no advertising, just word of mouth. But OH NO, James Madison is back and is suppose to write a story about the luau and resort for a Hawaii vacation magazine that will blow the lid right off!! Sound exciting? It's not. Really.

The story then turns to be centered around a late 20's virgin from the midwest who wants to loose her virginity at the resort. The other stories are about couples who go to the resort. And like in the last book there is no sex, nothing erotic just lots of talk about "like sex." Which is what you have when you are not in love.

I feel bad for the readers in the early 50's and 60's who picked up these books thinking they where going to get a titillating beach read. They must of wanted their 60 cents back.

I can lukewarmly recommend the Revolt of Mamie Stover, it was interesting in a historical way and Mamie was a spitfire of a character. I can't recommend Hotel Mamie Stover unless you have insomnia and need some help in that department.

Island of Shattered Dreams by Chantal T. Spitz

Island of Shattered Dreams by Chantal T. Spitz, 2007.

I came across this title in a University of Hawai'i Press catalog and was interested since it is a contemporary novel by an Tahitian author. I had read the Breadfruit trilogy years ago which is also by female Tahitian author but these books couldn't be more different.

Island is a doomed loved story that is highly critical of the French government and their nuclear testing. If you are looking for an armchair travel book about French Polynesia with their happy, nice locals and fun adventures, this is not for you.

In the Bibliotiki I don't just want to read 1930's travel journals by white men who go to Tahiti and fall in love with the beautiful local ladies. I want the full picture and sometimes that means the cold, hard reality of modern Polynesia and the history that got them there.

The book is translated from Tahitian and written in a more lyrical style that seems true to the Tahitian way of storytelling. It covers a few generations of a family and their frustrations, some from certain family members being of Tahitian-European decent and how that affects their lives. The book contains a story about a Tahitian-European man falling in love with a French woman on his island, who is there working for the government to build the first nuclear facility in French Polynesian. Talk about doomed love.

The book is translated by Jean Anderson and I think is the the only translated work by this author. From what I can gather from google translated websites from French, she seems to be a very passionate person about her culture in the modern world. I think this novel has many biographical elements to it, which makes it even more interesting.

I highly recommend this novel for those wanting a different view of the magic of Polynesia. If anyone has any suggestions of other contemporary others to check out, please feel free to leave a comment.

My Samoan Chief by Fay G. Calkins

My Samoan Chief by Fay G. Calkins, 1962.


Chapter one begins:

"I squinted through my glasses, clutched my zipper notebook, and hoped I would pass as an egghead. The dome of the Library of Congress looked very awesome from underneath as I tiptoed around the great circular call desk and back through the card catalogues..."

Wait a minute, a book about the South Pacific that starts off in a library? I don't even need to think twice, here is my $3 and I will be on my way, thank you very much.

It is driving me nuts that I can't recall what bookstore I bought this in but I had it for a few months waiting for the right time to read it. I knew it would be good. Finally it went on vacation with me to Las Vegas and Florida and was a great travel book.

Here at the Bibliotiki, we do have a focus on South Pacific Literature written by women, well because I am a woman.  As I look at my bookshelves I have 1 cube that has books by women and 7 that are by men. So I am always on the hunt for something good by the ladies and this did not disappoint.

The book starts off with Fay working on her doctoral dissertation in the Library of Congress where she is assigned a student desk. She has mysterious neighbors who leave things like chicken bones in the wastebasket and ukuleles on the desk. She finally met her neighbor, who was Vaiao John Ala'ilima from the island of Samoa.

The book continues with tales of them dating. In 1952, they married and then they move to Samoa so Vai, who was one of the first graduates from Samoa, could help his country out.

I hate to use the word charming but boy this book is. Stories about her adjusting to the Samoa way, trying to build a home and raise children, were just charming but not in an annoying way.

The book also includes some pen and ink illustrations by Vasiliu but no mention of who that is.

One of my favorite illustrations is for a story about how Fay came up with an idea to rig a pulley across a chasm to better help the workers on the plantation. But it wasn't set up correctly and a young boy got stuck half way across and was too terrified to try and get out.

I wish the book had more personal anecdotes but I do come from a different time (ruined by reality tv) were back then that wasn't as common.

After reading the book, I googled Fay and found a sweet website set up in her memory. It has more about her biography, which is pretty amazing. It also includes some family history ( 7 kids!). And mentions her other works, I did not know she wrote a biography about Aggie Grey (who is mentioned in this book) which I will have to locate.

I recommend this book to all who are interested in the South Pacific, it made me want to read more about Samoa (R.L. Stevenson, I'm looking at you). Absolutely charming, damn I said it again!

To Honolulu in Five days by Lynn Blocker Krantz, Nick Krantz and Mary Thiele Fobian

To Honolulu in five days by Lynn Blocker Krantz, Nick Krantz and Mary Thiele Fobian, 2000

Ah, the civilized way to travel to the islands, by boat. This book is the story of the Matson's companies ship the S.S. Lurline.


The book is total eye candy for anyone who loves to collect ephemera from that time period. After I finished it, I was looking ebay to see what kind of things can be obtained.


It was interesting to learn how much effort and thought was put into the journey to and from Hawaii, from theme nights to entertainment. And of course hula instructions. If anyone sees one of those green hula cards, let me know.

Matson had two hotels in Oahu, the Royal Hawaiian and the Moana, and I can personally attest to them both having fine outdoor bars.
                                                                                                     Both hotels are also great to visit for    the items and art work they still have on display like the Eugene Savage prints.

Sadly, Matson no longer cruises to Hawaii, at least in this manner. They are still a shipping company and I sometimes I see their shipping containers in Oakland.                                                                  

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in pre-flight travel and the early days of Hawaii as a tourist destination.

Special note, you might recognize the little tiki on their stationary in the bottom photo. He sure does look familiar and he kinda looks like he is reading a book.

Over the Reefs by Robert Gibbings

Over the Reefs by Robert Gibbings, 1948

While at a bookstore in Berkeley, this book caught my eye. I liked the cover (doesn’t hurt that turquoise is a favorite color of mine) and I was blown away by the illustrations.

The map on the end pages promised all sorts of great destinations, New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Cook Islands and the Tahiti. Since I spent my honeymoon in the Cook Islands, the Bibliotiki does have a focus and soft spot for the region.

Upon reading this book, I found the first 100 pages to be a bit of slow going. It starts off in Tonga but quickly moves to Samoa and stays there for while. So long in fact they made Gibbings a Chief of one of their islands. Though once they made him Chief the book gets less choppy. It was also by then I realized he wasn’t going to cover Fiji or New Zealand except in passing reference.

More then half way into the book he arrives in the Cook Islands and it includes one of the best passages in the book:

One of the most ignominious acts in a man’s life is repeated daily when he puts on his trousers. I know of no garment more detrimental to his natural dignity then those limp tubes into which he inserts his legs. Is there anything in the world more limp then an empty pair of trousers?…

Finally, some personality! He goes one to decry that the Rarotongans’ of the Cook Islands have forsaken their traditional dress for the white man’s way, which saddens him. He isn’t very happy with the island of Rarotonga but then moves on to visit Atiu, Mauke, Mitiero, Mangaia and Aitutaki all in the Cooks, which generally fare better for him. So much so that I was beginning to worry he wouldn’t make it to Tahiti.

With just 27 pages left in book he finally sails to Tahiti, he soon earned my interest and respect with this passage:

Soon I after I left Tahiti in 1929, I received a letter from James Norman Hall, with whom I had stayed. He wrote: ‘We have pulled down the old native house in which you lived and are building a bigger one instead. It is yours whenever you wish, for as long as you wish. We call it “The House that waits for Robert.”

This is the house.

 

Now I LOVE James Normal Hall and became instantly jealous that JNH had not build a house for me. Gibbings, that lucky bastard. And he didn’t make it back to Tahiti for 18 years! Sadly, when Gibbings does make it back JNH is in America so he missed him. I was hoping for reports of them heading out to Quinn’s for beer and dancing.

At this point I am confused why this man who is a big deal in Tahiti has only left 27 pages for it, I look to see other books he wrote and saw he wrote “Iorana: A Tahitian Journal” in 1932 so I guess he got it covered. I then also realized I just saw that book in a small Californian town but it was $35 and I am cheap. Geez, now I will have to pick it up.

I finished reading Over the Reefs and it was fine, still like the illustrations better then the text. I then went on to research about Gibbings and saw that he had led an interesting life. He was instrumental in bringing back wood engravings as a form of art and illustrated a ton of books. He did a lot of traveling and had many ladies in his life. He also was a pioneer in diving and would make illustrations under water. Check out this website of his vintage diving costume. That just looked like a bad idea.

Below are some sweet illustrations from this book, I tried to not go too crazy with my scanner. Enjoy.

Oh, if someone could build me a “House that waits for Bibliotiki” preferably in Hawaii or really anywhere, I would be most appreciative.

Nurse on Paradise Isle by Nell Marr Dean

Nurse on Paradise Isle by Nell Marr Dean, 1967.

Since my last book was by a female missionary, I thought I needed something a little more spicy. So I picked this book. Have I mentioned that I have a love of the pocket sized paperback? I think my love started at a young age with many visits to the local paperback exchange, the Book Rack (which now I see is sadly closed). I picked up all the hits there, A Clockwork Orange, New Stories from the Twilight Zone, Monkees go Mod..

The premise is a young nurse takes at job on a remote island in French Polynesia to run a hospital for the employees who are building a luxury hotel. She falls for the macho fella who is in charge of the project but there is competition from a local beauty.

Sounds pretty spicy right? Turns out, not so much. It wound up being a meditation on malpractice lawsuits  against doctors. Yawn. It made me realize that perhaps I don't need to keep every book that is in the Bibliotiki. Though I do like the cover. 

In researching the book I saw that the author was quite prolific in the romance genre. She wrote a lot books about nurses but she actually worked as a librarian. Now if this book was called Librarian on Paradise Isle, I'd be sold. She could have a card catalog in the outrigger.

One bonus with vintage paperbacks is you often get a list of other titles they publish. I might need to find Hounds of Hell and Agents of Chaos.

Well, it was nice to read some fiction from my collection, just wish it had a little more substance but that is par for the course with a 50 cent pocket paperback I guess.

The Lymans of Hilo by Sarah Joiner Lyman

The Lymans of Hilo: A fascinating account of life in 19th century Hawaii by Sarah Joiner Lyman, 1979.

One day my husband was walking by a local bookstore and noticed this in their free bin. I looked at it but wasn't so sure I wanted to read it. I thought since it was by a missionary it would be pretty dry. I tossed it in the corner and promptly forgot about it for a few months.

Then we booked a trip to the Big Island for 2012 and I thought "don't I have some book with Hilo in the title?" I dug it out and googled it and saw that there is a Lyman Museum in Hilo you can visit. That sold me because I though if I liked the book, I might want to visit the museum while we are there.

Well, the book was pretty dry but interesting enough. Sarah married a man suddenly and 24 days later they were off on a boat to Hawaii in 1831from the East Coast. It is just amazing to me that people would just pick up and leave everything behind to go preach about the lord to the middle of no where.

The husband doesn't appear much in the journal, I think he was gone a lot. She was left behind to take care of the house and the 8 children (guess he did come back to visit).  They never visit the mainland again though many of their children moved there.

They look like a party, don't they?



It was interesting reading someones journal from their age of 25 until they died at age 80. There were some large gaps in the book where maybe there would be only 1 entry a year for the book isn't that long. They also included some letters she wrote.

It was fascinating to see how Hawaii had changed in that period for she does mention some of the politics.

It is a worth a read and since I have a special area in my Bibliotiki devoted to the South Pacific from a woman's perspective, I'll be keeping it around.

In a note related to the actual book but not the content. The book had some old recipes clipped and included in it. None related to Hawaii though neat to look at. They are from 1989, when I graduated high school but look so dated to me they could of been from the 1960's. It did make me think that clippings is just a bonus of a used book that you just can't get in an ebook.