DNF'd on: December 4th, 2020
DNF'd on: Page 71 (28%)

I gave Unfamiliar Fishes the good ol' college try, but even the pressures of having to discuss it at length in seminars couldn't drive me further along. It wasn't horrible, Vowell is actually a pretty witty writer, but the inescapable sense that this wasn't her story to tell was a real presence in the short amount of time I spent reading it.

I also took umbrage with the form of storytelling utilized by Vowell throughout. This could just be my bias as a history student, but the conversational tone that heavily mixed a recounting of history with Vowell's personal thoughts was grating, to say the least. Her constant presence in the book felt distracting. But, I can see how this form would make what's normally seen as a dry history accessible to the layman.

If you're looking for a conversational, memoir-esque history of the annexation of Hawai'i this wouldn't be a terrible place to start, but I have no interest and no obligation to finishing this one so I'm tapping out.