Book Review: My Hawaii

Author: David Arthur Walters / Genre: Memoir / Creative Nonfiction / Essays

Overview

My Hawaii is an episodic, highly conversational memoir that chronicles the author's escapades, career shifts, and spiritual encounters during his time living in Hawaii and Miami Beach, starting in the year 1970. Written with the warm, nostalgic, and sometimes cynical voice of a seasoned traveler, Walters paints a vivid picture of a bygone era of beach-bumming, casual labor, and bohemian lifestyle.

The book is structured as a series of short, interconnected essays or chapters, starting with "Aloha" and moving into distinct memories like "South Beach Jock the Sock," "The Messiah of the East," and "My Good Old Waikiki Days".

Key Themes and Highlights

1. The Contrast of Two Paradises: Miami Beach vs. Hawaii

The narrative constantly fluctuates between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Walters beautifully captures the pull of Hawaii, contrasted against the grit and glamour of South Miami Beach. He reflects on how a simple acting class visualization exercise in New York literally manifested into him waking up on a beach in Florida, which eventually led him to book a flight to Hawaii.

"Hawaii was always very good to me, but I felt I was missing something there that I could find on the continent. I never found what was missing."

2. Colorful Bohemian Characters

Walters has an incredible eye for character portraits. The book is populated by eccentric, deeply human figures from the late 60s and 70s counterculture:

• Jacques (Jock the Sock): A French mime artist and student of Marcel Marceau who sunbathed on South Beach wearing nothing but a black sock, causing quite a stir among the locals.
• Billy (The Messiah of the East): The author's late best friend, a brilliant music professor and clarinetist who developed a messianic complex amidst the psychotropic drug culture of the late sixties, leading to a tragic end.
• Sammy: A Portuguese-Hawaiian tour escort, Vietnam veteran, and local ladies' man who frequently got suspended for his wild antics but remained a beloved figure.

3. The Underbelly of the Waikiki Tourism Industry

One of the most fascinating aspects of the memoir is Walters' transition from a broke beachcomber to a "speed demon" night-transcript accountant for Roy Kelley's famous Outrigger economy hotel empire, and later a controller for a travel agency. He details the quiet corruption, petty thefts by hotel clerks, and systemic under-the-table cash grabs by tour escorts. His insider knowledge of how manual double-entry bookkeeping was used—and manipulated—offers a gritty, realistic look at the business side of "paradise".

Style and Tone

• Conversational and Candid: Walters writes like a knowledgeable peer sharing stories over a drink. He doesn't shy away from his own financial desperation, failed romances (such as with a vacationing adult film star/photographer), or the harsh realities of the drug culture of his youth.
• A Balance of Humor and Melancholy: There is a distinct, bittersweet tone of aging and looking back. He writes with humor about demanding overtime pay from hotel tycoons (and subsequently getting fired), but writes with quiet grief about the friends he lost to suicide and addiction.

Critique

• Strengths: The book excels at atmospheric storytelling. Walters successfully transports the reader to a time of "Kona Gold," manual spreadsheets, "puka shells," and cheap kitchenettes in Waikiki's "Jungle". His prose is accessible, engaging, and highly descriptive.
• Weaknesses: Because it is structured as a collection of recollected episodes, the narrative can sometimes jump abruptly in time and geography (shifting from New York to Puerto Rico to Hawaii within a few paragraphs). A reader looking for a traditional, linear plot might find the stream-of-consciousness style slightly disorienting at first, though it perfectly mirrors the free-wheeling nature of the era it describes.

Final Verdict

Writings 41 My Hawaii is a captivating, authentic time capsule. It is a great read for anyone interested in Hawaii's modern history, the 1970s counterculture movement, or simply looking for an honest, entertaining memoir about finding—and losing—oneself in paradise.

Table of Contents Include

The book covers an extensive list of essays, including:

• Aloha
• South Beach Jock the Sock
• The Messiah Of The East
• My Good Old Waikiki Days
• Forbes Propaganda Calls Hawaii a Socialist State
• The Fabulous Gay Minority Of Hawaii
• Asian Development Bank Goes to Hawaii
• ...and many more.