Rascals in paradise

Format:

Book

Title:

Rascals in paradise

Author:

Michener, James A. (James Albert), 1907-1997.

ISBN:

9780812986860

Edition:

Dial Press trade paperback edition.

Publication:

New York : The Dial Press, 2016.

Physical Description:

xiv, 372 pages : map ; 21 cm

General Note:

Originally published: New York : Random House, 1957.

Contents:

Rascals in paradise : the Globe mutineers -- Charles I, Emperor of Oceania -- Coxinga, Lord of the seas -- Gibson, the King's evil angel -- Bligh, man of mutinies -- Doña Isabel, the lady explorer -- Bully Hayes, South Sea buccaneer -- Louis Becke, adventurer and writer -- Will Mariner, the boy chief of Tonga -- Leeteg, the legend.

Summary:

The fascinating stories of adventurous men who sailed the South Seas. Some craved power, some craved peace, others merely surrendered to fate. Sam Comstock -- A sailor crazed by the South Sea Islands and driven to lead the ruthless mutiny. He envisioned himself a magnificent ruler -- but his dream became a nightmare. Will Mariner -- A golden-haired youth whose ship was captured by hostile natives. He was the sole survivor and his charm turned his captors into slaves. Captain Bligh -- Was he the infamous captain of the Bounty, the monster legend had made him? Here is the true story of Captain Bligh. Rascals In Paradise -- they searched for adventure in the most dazzling places on earth.

Subject(s):

Rogues and vagabonds -- Oceania.

Geographic Term:

Genre:

Added Author:

Day, A. Grove (Arthur Grove), 1904-1994.

Berry, Steve

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Salem Main Library	990 Michener 2016	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

In a thrilling collection of nonfiction adventure stories, James A. Michener returns to the most dazzling place on Earth: the islands that inspired Tales of the South Pacific . Co-written with A. Grove Day, Rascals in Paradise offers portraits of ten scandalous men and women, some infamous and some overlooked, including Sam Comstock, a mutinous sailor whose delusions of grandeur became a nightmare; Will Mariner, a golden-haired youth who used his charm to win over his captors; and William Bligh, the notorious HMS Bounty captain who may not have been the monster history remembers him as. From lifelong buccaneers to lapsed noblemen, in Michener and Day's capable hands these rogues become the stuff of legend.

Praise for Rascals in Paradise

"The best book about those far-scattered islands that has appeared in a long time . . . a portfolio of rare and ruthless personalities that is calculated to make the curliest hair stand straight on end." -- The New York Times

"[Combines] research and scholarship (A. Grove Day was a professor at the University of Hawaii) with a gift for spinning a yarn and depicting character (Michener, journalist and novelist, needs no introduction)." -- Kirkus Reviews

Author Notes

James A. Michener, 1907 - 1997 James Albert Michener was born on February 3, 1907 in Doylestown, Pa. He earned an A.B. from Swarthmore College, an A.M. from Colorado State College of Education, and an M.A. from Harvard University. He taught for many years and was an editor for Macmillan Publishing Company. His first book, "Tales of the South Pacific," derived from Michener's service in the Pacific in World War II, won the 1947 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and was the basis for the Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical South Pacific, which won the 1950 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Michener completed close to 40 novels. Some other epic works include "Hawaii," "Centennial," "Space," and "Caribbean." He also wrote a significant amount of nonfiction including his autobiography "The World Is My Home."

Among his many other honors, James Michener received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977. He was married to Patti Koon in 1935; they divorced in 1948. He married Vange Nord in 1948 (divorced 1955) and Mari Yoriko Sabusawa in 1955 (deceased 1994). He died in 1997 in Austin, Texas.

(Bowker Author Biography)