Big Happiness: The Life and Death of a Modern Hawaiian Warrior
"This exhaustively researched, engrossingly written, deeply personal book is about far more than [Percy] Kipapa, who as Daiki ('Big Happiness') rose to the second-highest juryo division but left sumo after seven injury-plagued years....[Panek] uses Kipapa's story to examine wider issues affecting the native Hawaiian community, from rapacious land development to the methamphetamine or 'ice' epidemic that has devastated many lives, Kipapa's included....His account of Kipapa's death, including the arrest and trial of his accused killer, is a as compelling as any mystery novel."--TheJapanTimesPanek has worked his fingers to the bone to produce some fine research into Hawaiian culture, and this book must rank as one of the most fun academic texts ever. It s no mean feat to make a history and cultural book so accessible and readable, all the time drawing you into the character of Percy. --Sumo Fan Magazine (36, April 2011)An eloquent biography, not only of [Percy Kipapa] . . . but of the local Waiahole-Waikane community in which he lived. It s a deeply researched, insightful look at the many problems facing Hawaii's poor and rural neighborhood, and a fitting tribute to a man who passed too soon. --Honolulu Magazine(June 2011)This smartly written tale mixes the personal with the political to create a portrait of the Hawaii tourists never see. --Dan Kois, NYMag.com