Aloha Rodeo: Three Hawaiian Cowboys, the World's Greatest Rodeo, and a Hidden History of the American West

I loved this. <i>Mahalo nui loa</i> to the authors for a fascinating book. This one goes on the keeper shelf.<br /><br />The authors do a superb job in blending a brief history of the frontier days of the West with a history of Hawaii's relationship with British explorers and US empire builders. The emphasis may have been on the cattle business, but all of the little extra observations are what make the book worth reading.

A fascinating history with some good pics in the HB edition. It really gave me a feel for the times &amp; filled in a lot of trivia about the Wild West (the Show, rodeos, &amp; general west) Teddy Roosevelt, &amp; especially Hawaii's history. Very readable &amp; in depth enough without bogging down. Highly recommended.

I saw another 2-star review that hit the nail on the head; it said the content was fascinating, yet the author’s writing style left a lot to be desired. I struggled with this one. First, as a horse lover I thought I’d read about cowboys who love their horses, but there’s some scenes of stomach churning animal cruelty (I’m not faint hearted and I get this is non-fiction, so I’m not knocking the author here, I just didn’t go in knowing what to expect). Second, it skips around A LOT. Like you’ll be in Hawaii, then suddenly in Wyoming and in one year and then another. I found the content of this one fascinating, just the execution was difficult, especially in audiobook form where I couldn’t flip back and see where exactly we were. Overall a quick listen and narrator did awesome job with Hawaiian names and locations.

If you are interested in the history of rodeos, cowboys, or American western culture, this book is for you. <br /><br />This book tells the history of:<br />- How the cows came to Hawaii and the history of Hawaiian cowboys, or paniolo.<br />- How the rodeo became popular in Cheyenne, Wyoming. <br /><br />Things I liked:<br />- I love Hawaii, so reading about the rich and interesting history is great. <br />- Fast paced and quicker read than a lot of history books.<br /><br />Other interesting facts I learned:<br />- Wyoming wanted women to be able to vote in order to attract more women to the state.<br />- Wyoming's state motto is "Equal Rights"

An attractive book, it is extremely informative and educational. I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in the history of rodeo (or Hawaii). My copy was obtained from a Goodreads giveaway and I appreciate the opportunity to read &amp; review it.

A fascinating look at a subject I thought I had little to no interest in. Reads like a novel. Really well done.

An interesting look at the history of cattle ranches in Hawaii, and 3 Hawaiian cowboys who dared to take on the cowboys at the Cheyenne Frontier Days.

<i>Aloha Rodeo: Three Hawaiian Cowboys, The World’s Greatest Rodeo, and a Hidden History of the American West</i> by David Wolman and Julian Smith is book that promises too much—and that’s the problem. The book is a shallow dive into too many topics so instead of learning a lot about even one topic, you learn just a tiny bit. Ironically, that brevity (under 250 pages) is what saves the book from being utterly unreadable. <br /><br />The cover and title caught my eye and frankly, those are the best features of the book. Supposedly this book was an NPR Best Book of the Year and a finalist in two other book competitions and that makes me think the other books must have been particularly terrible that year. There’s no doubt the authors researched their topic, but the result is an unfocused, incredibly boring mess. I thought (based on the title and most of the subtitle) that this was about native Hawaiians and rodeos and a rodeo in Hawaii. And it is. Sort of. It also includes a quickie history of Hawaii (from its volcanic beginnings to the first islander to Captain James Cook and his eventual demise at the hands of offended Hawaiians). I can understand going back to how steers were introduced to the islands and the evolution of ranching because without steers there would be no cowboys (or in Hawaiian lingo: paniolos). But the authors do not stay focused on their topic. After introducing the main characters (the three Hawaiian cowboys), Wolman and Smith switch to Cheyenne, Wyoming and give readers historical background on the city and its financial ups and downs. <br /><br />The range of topics also includes diversions into the racism and sexism of the West and a brief shout-out to African-American cowboys and women cowgirls who succeeded. Then attention flips back to the paniolos (who encountered not only racism due to their darker skin, but also hostility due to them being thought of as foreigners…even though Hawaii had been annexed and forced into the United States—pretty much against its will—by the time the Hawaiians compete against the Western cowboys) and their unique steer-herding techniques. The overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy by American businessmen is another great topic that is touched on briefly then disappears. <br /><br />I think the authors should have focused on the rodeo shows of the west, specifically Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West show (because, yes, that’s another diversion, along with the discussion of the incongruity? Tragedy? Cruelty? Of his shows dramatizing historical events that <i>just happened</i>—battles between American soldiers and Native Americans—with actual Native Americans (who may have really been in these battles) playing their own parts—to entertain the hordes of white European-descended Americans) and the Cheyenne Frontier Days, which is where (eventually) the paniolos compete and kick the smug Western cowboys’ asses. Supposedly that’s the climax of the book. However, when I got to that chapter, it was very anticlimactic. Worse, the authors did such a terrible job of defining the men that they blurred in my mind and I couldn’t really distinguish one guy from another. I didn’t really feel their triumph. Worse, the authors followed up on the cowboys who lost to the paniolos and told me, well, this one was really an outlaw using an assumed name, this one went to jail, etc. That puzzled me. I’m sorry, was I supposed to care? <br /><br /><i>Aloha Rodeo</i> is a great name for a book but it’s a terrible book. Some of the information (specifically, roping and cowboy techniques) is repeated. It’s also sooooo boring. Not only is the narrative unfocused and zipping between topics, the prose is so damn boring. The authors drone. It’s the printed book version of the teacher in <i>Ferris Bueller’s Day Off</i>: “Bueller? Bueller?” (Millennials: Google it.) How they could take such fascinating topics (rodeos, foreign policy trickery, Manifest Destiny, civil rights and Hawaii) and turn them all into a disjointed snooze fest is surely a feat worthy of an award. Maybe that’s what NPR was awarding? The Snooze Fest Book of the Year? (I no longer trust NPR’s book recommendations. I’ve been burned too many times.) I recommend this book only to get an introduction to the topic of Hawaii/rodeo shows history. It’s short and can be skimmed and contains an index and a bibliography (probably of better written books). A book <i>could</i> be written tackling all the subjects the authors raise and tying them all together (think: Doris Kearns Goodwin’s massive yet page-turner historical biographies <i>Team of Rivals</i> and <i>The Bully Pulpit</i>) but not by these guys. Definitely not. <br />

I admit that before I had the great, good luck to meet and speak with Julian Smith, co-author of ALOHA RODEO, at the Tattered Cover - Aspen Grove, I never knew that Hawaii has had a flourishing cattle ranching history longer than the mainland. I also never knew that three Hawaiian cowboys (paniolo) traveled to Cheyenne Frontier Days in 1908, to quietly, but surely take top prizes at the Daddy of Them All! Now, I know, and I am amazed at the great story of the Brits presenting King Kamehameha with a few "useful" gifts of longhorn cattle which were promptly set free to become wild; the eventual development of profitable ranching on the big island, and the development of expert cowhands trained by Mexican vaqueros, who not only wrangled huge herds in the mountains of the island, but drove them to the beach into the ocean, where they then swam them to the waiting ships. Longhorn steers! Swimming one by one to the ships taking them to market. Imagine the skill, the stamina, the focus! It is astounding; and great fun to read how these experts from the islands showed big, strong, blowhard Wyoming cowboys how to get the job done in record time.<br /><br />You get the idea that the authors had fun researching this amazing tale. They visited the mountainsides of Hawaii, ate with present day paniolo, discussed the work, the challenges, the history behind their success. They also visited Cheyenne and surrounding ranches, studied cowboys on the mainland, then wrote an engaging, conversational, thorough history of a great event. All in all, whether Julian Smith is reading from the book, quietly discussing it, or you are reading it alone on your living room floor, you will feel you are there, 'round a campfire, recalling the events of an exciting day, a great rodeo.<br /><br />You will like all the people you meet on these pages. You may wonder how you would fare, should you try to follow in their stirrups. You will absolutely be glad you read this book, then passed it on to someone else to enjoy as well.

Wolman and Smith explore an inflection point in the story of the American west from a fascinatingly distinct perspective, I had a hard time categorizing this book - Aloha Rodeo is a biography. It's a sports story. It's unexplored and unknown popular history. It's about culture, the imperial era, the environment, and a story of the stories we tell ourselves, all captured from a poignant, intimate perspective. <br /><br />If you think you know the best stories of the American West and cattle culture, think again and give Aloha Rodeo a read. Nearly every page seems to contain a hidden nugget that will challenge your assumptions about the time period. I listened to the audio version, and Kaleo Griffith is fantastic, expertly finding the depth and authenticity of the story in his performance. Highly recommend to anyone with even a fleeting interest or curiosity in Hawaiian history, cattle culture, and the mythos of the Wild West.