Blood in the Water: Fishing Tales of the Islands

Blood in the Water: Fishing Tales of the Islands

by M. N. Muench
Blood in the Water: Fishing Tales of the Islands

Blood in the Water: Fishing Tales of the Islands

by M. N. Muench

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Overview

Each day, from small villages on islands throughout the Pacific, fishermen set out in search of the day's catch. It is a hard, uncertain, and always dangerous life. It often lacks the respect or status commensurate with the significant contributions these men make to the village economy. Yet there is potential profit in fishing, and it regularly lures in new men, often with deadly effect. Here is a memorable collection of vividly told tales of the trials of Pacific Isles fishermen. These exciting and often blood-chilling stories are strikingly real depictions of the hardships and triumphs of village fishermen who are engaged in an unending battle with a changing and dangerous sea. Whether they run hot through vast schools of tuna, seek solitary battle with the giant broad-billed swords, spearfish along the steep edges of outer reefs, or spend a night sounding the depths of hauntingly dark and deep seas, they must always anticipate the sudden gut-wrenching fear that comes with confronting the angry unknown. When the fishing is done, they must return home to their families and fight for their place in a world that has little understanding of the hardships they endure or the silent courage it takes to return to the ocean day after day. These tales illustrate, with sometimes frightening and often humorous clarity, a bit of what it means to be a small boat fisherman of the coastal villages of small Pacific Islands.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781482774764
Publisher: CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date: 04/06/2013
Pages: 152
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.35(d)

About the Author

M.N. Muench has lived many years of his life along Pacific shores. His earliest childhood memories are of playing on the beaches and hillsides of Kailua, Oahu, in Hawaii, and he's always considered himself pleasantly possessed by a Hawaiian spirit. It brought him back to the Islands after college graduation, and he served in the Pacific as a Peace Corps Volunteer for over three years. He then remained in country for many additional years as an expatriate employee of the government. During this long sojourn he lived in polynesian subsistence villages and small towns, worked with island farmers and fishermen, and served within the island government as an administrative officer tasked with helping to improve people's lives through increased agricultural productivity. The experience has given him a deep and realistic understanding of Polynesian life and culture from a perspective few outsiders have earned.

His historical fiction works are well annotated, with endnotes and appendices for those who care to understand the rationalities of the characters, learn more about the sources he has consulted, or obtain a firmer grasp of the reality of the past. The references are, however, optional and the reader may prefer to skip the details in favor of the story. As the author he feels an obligation to explain the 'known or researched' reality, as opposed to the often commonly ascribed 'taxi driver' historical myths, of island history. M.N. Muench feels a search for a truer reality is incumbent upon him in order to show proper respect for the past, and to justly reflect in his characters the real men and women they represent.

M.N. Muench has a Ph.D. from the University of Hawaii in Agricultural and Resource Economics.

He lives in Hawaii. When not writing he often volunteers at a local hospice or takes very long, sometimes epic, walks.
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