Rath's brief writings evoke island 'Life'

"Slices of Life in Hawaii Volume 1," by J. Arthur Rath III (iUniverse, $23.95)

Rath has assembled a potpourri of articles, essays, short stories and poetry here that are loosely connected by their local-kine cultural significance. It's pretty much a Reader's Digest approach -- the book can be opened anywhere and read anywhere, and whatever you're reading lasts only a couple of pages.

Short pieces need to have immediate impact, and Rath is too gentlemanly to club the reader over the head. As a kind of writer's resume of clips, this book is rather formal. Still, you pick up on an old-fashioned sense of caring about a diverse cultural milieu and a vanishing, unique sense of lifestyle that Rath wistfully evokes. There are nuggets here worth diving for.

Burl Burlingame, Star-Advertiser

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NOTICES

Honolulu Star-Advertiser Halloween Fiction Contest: Entries limited to 800 words; $200 prize for first place, $100 for second place; winning story to be published in the Today section Oct. 31. Open to Hawaii residents; Oahu Publications contributors, employees and their family members are not eligible. Deadline is Oct. 6. E-mail typewritten stories to features@staradvertiser.com or mail to Halloween Fiction Contest, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-210, Honolulu, HI 96813.

"Refuge" online creative competition: Entry deadline is Sept. 30. KauaiBackstory.com's fifth annual contest seeks Kauai-related submissions in all writing forms, such as essays, stories, memoirs or poems, including visual formats.

National Society for the Daughters of the American Revolution-Aloha Chapter student essay contest: Entries accepted through January. The topics are Paul Revere for students in grades 5-8 and Christopher Columbus for students in grades 9-12. E-mail DAH.AmHist.HI@gmail .com for details.