Sailing to Polynesia

VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY; A CULTURAL ODYSSEY THROUGH POLYNESIA by Ben Finney, et al. (University of California Press, $30).

The Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl, of Kon-Tiki fame, thought that Polynesia had been settled from the Americas, not from Asia, because the early Polynesians lacked the skills to sail against winds and currents (as they would have had to do if coming from the west). Shortly after Heyerdahl proposed his thesis, a retired New Zealand civil servant and amateur historian named Andrew Sharp published a book proposing that the settlers had indeed come from Asia, but that they had been driven to their paradisiacal islands accidentally by westerly winds.

Ben Finney, chairman of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Hawaii, believes otherwise. He says that the first Polynesians came from Asia and that they did so deliberately, sailing with sophistication and direction. In a series of voyages made in reconstructions of authentic early Polynesian twin-hulled canoes, begun in the 1970s and culminating in a journey across 12,000 nautical miles in 1985, he and his mostly Hawaiian crews sailed throughout the islands, navigating without instruments, to help prove the theory. “Voyage of Discovery” is an account of the ’85 expedition. It isn’t fluffy travel fare but rather a blend of anecdote, historical and navigational lore, history and anthropology. The casual reader may find it tough sailing, but the story it tells is fascinating, even sometimes gripping, and the rewards of the journey are substantial.

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PARISIAN ENCOUNTERS; GREAT LOVES AND GRAND PASSIONS by Charles Hobson (Chronicle Books, $18.95 spiral bound).

“In love in Paris. Could anything be more romantic?” That’s the question posed by this curiously assembled (it’s short and wide and spiral-bound on both ends, opening in the middle from two directions) and suspiciously Christmas-stocking-adaptable little volume. The answer assumed by the author, a San Francisco-based artist, is of course “Mais non!” Eight pairs of famous lovers-in-Paris are dealt with here, from Napoleon and Josephine to Anais Nin and Henry Miller, in abbreviated prose, chronologies, antique-looking maps and assorted collages and other illustrations. It’s basically fluff, but should find favor with anybody Paris-bound, and with anyone in love with Paris.

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SAN FRANCISCO, new edition, edited by John Wilcock (Insight Guides/APA Publications, $21.95, paper) and SAN FRANCISCO AND THE BAY AREA ON THE LOOSE 1994 by Berkeley Students in Cooperation with the Associated Students of the University of California (Berkeley Guides/Fodor’s, $12.50 paper).

San Francisco has been called “everybody’s favorite city.” It has also been called “Baghdad by the Bay” or just “the City by the Bay”--and it has, of course, been called “Frisco.” What it has never been called, to the best of my knowledge, is “boring.” It is small, as famous cities go, concentrated without being cramped, set in beautiful surroundings, full of color and bright flavors (culinary and otherwise), tolerant, diverse, lively, naughty. If you can’t find something you like in San Francisco, you’d better check your pulse rate quick to make sure you’re still alive. The new Insight Guide to the city--itself full of color--is a pulse-quickening sort of book. As usual with this series, the volume celebrates its subject, showing as much as telling, describing sights and sites with great energy and affection. It’s so good at reflecting the look and feel of San Francisco that after you’ve read it, you almost don’t need to go there. The Berkeley Guide brings a hometowner’s savvy to its take on the city. It contains far more specific information on San Francisco than does the Insight Guide but it doesn’t do as good a job of setting the scene--at least partially because it is unillustrated, while the Insight volume is lavishly furnished with color photography.

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PART-TIME TRAVEL AGENT; HOW TO CASH IN ON THE EXCITING NEW WORLD OF TRAVEL MARKETING by Kelly Monaghan (The Intrepid Traveler, $24.95 paper).

OK, all your mom’s friends are interior decorators, your weird brother is a mail-order minister and your sister’s taking that “So You Want to Be a Restaurant Critic” course down at the university extension. What can you do that’s different? Become a home-based travel agent, of course! There aren’t enough office-based travel agents to go around, apparently. Besides, you can save money when you travel--even get free trips! Or you could forget the travel biz and make big money in real estate. Is this a great country or what?

Quick trips:

GUIDE TO UGANDA by Philip Briggs (Bradt Publications/Globe Pequot Press, $13.95 paper). As unlikely as it would have seemed a decade or so ago, Uganda has become a popular tourist destination, with a stable government and much to see and do. This rather terse and sometimes trite new guidebook (“The more you read about African history, the more fascinating it becomes . . . .”) covers the territory with a certain authority, and seems up-to-date.

BUDGET ACCESS EUROPE; THE AFFORDABLE WAY TO TOUR EUROPE (HarperPerennial, $18 paper). This new title from the Access guide makers covers Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Florence, London, Paris, Prague, Rome, Venice and Zurich in signature Access style and with a budget-minded perspective. As usual with Access, the tips are smart and the design makes the guide easy to use.

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Books to Go appears the second and fourth week of every month. For information on more travel books, see L14.