Four Wheels Five Corners

Four Wheels Five Corners: Facts of Life in Upcountry MauiPaul WoodSecond editionwith new artwork, maps, and textMaui's "Upcountry" region has no precise boundaries and very little connection to the cute ideas you read in tourism publications. But anyone interested in Maui, or in the contemporary Hawaiian Islands, or in the abundant comedy of barely civilized human nature, will find surprises and delight in these playful short tales and observations.During the1990s, award-winning writer Paul Wood undertook a series of newspaper pieces trying to get at the true experience of his home terrain. He quickly realized that "Upcountry" is partly a state of mind, so he was forced to include tall tales and truthful distortions. As an inspiration for the design of his pieces, he chose the flimsy hairpin roads that noodle through the gulch country of windward Haleakala-bad roads in beautiful places. The new driver (driving a truck, one hopes) tends to panic ("where is this all going?") and in the end arrives safely to wonder what just happened. Hence the series title, which refers to one of the dankest and most bewildering intersections in Hawai'i.Throughout it all, Wood repeatedly calls for a sense of community-a community of strangers, refugees, cowboys, mechanics, shopkeepers, realtors, scratch farmers, massage therapists, entrepreneurs, people who have real jobs, dreamers and floaters and rough-hands. All they have in common is the shared landscape, along with a vision of the native Hawaiian culture that precedes them.Wood produced the book first in the mid '90s, a print-run of 1,000 copies, all but three of which were sold within the first two months. Here is a new edition. During the intervening years, the island and its culture have changed dramatically. New footnotes were needed, and those become a running joke-"the good old days." But which "good old days?" Reality becomes history as soon as you live it. The tropics are volatile. Upcountry is going down. Grab a copy on the way.