Itchy, I've read Hawaii (albeit some years ago) and my impression was that it was much more lenient toward the Westerners arriving than Vowell's history is. It does cover a fair amount of the same territory, but using mostly fictional stand-ins.

I HATE DONKEYS: I didn't see much Jonathan Safran Foer in this book, but I liked "Everything Is Illuminated," so your mileage may vary.

I Hate To Be That Guy, it's not a completely unfair comparison, but this book doesn't go nearly as deeply into it as Bee Season and doesn't rely on the reader buying into that mystical experience. Sort of the opposite, actually.

In case you're wrapped up in Facebook
I just started a Wrapped Up in Books Facebook group.

I didn't get a chance to, Lemur, but I know there were some authors who were limiting the number they would sign. At one point I was waiting in line next to a signing area for Emeril where he would only sign his latest, which news sent a ripple of disapproval through the crowd.

Actually, Slash's autobiography came up in the talk — Chuck Klosterman asked Steven Tyler if he found it more interesting to read books by rockers he had known. I can't remember Tyler's answer verbatim but it was a very, very vague yes.