Publishers of popular fiction consistently maintain that the public wants relatively short novels of about fifty thousand to sixty thousand words in length, yet Michener (and some others) writes massive novels that are hundreds of thousands of words in length.

Hawaii is a good example of how Michener's work defies conventional wisdom. It is an immensely popular book; readers carry it with them for reading during coffee breaks, between classes, during or even instead of lunch, before work, after work, and at bedtime. The novel requires dedication if it is to be read in its entirety, and many people seem to have that dedication. This alone could be a source for discussion: What about Michener's massive tomes makes them popular reading? Why do people read them intensely, devoting many hours to reading Hawaii and other novels cover-to-cover? Michener seems to have discovered how to persuade people...