As a commentator on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered," literary scholar Alan Cheuse has about 2 1/2 minutes each week to focus on the soul of the book he's reviewing and make his spoken story lively and inviting. Brevity is his business.

His radio reviews have been called the haiku of his craft.

Cheuse figures he has a knack for it, though. He's been on the radio for 25 years and estimates he's reviewed more than 2,000 books.

He's in Hawai'i for the first time to talk about "Pacific Overtures: Images of Hawai'i and the South Pacific in American Fiction."

The 67-year-old Cheuse reads almost nonstop, and says there are stacks of books all over his homes in Washington, D.C., and Santa Cruz, Calif. We caught up with him for a few questions about reading and reviewing.

Q. What is it about books and reading that you enjoy — the thing that they bring to your life?

A. Reading is one of the essential elements of civilization. Without it, we would be nothing. We would be like robots. To me, it's the air and the nourishment of the civilized person. People who don't read are people who are self-condemned to a much-diminished life, a life that has not developed to its fullest possibility.

Q. What's the worst thing an author ever said to you?

A. I've had death threats. And another guy threatened to come up to Washington, D.C., and beat me up. It wasn't even a bad review. I just wasn't 100 percent. I said: "Why don't we have lunch instead?"

Q. So writers take your reviews seriously?

A. Oh yes, especially fiction writers. They put their souls into their books. They feel as if their souls are being reviewed, and that can be very difficult.

Q. How often do you write a bad review?

A, I try not to do that. I only have 2, 2 1/2 minutes a week. I would much rather praise a book I admire than pan something. But I have done that. I once reviewed a Harold Robbins novel. I never got past the first chapter.

Q. When do you read, and when do you work?

A. I write my fiction in the morning, and I write essays and read in the afternoon. At the end of my work day, I watch a movie. It clears my head. I don't have to do something. It's all there for me.

Q. If a person had to rely solely on books to understand Hawai'i, what impression would they have?

A. I would say most people on the Mainland know very little about life in Hawai'i. They probably have as much of an idea about Hawai'i as they do about London or Paris.

Q. Do you have any favorite local authors?

A. Lois-Ann Yamanaka ... Pamela Ball. To me, they give what seems to a reader who knows nothing else about the subject the most interesting and deeply felt versions of Island life.

Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com.