Hello, My Lovely Readers! My journey to this book spans twelve or thirteen years, and as it plays into my rating, y'all are getting that first. If you are not interested in how I found this book, you might want to skip to paragraph 6 for the review.
Early in our relationship my husband stumbled on a paperback copy of Herman Wouk's The Winds of War. As several of my in-laws were Wouk fans, Hubby had to have it. Absolutely no problem. That paperback was the snowball at the mountain-top.
Now while I would say I liked Jimmy Buffett's music, I wouldn't call myself a Parrothead, but i know all the words to "Margaritaville"... my husband on the other hand... has a collection of Jimmy Buffett music and books. When he wants to go to his happy place, those 20+ year old CDs come out and we just groove.
On a trip to Half-Price Books we stumbled on a rare find. A Jimmy Buffett album called "Don't Stop the Carnival." The back had something on it about Herman Wouk having written part of the album. We were floored. Of course it joined our collection and we took our first trip to Kinja. It turned out that Jimmy and Herman had collaborated back in the Eighties to bring Wouk's novel to the stage in the form of a musical.
We fell in love with the CD, but it would take us a decade to finally reading the tales of Norman Paperman.
Norman Paperman is a New York Jew in his early fifties, in public relations by way of a career, and he has just had a near-death experience by way of a heart attack.
We meet him as he is arriving in Kinja with his wife's Uncle Atlas. Atlas is a corporate raider who has been on the cover of TIME magazine. His constant refrain is "I'm just an old truth-teller." Really, it's just a cover for being a dick.
So now they've landed in Kinja, or rather Amerigo now that some post-World War Two treaties have taken effect, and the pair are looking into buying a hotel for Norman to run in his convalescence. That's right, my Lovely Readers, Norman is leaving public relations because the service industry will be less stressful. I will pause here for your laughter.
While Atlas tells Norman no lies, Norman fails to ask a single question. He just "fell in love with the Caribbean."
More accurately, one might say that he falls in love with widow Iris Tramm, also known as fallen film starlet Janet West. Whatever name she's using, she is a long term guest at the Gull Reef Club.
This book could just as accurately been titled The Education of Norman Paperman. Almost all of the ...um... yt folks are idiots, it is the native Kinjans who keep the whole place afloat.
Jimmy Buffet's musical barely scratched the surface of the novel, and maybe that's why the recordings of the musical are still entertaining.
The ending is incredibly shocking. I had no idea what was coming. all of that said, I cannot recommend this piece of fiction. Honestly, the issues I have with this story, I also have with every other Herman Wouk story I have ever read. It's funny enough, I guess, but when you realize every woman nags, can't hold her liquor, and is just in general a brat. The men are stupid, boorish, and entitled.
If you are a Wouk fan you may enjoy it. Otherwise, I would pass.
⭐⭐/5
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