Don't Stop the Carnival

Finished the book some time ago. Its a great read! Enjoy!

smartbomb: I haven't read the book but I know about it thru songs and the screenplay. Singer/Songwriter Jimmy Buffett worked with Herman Wouk on the screenplay and wrote all the songs for it. It had a successful six week run at the Coconut Grove playhouse in Miami in April 1997. I believe he took to the Atlantis Hotel in Nassau for a short time. I regret never getting to see it since I'm a huge Buffett fan. But the CD - Don't Stop the Carnival is one of my favorites.

For those who have read it, how true to live is it? I understand "Amerigo" is a fake place but for all intents and purposes it may as well be STT or STX. It's also written from a 1965 perspective. Being a child of the 70s I can't say as I can relate to some of the quips. But so far their description of New York fits to a "t". I guess that part of it is timeless....

A lot of truth in the book. Things are just different here. If you can't adapt you either leave or go crazy.

It is a quick read so even if you aren't planning a move I recommend it.

Jim

I am reading it now. I find the whole thing fun and smart. If that is what life is going to be like, then we are in for a fun ride . We plan on staying anywhere from 1 to 60 years depending on how we get on there. I have a question for anyone who is reading or has read this book. Having lived in small towns and cities alike I find the characters in the book to be a little over the top. When you move down there does that really happen, does everything become....more. What I mean by that is , do our personalities amplify to that extent. Do we become more open about our view, more casual in our encounters....the whole nine yards? Or is that aspect of the book because it was published in the 1960’s.
Thanks for reading this long response. I hope I didn’t sound to critical because I really do love the book, and I am looking forward to running into some of the characters, or there real life equivalents when we get down there later this year.

Having grown up in a small town vacation area and lived most of my life in a "destination" place I can tell you from my experience that these areas tend to attract some characters. Their behavior may not be quite as over the top, but it seems that way over time as I would hear stories, and the account moves from fact into lore. It seems some people have nothing else to do in the off season but gossip! It will be interesting to see what it's like in USVI.

In my experience, the story is not over the top for the USVI. Circumstances, situations, people.........when I read the book, I empathized, sympathized, and came away knowing "I am not alone" and "nothing has changed".

Herman Wouk had a house here in St. Thomas, so I'm sure he was inspired by the island ways!

Max

I also read this book and LOVED it!! We live on STX and whenever I look at Hotel on the Cay and see their little boat going back and forth with hotel guests I have to smile. I can almost see Norman Paperman standing on the beach !! Ha! Makes me laugh now-

Herman Wouk rented the house on Skyline Drive for about three months and although many readers will instantly see St Thomas and its population as being so typical to STT, so will many readers on many different Caribbean islands see it as typical of their population.

Wouk spent a relatively brief time on several islands before he wrote the book. But it's a fun book! So, enjoy!

My two cents... This is a great book.

It actually inspired me to research the possibility of living in the USVI.

It also convinced me not to sell everything I own and open a bar in USVI. But that is usually good advice for most cities.

The book paints not-so-subtle stereotypes of islanders and gays. I wonder how accurate that is, or if it's Wouks own interpretation, or a sign of the times from when it was written (early 60s).

Just wondering...

Probably the 60's. Late 50's and early 60's were different in ways anyone under the age of about 60 just won't understand.