Don't Stop the Carnival (novel)

Last updated
Don't Stop the Carnival
DontStopTheCarnival.jpg
First edition
Author Herman Wouk
Cover artistJanet Gasson [1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Publisher Doubleday
Publication date
1965
Pages395
OCLC 25632993

Don't Stop the Carnival is a 1965 novel by American writer Herman Wouk. It is a comedy about escaping middle-age crisis to the Caribbean, a heaven that quickly turns into a hell for the main character. The novel was turned into a short-lived musical and later, album by Jimmy Buffett in 1997.

Contents

Plot

Don't Stop the Carnival revolves around the lead character of Norman Paperman. He is the middle-aged New York City press agent who leaves the noise and safety of the big city and runs away to a (fictional) Caribbean island to redeem and reinvent himself as a hotel keeper. The result is a satirical tale of tropical disaster. [2]

The novel takes place on the fictional island of Amerigo. According to the opening of the musical (a paraphrased excerpt from the novel):

Kinja was the name of the island when it was British. The actual name was King George III Island, but the islanders shortened that to Kinja. Now the names in the maps and guidebooks is Amerigo, but everybody who lives there still calls it Kinja. The United States acquired the island peacefully in 1940 as part of the shuffling of old destroyers and Caribbean real estate that went on between Mr. Roosevelt and Mr. Churchill. The details of the transaction were, and are, vague to the inhabitants. The West Indian is not exactly hostile to change, but he's not much inclined to believe in it. Meantime, in a fashion, Amerigo was getting American-ized; the inflow of cash was making everybody more prosperous. Most Kinjans go along cheerily with this explosion of American energy in the Caribbean. To them, it seems a new, harmless, and apparently endless carnival.

Background

This book is based on Herman Wouk's experiences in the Virgin Islands in the early 1960s in Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. The story centers around the fictional experiences of a New York advertising executive, not on Herman Wouk himself. The hotel referred to in the book was the Royal Mail Inn on Hassel Island, located in Charlotte Amalie Harbour. In this novel, Wouk relates stories of happenings, some perhaps fictional and actual, that he observed while living on St. Thomas, where the carnival never stops.

Adaptations

The novel was turned into a short-lived musical and later, album by Jimmy Buffett in 1997. Buffett refers to the development of the musical in his memoir of an aeronautical circumnavigation of the Caribbean shortly after his fiftieth birthday, A Pirate Looks at Fifty .

Related Research Articles

<i>The Caine Mutiny</i> (film) 1954 war drama film by Edward Dmytryk

The Caine Mutiny is a 1954 American military trial film directed by Edward Dmytryk, produced by Stanley Kramer, and starring Humphrey Bogart, José Ferrer, Van Johnson, Robert Francis, and Fred MacMurray. It is based on Herman Wouk’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1951 novel of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy Buffett</span> American singer-songwriter and businessman (1946–2023)

James William Buffett was an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and businessman. He was best known for his tropical rock music, which often portrays a lifestyle described as "island escapism". Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett recorded hit songs known as "The Big 8", which he played at every show: "Margaritaville" (1977), which is ranked 234th on the Recording Industry Association of America's list of "Songs of the Century", "Come Monday" (1974), "Fins" (1979), "Volcano" (1979), "A Pirate Looks at Forty" (1974), "Cheeseburger in Paradise" (1978), "Why Don't We Get Drunk" (1973), and "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes" (1977). Other popular songs include "Son of a Son of a Sailor" (1978), "One Particular Harbour" (1983), and "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" (2003).

<i>Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes</i> 1977 studio album by Jimmy Buffett

Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes is the seventh studio album by American popular music singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett. This is his breakthrough 1977 album, which remains the best-selling studio album of Buffett's career, and contains his biggest single, "Margaritaville". It was initially released in January 1977 as ABC AB-990 and later rereleased on its successor label, MCA.

The music of Anguilla is part of the Lesser Antillean music area. The earliest people on the island were the Caribs and Arawaks, who arrived from South America. English settlers from St Kitts and Irish people colonized the island later. Unlike regional neighbours, however, the plantation system of agriculture that relied on chattel slavery never took root in Anguilla, causing a distinctly independent cultural makeup. The most recent influences on Anguilla's musical life come from elsewhere in the Caribbean, especially the music of Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica, as well as abroad, especially the music of the United States and the United Kingdom. Anguilla's Rastafarian heritage has played a role in the island's music and culture and produced influential figures like activist Ijahnya Christian and Robert Athlyi Rogers, the author of The Holy Piby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herman Wouk</span> American writer (1915–2019)

Herman Wouk was an American author best known for historical fiction such as The Caine Mutiny (1951) for which he won the Pulitzer Prize in fiction.

<i>The Winds of War</i> 1971 novel by Herman Wouk

The Winds of War is Herman Wouk's second book about World War II. Published in 1971, The Winds of War was followed up seven years later by War and Remembrance; originally conceived as one volume, Wouk decided to break it into two volumes when he realized it took nearly 1,000 pages just to get to the attack on Pearl Harbor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hassel Island, U.S. Virgin Islands</span> United States historic place

Hassel Island is a small island of the U.S. Virgin Islands, a United States territory located in the Caribbean Sea. Hassel Island lies in the Charlotte Amalie harbor just south of Saint Thomas and east of Water Island, with which it is part of the sub-district of Water Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville</span> Casual dining American restaurant chain

Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville is a United States–based hospitality company that manages and franchises a casual dining American restaurant chain, retail stores selling Jimmy Buffett–themed merchandise, and hotels.

<i>Boats, Beaches, Bars & Ballads</i> 1992 box set by Jimmy Buffett

Boats, Beaches, Bars & Ballads is a four disc compilation box set of Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band's greatest hits, rarities, and previously unreleased songs. Released in 1992, the collection reached quadruple platinum.

The appearances of tropical cyclones in popular culture spans many genres of media and encompasses many different plot uses.

<i>A Salty Piece of Land</i> Book by Jimmy Buffett

A Salty Piece of Land is a 2004 novel by bestselling author and songwriter Jimmy Buffett. It is about a fictional American westerner, Tully Mars, who goes to work repairing an island lighthouse. Buffett first introduced the character Tully Mars in his earlier work, Tales from Margaritaville. The book includes a CD single with a song of the same title as the book.

Elmopalooza! is a Sesame Street special that aired on ABC on February 20, 1998. It was taped in the middle of the 29th season of Sesame Street and featured songs by celebrity guests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheeseburger in Paradise</span> 1978 single by Jimmy Buffett

"Cheeseburger in Paradise" is a song written and performed by American popular music singer Jimmy Buffett. It appeared on his 1978 album Son of a Son of a Sailor and was released as a single, reaching No. 32 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Cheeseburger in Paradise" has become one of Buffett's signature songs and was selected as the first track on his greatest hits album Songs You Know by Heart.

<i>The Caine Mutiny</i> 1951 novel by Herman Wouk

The Caine Mutiny is a 1952 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Herman Wouk. The novel grew out of Wouk's personal experiences aboard two destroyer-minesweepers in the Pacific Theater in World War II. Among its themes, it deals with the moral and ethical decisions made at sea by ship captains and other officers. The mutiny of the title is legalistic, not violent, and takes place during Typhoon Cobra, in December 1944. The court-martial that results provides the dramatic climax to the plot.

Jimmy Buffett sound board live albums are a series of live albums by American singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett recorded directly from the sound board without further editing thus resembling bootleg recordings. The albums were recorded at various concerts throughout the United States and represent typical Buffett live shows of their era with most of the albums recorded during Buffett's 2003 Tiki Time Tour. They have been released on compact disc on Buffett's own Mailboat Records distributed by RCA.

<i>Off to See the Lizard</i> 1989 studio album by Jimmy Buffett

Off to See the Lizard is the seventeenth studio album by American popular music singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett. Initially to be called Stranger than Fishing, it was released in June 1989 as MCA 6314 and was produced by Elliot Scheiner and Buffett. The album is the first to feature much of the current Coral Reefer Band. Following the release of this album, Buffett paused his normal output of one album every year or two and did not release another album until 1994's Fruitcakes.

<i>Dont Stop the Carnival</i> (Jimmy Buffett album) 1998 studio album by Jimmy Buffett

Don't Stop the Carnival is the twenty-second studio album by American singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett. It was released on Margaritaville Records and Island Records on April 28, 1998. It is based on the 1965 novel of the same name written by Herman Wouk. Wouk also worked with Buffett to produce the stage play that lasted only for a short run in Miami, Florida in 1997. The album contains 20 compositions to promote the stage play. It reached #15 in the Billboard 200 albums chart. This was Buffett's first album for Island Records since parting ways with MCA Records in 1996.

Don't Stop the Carnival may refer to:

James Mayer is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer, entrepreneur and children's advocate. He is best known as a longtime bassist for Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band, having played, toured and recorded with Buffett since 1989. Mayer is also a children's musician and performer. He has had two Number 1 hits on Sirius/XM Kids radio, is a regular guest on national children's radio shows, and has performed live shows and presented workshops for children and educators in the U.S. and Europe.

<i>Escape to Margaritaville</i> 2018 musical featuring the music of Jimmy Buffett

Escape to Margaritaville is a 2017 American jukebox musical by Greg Garcia and Mike O'Malley, based on the songs of Jimmy Buffett. The plot revolves around a part-time bartender and singer who falls for a career-minded tourist. The show's music consists of songs previously recorded by Buffett, and written by him and various other songwriters, with one exception, the original song "Three Chords".

References