| Don't Stop the Carnival | |
|---|---|
1st edition |
|
| Author(s) | Herman Wouk |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
| Publication date | 1965 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 395 pp |
| ISBN | 978-0316955126 |
| OCLC Number | 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 by Jimmy Buffett in 1997.
It 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. | ” |
This book is said to be loosely based on Herman Wouk's experiences in managing an actual hotel the Royal Mail Inn in the early 1960s St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. The hotel was on Hassel Island, located in Charlotte Amalie Harbour.