Reviews for Don't stop the carnival

The average rating for Don't stop the carnival based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-03-20 00:00:00 Patrick Kilgore I brought this 1960s-era novel along to read on our recent vacation, and it ended up being a really good choice. In it, native New Yorker Norman Paperman chucks his stressful show-biz/theatre life in the city to buy a run-down hotel on a small Caribbean island, and what ensues -- the constant hotel disasters, the quirky new friends he meets, his naïveté about island politics and work ethics, etc. -- makes for really funny and entertaining reading. It was so easy to imagine the hilarious missteps and misunderstandings that he experienced really happening on some of the islands we visited, especially on those that aren't overly sophisticated about tourism. Author Herman Wouk is usually considered a serious writer (at least he is to me), but this was a wonderful departure into humor by him. It was an easy, enjoyable book, and I would recommend it as a fun vacation read.

Review # 2 was written on 2009-02-07 00:00:00 Danielle Daddario The great comic drama - if it could go wrong, it did. Sometimes I found myself covering my eyes (makes it hard to read) knowing already what was going to befall poor Norman Paperman. As I read, some little gnome in the back of my mind kept poking me, asking "and you think you want to run away to the tropics and never come back? See what happens?" Well, yes, I still do (and the gnome can just shut UP already) - a fun look back at New York society of years gone by, and of island life that is probably just about the same today as when Mr. Wouk wrote his semi-fable. My biggest problem with this book? Not only did I want to miss work & curl up on the couch to finish reading it (it's mid winter in Illinois, what can I say), I also ended up with Jimmy Buffett songs playing endlessly in my head. Not usually a bad thing, but there are only so many days I can wake up with "We're Kinja! Still Kinja!" in my head before I start to get a little freaked out. Sorry, not a professional review, just a little fun from someone who had a lot of fun reading a great book. It'll get you thru the last of the winter 'mush' if you're in it. And if you're not, if you're already on an island somewhere? Well, I'm jealous. Maybe you should read a book about driving on ice or dog sledding or something, just to make us northern folk feel better.