Don't Stop the Carnival

By: Herman Wouk

Narrated by: Angelo Di Loreto

Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

It's every parrothead's dream: to leave behind the rat race of the workaday world and start life all over again amidst the cool breezes, sun-drenched colors, and rum-laced drinks of a tropical paradise. It's the story of Norman Paperman, a New York City press agent who, facing the onset of middle age, runs away to a Caribbean island to reinvent himself as a hotel keeper. (Hilarity and disaster - of a sort peculiar to the tropics - ensue.)

It's the novel in which the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of such acclaimed and best-selling novels as The Caine Mutiny and War and Remembrance draws on his own experience (Wouk and his family lived for seven years on an island in the sun) to tell a story at once brilliantly comic and deeply moving.

©1965, 1993, 1999 Herman Wouk (P)2018 Audible, Inc.

Wouk was a master of human relationships.

An easy listen that follows the misadventures of New Yorker, Norman Paperman, who tries to follow his dream and run a Caribbean resort. Caos and a cast of crazy characters keep the story moving along. A good book from a great author.

Throughly enjoyable!

Well written. Well narrated. An often overlooked Wouk masterpiece. Even more entertaining than my other favorite Wouk classic City Boy.

If you are familiar with the USVI, you get it.

although it is a fictional name the island of Amerigo if you've been to any of the US Virgin Islands you will totally understand and be able to relate to the culture. it doesn't take long to figure out that Norman did not have any background knowledge before opening the hotel.

Not my idea of funny.

I guess this was not what I expected based on other reviews. I found it pretty dry and depressing.

Mista Papah

Life changing, makes me want to become an ad man in New York. Glad it’s finally on Audible.

Don't expect The Caine Mutiny

The main character was impulsive and foolish to the very end. Very frustrating to read if you admire people who think through decisions and make logical decisions. Everything that could go wrong goes wrong, but it's not humorous antics. And just when it goes right, it ends.

Places and people never change

A comedic triumph from one of America’s best authors. People and places never really change, sometimes.

Perfect Execution of Wouk’s Classic

First, this is a book from the early 60s and must be understood as such. It is dated and hardly “woke” by modern standards.

Despite this, Don’t Stop the Carnival is a hilarious romp by Wouk, a wonderful window into a certain post-war mindset, and perfectly executed by this narrator. Wouk’s descriptions are deft and memorable. Some readers will take offense, however, and rightly so.

Could be more descriptive

I struggled to finish .At times it could be interestingly informative but for me it read like a seedy detective novel.

One of the Best Books Ever Written!

Midlife crisis comedy for anyone who's ever thought about chucking in all in and escaping to somewhere beautiful, warm, and peaceful, here's your cautionary tale! Do your soul a favor and give a listen.