Easy in the Islands

by Bob Shacochis

Winner of the National Book Award for First “Beguiling stories . . . about an uncommonly fascinating part of the hemisphere” (Time).  Easy in the Islands is a “stunning” collection of stories by one of contemporary America’s foremost journalists and fiction writers. Infused with the rhythms of the Caribbean, these vivid tales of paradise sought and paradise lost are as lush, steamy, and invigorating as the islands themselves (The Washington Post).   A calypso singer named Lord Short Shoe consorts with a vampish black singer to bilk an American out of his only companion—a monkey. An island bureaucracy confounds the attempts of a hotel owner to get his dead mother out of the freezer and into a real grave—until he resorts to a highly unusual form of burial. Two poor islanders stumble into a high-class dance party and find themselves caught in a violent encounter that just might escalate into revolution. And a young woman sails off into the romantic tropics with the man of her dreams, only to learn the hard way—as Eve did—that paradise is just another place to leave behind.   From fishing fleets in remote atolls too small to appear on any map to the sprawling barrios and yacht filled marinas of Miami, Bob Shacochis charts a course across a Caribbean that no tourist will recognize.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Novels

227 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Bob Shacochis is an American fiction writer and literary journalist.
He teaches creative writing at Florida State University.

Reviews

[Ron Adkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I met Shacochis in 1986 when this book had just gone paperback. He read "Lord Short Shoe Wants The Monkey" and I was a fan right away.

Some fan I turned out to be ... I re-read "Lord Short Shoe" on my own, then put the book down and didn't open it again for 29 years. Big mistake. I missed out on an amazing collection of stories.

"Lord Short Shoe" isn't the strongest story in the collection, but it remains my favorite. It is rare to find a story done well in the Second Person POV. But this story is done seamlessly and it testifies to the author's talent and willingness to experiment.

The main character in every story is The Place -- whether it's the Caribbean or South Florida, the setting is as much a character as the actors. You can feel the heat, taste the food, see the sunsets, smell the ocean. That's not to say that his characterization is weak. Oh, no. Each person is well-drawn and his or her motivations come through strong.

One hitch, for me, was the author's (I think, at least) over-use of the islander's dialects and speech patterns. Yes, you need that to establish character and setting and belief. But to over-use makes it difficult to stay focused on the story elements. The reader has to work too hard to understand the dialogue to catch anything else.

After reading this, Shacochis's first book, I'm excited to read "Swimming In The Volcano," his first novel. It will be interesting to see how he developed as a writer from one book to the next.

I promise it won't take 29 years to get to it.

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

God, this man can write. I had frankly never thought much about this whole swath of the world, and so bite-sized snippets were the perfect start. It's not so much about pulling back the curtains on the islands as it is about sinking in to a previously-undetected rhythm, something below and away from the obvious clang. You see that in every story - Virginia Beach to Cayman to Titusville to the cays away from Providence - that the theme isn't so much about drifting off from the slipstream so much as it may be about clarifying another direction in spite of it. There's a phrase he pulls when describing one character's return - "the geometric conceit of love well-architected" - but "well-architected" is the key.

One thing about this book is how unexpectedly informed it seems by the author's Peace Corps experience. There's a sort of distant lens projected onto most things about what's American and what's postcolonial and what's not, and if so what sort of American, and if not what hegemonic reverberations might have made their way over across the sea. It's not something I minded, and in a lot of ways I think it's an essential component of the truth of the thing.

I'll leave you with my favorites:

"I saw, like Eve, that paradise had become just another place to leave behind. I felt good about that, because I could tell myself that across the waters, with the winds and sometimes against them, somewhere there would be another. I could move ahead without even thinking about it."

"Nothing was given. It could go either way - all rare joys were as simple as that."

[Vel Veeter]

This is a debut story collection by a mostly professor, occasional fiction writer from Florida. Bob Shacochis grew up in Virginia and went to the Peace Corps in the Caribbean (lucky) and these stories, now written in his 30s, seem to be part of the results of that set of experiences. I haven’t come across a more packaged and coaxed collection of short stories in a while–for example, there’s a cheaply printed picture at the beginning of each story that evokes the kind of cheap t-shirts you might buy near the beach. It’s also an incredibly 1980s American collection–it’s not by Vintage Contemporaries, but the Penguin imprint version of the same, and each story has the veneer of MFA polished sheen of that period. And of course it’s from 1985.

The tone is breezy and conversation and has some feelings of Thomas McGuane or Barry Hannah, but with less of the seriousness or impact. The stories would be pretty good in a lot of ways if they had been written 50 years earlier by a British ex-pat or Colonial figure, but by the 1980s, they feel both of date and anachronistic. In addition, they feel out of place for an American, whose ventures in the Caribbean do not have the same weight and history of British Empire.

And of course the ventriloquism and offensiveness of the Islanders’ native speech is too evocative of Southern novels of the early 20th

[Kallie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never been to the Caribbean or gone sailing for any longer than an afternoon. Through his genius for description and insight into people, Shacochis brings Caribbean and other characters to life so well, I can almost smell them. He knows the dialect too, an important, convincing part of the characterizations. His does not spare his narrator -- a white, middle class man with a taste for adventure and willingness to immerse himself in a culture that is suspicious of him, doesn't really respect white middle class people. And yet he is squeamish. This could not create a better dynamic, as far as I am concerned. I will recommend and re-read Easy in the Islands, which brings me an escape from my own middle-class white concerns, but not the sort of escape that I'd call easy reading, as some passages make me squeamish too.

[Walter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A writer friend recommended me this book when I was about to head to Nevis to "school me" on the "islands". And it did. The prose shines, and the characters dance, sometimes well, sometimes badly, and sometimes not at all, but no matter, they always intrigue. A true beach read with brains.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lord Short Shoe Wants the Monkey. I don't like this sort of Hollywood way to say it, but this is Faulkner in the Caribbean.

[Ebenmaessiger · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Easy in the Islands”: 2 stars
- Not so easy in these islands, eh, for your average Exeter-educated, trust-fund-aided, Caribbean hotel inheritor, what with the incompetent, insubordinate, and nigh murderous local help, not to mention the corrupt officials, inept doctors, and on-the-make cops. Well, at least there’s your best friend — an Australian, thankfully, and not, therefore, native — who just wants to fly his plane, do things efficiently, run some drugs, and help an old friend give his mother a spontaneous sea burial.

“Dead Reckoning”: 3 stars
- I hate to say it — and, in fact, now that I think about it, never have — but the “so what” factor with these stories is high. And that’s said here with a story I thought was quite impressive, especially in its evocation of the midsea terror that overtakes the amateur sailor who knows they’re an amateur, in addition to the believable personification of the aimless wanderlust that occupies the already wandering, and also the mini-story of varied reactions to incessant begging. I’m sure I could concoct a reason for these things to be present in the same story, although that’s the thing, anyone else could as well.

[Kenneth Chanko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terrifically vibrant short stories. Oddly, the last three in the collection, featuring the same character running through all three, were the weakest; if it were only the first six stories, I'd've given it 5 stars. For maximum effect, read 'em down in the Caribbean, as I just did.

[Reggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love these short stories. It was like I could smell the mangoes and the salt air.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book, and it definitely gives a flavor of the Islands, and a way of life that is more basic, without technology, and with the appearance of being laid back. The stories also show that, often, being laid back is an illusion, and that the lives of the islanders is much more difficult. Mr. Shacochis is, at times, very poetic in his stories. I have been to the islands various times(including some of the out islands of the Bahamas), and his descriptions evoke fond memories. My favorites of the stories were Easy In the Islands, Dead Reckoning, and The Heart's Advantage. Dead Reckoning shows both the freedom and beauty, and the difficulties of sailing a small sailboat in the islands (and brought back fond memories of Bequia and the Grenadines) -nice for a short time, difficult as a lifestyle. Definitely worth a read, especially if you ever traveled there.

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these stories are truly outstanding.. You can feel the humidity, the sea breeze, and that island vibe. The tensions and nuances between islanders and foreigners is palpable.

Pet peeve: The attempt at depicting island language. Whenever the Caribbean characters are talking the author provides their dialogue with what I consider a poor rendering of the local tongue; it just doesn't ring true to me (as a person who was born in Belize and spent a good deal of time around Belizeans, Jamaicans, Trinis and other islanders when I lived in Miami). As such I find it hard to read some of these passages. The strength of Shaccochis is when he writes from the perspective of an outsider.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to see Shacochis learning to write in this collection. I had previously read his novel "Swimming in the Volcano" (which followed this book) and it is much better by any measure. You can see the seams in these stories, see how they were stitched together, sometimes in awkward, Frankenstein-like fashion. You can also see Shacochis' gift for language, which he hasn't quite gotten a handle on, but which he will in time for "Swimming in the Volcano." I'm tempted to recommend reading the two books the way I did, in reverse order.

[Daniel Simmons · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with many short story collections, some of the tales herein are winners, and some are... well, not. The title story and the one about Lord Short Shoe and other assorted characters monkeying around in a calypso jazz bar are the picks of the lot. And thankfully, even when I was bored by the plot or uninterested in the characters, I found Shacochis's writing a treat; the guy knows how to craft a sentence. Friends have recommended his novel "The Woman Who Lost Her Soul", so I'm on to that next.

[Fred Setterberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This guy can write. His stomping grounds is the Caribbean, his persona the smart sailor who spends his youth cruising the islands with little dough in his pocket and a thick libertarian streak distinguishing him from the tipplers and moneyed gents, the native hustlers and crooked government appointees and employed. Easy is a collection of short stories with the best placing us on the deck of a modest yacht and ringing in the feel of wind and sea and most of all, imminent catastrophe.

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brilliant book that perfectly captures the difficulty and joy of living in the Caribbean. The authors ability to expand on the small details that make island life a breathing contradiction is astounding. I read several stories twice and am excitedly moving on to Swimming in the Volcano. Wonderful author.

[Pablo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Third book by Shacochis I've read after "Swimming in the Volcano" and "The Girl who Lost Her Soul". All BRILLIANT !! Just a shame that there isn't a larger library but be happy for what you get, I guess. Just soooo well written , all of them. This book is wholly transporting. The islands become real and the characters alive. Superlatives don't cover it. Read the books. 5 stars !!

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I believe this was his first collection of short stories, but not sure. One story brought me to tears. I won't say which.

[Monica]

Sorry I can't find the proper book jacket from 1985

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genius.

[Biskit · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loves me some stories about melancholy drunks in the Caribbean.

[Becky Youman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect read for the beach if you are going to Carribean -- short stories set there.

[Robin Yaklin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Different and fun to read. He's quite an interesting speaker, too.

[Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unique locale and perspectives. The dialogue and the dialects are very well done so that the reader has a sense of the color of the islands.

[Denise Schlachtaub · Rating 3 out of 5]

Humorous and light short stories, but by the end of the book I had had enough of the island theme. Perhaps I should have spaced the stories out instead of reading one after the other.