Providence Island

by Calder Willingham

Providence Island by Calder Willingham (2nd Printing)

Genres: Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Calder Willingham, (born Dec. 22, 1922, Atlanta, Ga.—died Feb. 19, 1995, Laconia, N.H.) U.S. novelist and screenwriter who, was lionized at the age of 24 after the publication of the explicit End as a Man (1947), a graphic and lurid account of life at a southern military school resembling South Carolina’s Citadel, where Willingham was enrolled for one year. The novel, which achieved commercial success after the publisher was unsuccessfully prosecuted for obscenity, was made into a film called The Strange One (1957). Willingham was grouped with such other young writers as Gore Vidal, Norman Mailer, and Truman Capote, all of whom employed the same gritty realism. His success was not repeated in his other novels, however, and he explored that theme in his last book, The Big Nickel (1975). In later years Willingham gained success as a screenwriter with such credits as Paths of Glory (1957), The Vikings (1958), One-Eyed Jacks (1961), The Graduate (1967), Little Big Man (1970), and Rambling Rose (1991), an adaptation of his same-titled 1972 novel. Shortly before his death he finished an original screenplay for Steven Spielberg.

Reviews

[Chris Gager · Rating 4 out of 5]

Huh... I'm surprised to find so few editions and no cover images. I'm the only reviewer so far too. This isn't the correct cover image for the paperback I read, but it's better than a blank space. Lot's of sex and humor in this one, a semi-popular best-seller BITD. I learned back in the late 60's that CW was a writer who didn't shy away from using the juicier aspects of human behavior to gain a reader's interest.

5-25-19 ... Still only one cover image and not the one for my 1970's paperback. It featured the male face of a guy(real?) whose face was used on so many covers back then. A generically handsome white male with two semi-naked women who are also generically attractive, while the two women in the book are more idiosycratically attractive. ...

[Stacy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Through most of the book, I thought "this is one of the stupidest books I have ever read". The dialogue was not great and it seemed to me it was the fantasy of the middle-aged author to escape responsibilities of wife and children and become ship-wrecked on a deserted island with two new to him women and have an affair at the same time with both. It was not too graphic, but did not leave much to the imagination, although I am not sure what the difference is still between a "nice" orgy and a "dirty, nasty" one. (Thank God it did not explain). The protagonist, Jim Kettering, seemed the epitome of every jerk rolled up into one body a person could imagine, and shallow, materialistic and judgemental to boot.
In the isolation and lonliness of the island, the two women on the island with him, Florence, a homely, sort of manish type woman with buck teeth who is a writer, and Melody, and overweight missionary's wife, begin to look beautiful to him and first Melody, then later more timid Florence commence with romance. Through the book, I thought I wouldn't give it more than 1 * rating, but it did sort of salvage itself a little at the end, with him realizing how superficial he was and ended up with a bit of a better ending than I had hoped-- so I would actually give it 2.5 *'s, but still, it will not be a reread for me and I certainly wouldn't recommend anyone else waste their time with it.

[Gary Reger · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I picked Providence Island out of a Little Free Library, the description on the book jacket led me to suppose it was a trashy beach read. But as I got into it, the quality prose, well-drawn characters, and thoughtful plot abolished that supposition. I turned to Wikipedia to find out something about Calder Willingham, of whom I had never heard.

It turned out that in his heyday, in the late 1950s and 1960s, he was a prominent novelist, categorized as one of the great post-war American writers, in league with Norman Mailer and his cohorts. Willingham's novels were controversial because of their frank sexual content, but many were best sellers. Moreover, like lots of other novelists, he wandered to Hollywood, where he worked on films like The Graduate and Little Big Man.

So what do we have in Providence Island? The basic idea is pretty straightforward. James Kittering works for an oppressive boss in a TV company, producing new shows, which he regards as trash. He and his wife are swingers, but their marriage is on the rocks. His boss wants Jim to entice a supposedly lesbian novelist, Florence Carr, to join up and develop a new program. The boss's idea is that it should be set on a cargo-cruise ship. Because Florence knows nothing about that, it's arranged for her and Jim to undertake a cruise on a decrepit Caribbean steamer to get the feel. The only other passenger is Melody, the young wife of a missionary, bound for South America to join her husband.

Jim becomes quickly infatuated with Melody and schemes to seduce her. Before his plot can culminate, a hurricane wrecks the vessel on the eponymous island; the whole crew is killed and Jim, Florence and Melody alone survive.

There's no point in following the plot further, since it's absolutely obvious what happens. In effect, Willingham explores what might ensue if a triple were isolated from the rest of the world and given the freedom to follow their impulses and establish their own social rules. By no means is everything smooth sailing (so to speak), but neither woman turns out to be at all what she seemed at first, and Jim eventually comes to terms with the grey suit life he's been leading, and decides he must change.

In some ways the novel fits in with the dissatisfied literature about the post-war period, like the classic film The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit. Jim belongs to that cadre: unhappy, indeed despondent, trapped in both a deteriorating marriage and a dreadful, soul-consuming job under a malevolent boss. Freed from both on a tropical island, he can finally face the reality of his life, as indeed happens with Florence and Melody, each of whom in her own way suffers from the conformity of the 1950s world. (The book was published in 1969 but feels to me very much like a reflection of the previous decade; there's nothing of the youth rebellion or Vietnam to be found.)

I doubt Willingham will revert to his former superstar status. His books are all out of print (as far as I can tell) and his compeers, who bestrode the literary world like colossi, have been sinking. But Providence Island has its virtues, especially for anyone interested in what a rebellious book of 55 years ago has to offer.

[Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of the author but found this book tedious and too dialogue heavy. It is a product of its 1969 publishing with the story of 2 woman, one virginal and the other married but religious and one alpha male shipwrecked on an island and negotiating and negotiating and negotiating sexual situations. It had a some wonderful moments and well drawn characters but it was too drawn out and instrospective. Fortunately,Willingham's nexy book was the excellent "Rambling Rose".