The Rum Diary

' The scene was so idyllic my mind refused to accept it' (p38)

The gritty aspect to Puerto Rico Thompson exposes in The Rum Diary.
''...quaint old spanish Puerto Rico, where everybody spent American dollars and drove American cars and sat around roulette wheels pretending they were in Casablanca. One part of the city looked like Tampa and the other part looked like a medieval asylum.'' (p43)

Almost america....

Extracts of text:

1"uniform of the day - thick-rimmed sunglasses, shiny dark pants and white shirts with short sleeves and ties..."

2"the men looked like sick Mexicans with thin little mustaches and silk suits that glistened like plastic."

3"i felt like something that had washed up on the beach. My wrinkled cord coat was five years old and frayed at the neck."

4"sporting a paisley tie..."

5"...with his deep tan and his grey linen suit."

6"my shirt stuck damply to my back."

7"dressed like some gigolo on the Italian Riviera"