Customer Reviews

Bermuda Shorts: The Hidden Side of the Richest Place on Earth

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In the course of reading this book (which I could hardly put down) I constantly alternated between hysterical laughter and awe/disbelief! Sobey has collected some very amusing newspaper articles that show those of us in the rest of the world what Bermuda is like underneath it all. In a country where there is so little major crime, the most petty things become huge issues. And all are reported very, very thoroughly in the newspaper. And the public interest stories make me think they have a lot of slow news days in Bermuda! Some examples:

--The man who returns a pair of socks to the store that he bought 48 years ago (and the clerk exchanged them!!);

--The case of the man accused of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, because he couldn't stay on his horse. The judge threw it out, claiming the last time he looked the horse was an animal, not a vehicle!

--The couple who wake up to find a strange man in the bed with them.

People go to court (and often to prison) for stealing milk, a glass of club soda, beef....they break windows regularly, and many "criminals" claim alcoholism as a mitigating circumstance.

One of the funniest things in the book (to me) are the letters to the editor at the end of each chapter. You think the newspaper writers are funny? Wait til you see what the citizens write!!

I'm on my way to Bermuda for a week, and I must say I'll look at things a little differently after reading this book. Not in a bad way, of course......

It makes one rather sad, to note that in the 15 years since T C Sobey's "Bermuda Shorts" was published, the Island has gone down the tubes. The tourism trade has dwindled and the old hotels have closed, most have been pulled down, and the spaces concreted over for housing. Truly Sobey tells of a time (not so long ago) when Bermuda had its innocence pretty much intact. Now there is gunfire on the streets of Hamilton, and throughout the Island. Lives are shortened, not just the trousers. One might to follow this book with "The Tribe that Lost its Head" ...