The Pearl of Kuwait [Bargain Price] [Hardcover]

Tom Paine (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 3, 2003

He's California surfer Cody "Cowboy" Carmichael, and his life is forever changed when he meets Private Tommy Trang at boot camp. Trang is not your typical American patriot--his mother was a Saigon prostitute, his father a dead U.S. marine, and Trang's heart soon belongs to a sixteen-year-old Kuwaiti princess trapped behind the lines when the Iraqis invade her country. Together, the two marines are ready to wave the American flag all the way to Baghdad, or at least into occupied Kuwait, to rescue Princess Lulu. During the exciting, moving, and often hilarious account of these two AWOL marines sneaking through the Iraqi lines, the mellow Carmichael gets to know the heart of Pvt. Tommy Trang, and discovers a new brand of patriotism that is gripping, contagious, and as deep as life itself.
A powerful first novel by an award-winning writer, The Pearl of Kuwait is Romeo and Juliet meets Lawrence of Arabia. Tom Paine has created an enthralling, joyful, and original story with the classic ingredients of love and war.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Paine's first novel, his follow-up to the acclaimed story collection Scar Vegas, takes us on a rollicking ride through the Arabian desert during the Gulf War. Our guides are two AWOL marines: Cody Carmichael, a California stoner, and Tommy Trang, a zealous patriot who's half-Vietnamese, half-American and cagey about his past. The teenagers are stationed in Saudi Arabia on the eve of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. While they're hunting for pearls off the coast of Kuwait, Trang and Carmichael save the life of 16-year-old Princess Lulu, a member of the Kuwaiti royal family, who tried to drown herself because she's engaged to a debauched, middle-aged Saudi prince. Lulu and Trang inconveniently develop the hots for each other. After Iraq invades, Trang decides to rescue Lulu from the occupying army, setting in motion a series of reliably entertaining escapades that include an attempt to turn the ragtag Kuwaiti resistance fighters into a Bill of Rights-loving liberation army. Carmichael narrates the novel in his fluid surfer patois, which Paine deftly uses to comic effect ("Princess Lulu was like torching a blue-eyed gaze into Trang that would make your hair crinkle. Last time I had seen a look like that was when the king of Saudi Arabia's hawk was eyeballing me like he wanted to eat my infidel liver"). Paine shows his usual affection for all kinds of political underdogs, but the novel lacks the moral complexity of his best stories. Tommy Trang is an idealized, flag-waving modern folk hero who stands up for Muslim women and will "save this crazy Arab world" with his trigger-happy instincts, which always serve the cause of justice. Various Arabs are predictably lampooned for intolerance or decadence. Paine's naifs are less Huck and Jim than Bill and Ted on an excellent, Hollywood-ready adventure, but his sense of humor is irresistible.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Two unlikely marinesDsurfer boy Cody and Amerasian TommyDgo AWOL during the Gulf War in an attempt to rescue Tommy's heartthrob, Kuwaiti princess Lulu. This madcap first novel comes from the celebrated short story writer who gave us Scar Vegas.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Unknown; 1st edition (March 3, 2003)
• ISBN-10: 0151005184
• ASIN: B000HWYR5A
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,235,478 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars page turner and funny, March 4, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Pearl of Kuwait (Hardcover)

what an insightfuland delightful and kind of funny/sad look at the idealism of America and our soldiers. At the same time an incredible peek into Arabic culture, its relationship with the west, its oppression of women and the adsudity of its newfound oil wealth. Any reader will not be able to put this book down after 10 pages. Part romance, part adventure, all remarkably written by a master "chaneller" of character.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fear and Loathing meets Catch-22, October 28, 2003

By 

Michael S. Patrick (Indianapolis, IN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pearl of Kuwait (Hardcover)

The book promises a rollicking adventure of story after story; it delivers with the whipcrack of hilarity reserved for a Tarantino movie.

The prose is based on attitude, not on literary style, and the surfer style speech is not so different from A Clockwork Orange in that you KNOW you are in a different world. Don't fault the story premise for a style of writing you may not be used to, and in fact, find annoying at times: the same way Chaucer wrote - he couldn't help it!

Rarely do I read a book and laugh out loud, but this one was a pleasure in that it was light and funny and had sexy Arab babes, daring adventures, macho stupidity, confusing culture clashes like KFC meets Felafel Bell but it is funnier than Hell.

The characters reminded me of T.C. Boyle's book Water Music, another underrated adventure story, in that they don't move, they bounce from place to place, like Kerouac on Ecstasy.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an almost magical travel story, January 7, 2005

By 

Tracy Middlebrook (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Pearl of Kuwait: A Novel of the Gulf War (Paperback)

Wow, this book was great! The Los Angeles Times called it "a straight-ahead adventure tale in the vein of HUCKLEBERRY FINN" and they were so right. Trying to remember back to High School English and the terms for Mark Twain-style novels...pastoral, perhaps? Whatever it is, this book is a gem. I don't normally read novels about the Marine Corps, but this is SO much more than just the USMC in the 1st Gulf War (OOORAH!!). It's a lovely, slightly mythical narration of the adventures (or mis-adventures) of two unexpectedly AWOL marines. There's a Kuwaiti princess to rescue, a mythical pearl, camel racing, beduoins...it's a great travel yarn that has the war as an often distant backdrop. Made me think about patriotism, etc without ever really getting preachy. The narrative style is very innocent and genuine. Private Carmichael (formerly a stoner-surfer from CA) tells his story faithfully and openly. Very wonderful. I'm so glad I picked it up. I'd love to see this novel in an English class...lots of meaty things to sink ones teeth into. Also, I'm sure there's a lot of meanings behind the rock and roll lyrics that Carmichael thinks of throughout the story. Great fun!!