Swimming in the Volcano [Paperback]

Bob Shacochis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1994

The National Book Award-winning author of The Next New World now presents a gripping, magnificently realized novel of sexual and political intrigue set in the Caribbean--"a book heady with language and thick with story that leaves the reader exhilarated" (Chicago Tribune).

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

ABA-winner Shacochis's first novel about expatriate life on the fictional Caribbean island of St. Catherine was a NBA finalist.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In the opening pages of Shacochis's splendid first novel, Mitchell Wilson, an American who works for the Ministry of Agriculture on the Caribbean island of St. Catherine, is heading downhill. His lost love, Joanna, has decided to drop into his life again, and he's on his way to the airport to meet her, riding in a dilapidated car whose brakes--dependent on coconut oil for braking fluid--have failed. Wilson's harrowing ride is a perfect metaphor for life on St. Catherine's and for the turn his own life is about to take. Joanna may have come to St. Catherine simply to escape trouble, but Wilson still bristles when a government official tells him to stay clear of her. He should have listened. This may sound like a fast-paced thriller, but though there's a mystery to crack at the heart of this richly detailed novel, Shacochis in fact offers a chilling evocation of the misunderstandings that arise between feckless Americans and struggling islanders for whom St. Catherine's is no paradise. The author's maximalist prose, lush as the tropics he's describing, could have used some pruning--but then we might have lost a few flowers. Highly recommended; Shacochis is the author of Easy in the Islands ( LJ 2/1/85), a short story collection that won the American Book Award. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 10/1/92.
- Barbara Hoffert, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (June 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140236589
• ISBN-13: 978-0140236583
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,596,178 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 Great work on the reality of caribbean society., June 1, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Swimming in the Volcano (Paperback)

Bob Shaccochis writes s a great tale of a young american working for a government ministry on a small caribbean island. The book is clearly autobiographical and deals not only with the americans slow but steady understanding of his complete outsider status but also other aspects of his personal life. This is one of the best books I have read. Anyone who has visited the Caribbean and realizes that the islands are not just "Club Med" will read this cover-to-cover in one seating. You will also find yourself reading everything else from this author

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magical, Frightening and True, March 28, 2001

By 

Bruce Whitehouse (Bethlehem, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Swimming in the Volcano (Paperback)

This book caused me to add Bob Shacochis' name to the list of authors whose prose is absolutely brilliant--sometimes even a bit blinding, as some other reviewers have suggested, but it is superb writing nonetheless. Shacochis joins Reynolds Price, V.S. Naipaul, Annie Proulx and Don DeLillo in my pantheon of modern literary geniuses. Maybe "economy" was not one of the author's strong suits when he wrote "Swimming in the Volcano," but to me this is an absolutely trivial objection when weighed against the power of his language and the unflinching accuracy of his observations.

Unnecessary verbosity and flashy writing are literary sins, to be sure, but Shacochis doesn't commit them here. If "Swimming in the Volcano" is overwhelming at times, it's because the author is sounding depths of the human experience other writers don't dare to plumb. He is not indulging himself or merely playing with words. He gets into the minds of his subjects, Caribbean and American; and their voices, whether in Caribbean or American dialects, ring jarringly true.

I would rank this novel with Don DeLillo's "Underworld" for its rare synthesis of power and substance. Like DeLillo's masterpiece, "Swimming in the Volcano" has plenty of sound and fury, but signifies something profound about men and women and the lives they create.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Waiting for the volcano to blow, November 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Swimming in the Volcano (Paperback)

The obvious comparison is to Robert Stone and Graham Greene. Alright, no problem. If you're going to "borrow," might as well borrow from the best. But the author expends too much energy on trying to impress the reader with the quality of his prose and not enough on characterization. I'm impressed, however, with the scope of his knowledge oncultural matters relating to the Carribbean -- he obviously knows his subject. A good book, but next time, Bob, lighten up on the literary pyrotechnics. Go back and read G. Greene and you'll be reminded how simply and eloquently he states his case.