If you love the sea, sailing boats and the life of adventure, this book is definitely for you. BUT if you are not one of those people, reading this will certainly not make you one!!
This is Vann's account of a few years in his thirties when he endeavoured to be free of the trappings of life by buying a boat and running literary chartes in the Mediterranean and Caribbean Islands. The hull was bought and refurbished in Turkey...enough said. Everything that can go wrong does, and more. Vann asks his friend "when does it end?" and is told "it's a boat, it never ends."
What I really liked about the book was the commentary and reflection Vann puts in, about his situation and what he is discovering about himself as things unravel. Underlying all his experiences is the fact Vann's father committed suicide because he couldn't cope with the stress he was under. Vann constantly checks himself to see if he is going that way. It is a brave look at this issue and the fears that assail those who survive a parent's suicide.
A remarkable young man. I really like his fiction, which is better appreciated once this book is read.
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