The Rum Diary is a brilliant, tangled love story of jealousy, treachery and violent alcoholic lust in the Caribbean boomtown that was San Juan, Puerto Rico, in the late 1950's. Exuberant and man, youthful and energetic, The Rum Diary is an outrageous, drunken romp...
Paul Kemp, a writer from New York, tries his luck with a small, English newspaper in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He arrives in front of an old greenish building that looks like a warehouse. Outside the front door 20 Puerto Rican are attacking a tall American who '...was standing on the steps, swinging a big, wooden sign like a baseball bat.'
Kemp
waits for the fight to break up before ducking inside. Away from the
havoc on the street Kemp appreciates the familiarity of the office.
He's welcomed by his new boss and a few co-workers offer to take him out
for food and drinks at Al's, their local hangout.
Sala,
the photographer, advises Kemp, "the first thing you learn here is to
avoid the restaurants... Dysentery, crabs, gout, Hutchinson's Disease,
you can get anything here..."
Kemp finds himself being drawn into a type of friendship with some of the men, including Sala and the tall American, a trouble-maker named Yeamon.
For
the first week or so Kemp divides his time between his hotel and the
office or out drinking at Al's. He's reliable with his assignments, to
the delight of his boss, who always complains about the degenerates and
thieves and the wine heads who are ruining his paper. The rumours in
the office claim the paper will up and close at any time. Kemp is
comforted by the fact that he has enough money saved to survive or at
least buy a plane ticket home should he need one. In the meantime he
dives right into the life of a journalist in the hot Caribbean.
He accepts an invitation to Yeamon's house out near the beach. It seems that Yeamon has a picturesque life with his girlfriend Chenault and live lobster hunting out past the yard, which is more like a private beach. Kemp can't help but fantasize about the beautiful, petite Chenault. He envies Yeamon and wants what he has. Kemp realizes that if he wants what his friend has he can't keep staying at the hotel. Luckily, Sala agrees to let him stay at his apartment.
"You don't think I'll get on your nerves?" Kemp asks.
"I'm never there - it's too depressing," his friend replies.
With
a place to at change his clothes and sleep a little Kemp feels better,
but begins to avoid the place as much as possible. It's barely a room
and a bed. Instead, Kemp falls in with Sanderson who hosts excellent
parties and always seems in the know. Kemp allows himself to feel
optimistic about life in Puerto Rico around Sanderson, who believes whole-heartedly that San Juan is a golden opportunity; an endlessly lucrative paradise.
The
days begin to pass in a routine involving late mornings, a few hours of
work followed by the casino then Al's, or the occasional party. Rum
flows freely and is easier to come by than coffee. When not with
Sanderson Kemp spends his time with Sala and Yeamon, even after Yeamon is fired over his refusal to change a story. Things at the office are tense, even with Yeamon
gone as his workload must be redistributed. The boss tries to get Kemp
to take over as Editor and Publisher, but Kemp declines. He doesn't
want to trade more money for more responsibility. He'd rather join Sala through the endless cocktail parties, schmoozing with San Juan's Kingpins, taking pictures and stealing booze.
'It
was a good feeling to have a stock of rum that would never run out, but
after a while [Kemp] could no longer stand even a few minutes at each
party, and... had to give it up.'
One drunk afternoon at Yeamon's leads to a drunk evening at the local pub. Yeamon
claims to have an open tab and the three of them eat and drink their
fill. It seems like a fine evening until the manager demands Yeamon square up his bill. Sala and Kemp both offer to pay, but Yeamon refuses and simply walks out with Sala and Kemp scurrying along behind. It's not long before two carloads of Puerto Rican's chase them down. A brawl breaks out as the locals attack the Americans.
'...through
the numbness [Kemp] knew they were hurting [him] and [he] was suddenly
sure [he] was going to die... [he] was being kicked to death in a Puerto Rican jungle for eleven dollars and fifty cents.'
The
police show up only to haul the unruly Americans to jail where they
abuse them further and deny them access to a phone. Kemp recognizes the journalist who works the police beat and screams out for him to help.
"Moberg... Call... a lawyer."
They spend the next six hours in a tiny cell full of Puerto Rican's. They can't sit down because the floor is foul with human waste.
'[Kemp]
felt safe as long as [they] could supply [the locals] with cigarettes,
but... wondered what would happen when [they] ran out.'
The men are eventually called into court, which is entirely Spanish. Yeamon
demands a translation of the proceedings and is ignored. Kemp fears an
ugly outcome until Sanderson shows up to rescue the lot of them. He
throws around some impressive names and some fancy words which seem to
placate the judge. Bail is set at $2,300. Kemp doesn't argue much.
He's too happy being free.
'The fact that [he] spent all night in a cell... made that morning one of the most beautiful [he'd] ever seen.'
The
night makes him rethink the way he's living. He wants a car, and his
own apartment '- a place where [he] could relax... and maybe even take a
girl once in a while.'
With a new, lucrative
assignment from Sanderson he is hopeful to find someplace half decent.
After locating an apartment suite above a garage he begins to feel like
maybe he could start calling the place home.
Yeamon and Chenault
invite him to join them at a carnival in St. Thomas. They promise him a
good drunk while there. The trip happens to coincide with his
assignment for Sanderson. Kemp would already be half way to the island
of St. Thomas and after some deliberation decides to accept. He arrives
in St. Thomas to the chaos of steel drums, marching bands and the
deafening roar of engines. He manages to find Yeamon and Chenault. Yeamon doesn't feel like dancing, and Kemp claims he's only there to drink, but Chenault
insists they join the party and is practically carried away by the mob
and the music. With no choice but to follow her the two men weave their
way through the crowd. They spend the night with cheap rum and swiftly
melting ice, drifting from bar to party to street mob and back. They
find a quiet beach just before dawn and pass out in the sand.
The
next evening they continue their drunken wander from street party to
bar before they're pulled away to a private house party where they have
to pay $3 each just to get in. The dark house is crowded and bursting
with music. Kemp and Yeamon lose track of Chenault
only to find her in the middle of the dance floor swaying mindlessly
with a small, dark man. She's dropped her skirt and begins to slowly unpop each button on her blouse. Flinging it into the crowd she's left in nothing but her flimsy panties and modest New York bra. Yeamon and Kemp try to push through the mass to get to her, but a half-naked blonde beauty dancing half naked in a room full of men sets a riot of bodies seething forward for a better look.
Kemp and Yeamon
struggle to pull her out before the rest of her clothes disappear but
are held back by the others. Before they can break away the man grabs Chenault and drags her through the house. Kemp and Yeamon are thrown into a cab and sent away without Chenault. Kemp vows to go to the police, who basically do nothing. Yeamon hopes she's somehow made her way back to San Juan without them. Kemp is not so optimistic.
Back
home Kemp is happy to be on more familiar territory. He settles back
into some semblance of his old routine in spite of his constant worry
about Chenault.
Those worries are slowly replaced by the constant barrage of rumours
suggesting the paper's about to close. Kemp isn't sure what he'll do if
that happens, but continues on, business as usual, with long, rum
soaked evenings. It's a type of paradise, albeit a filthy one.
A dark tale of human passion and our lust for self-destruction A Rum Diary is
a seedy story of old San Juan; a booze soaked glimpse into the secluded
Caribbean Island and the inhabitants there. This book leaves the
reader with the feeling of gritty Caribbean life.
Click here to purchase A Rum Diary.
