Deep Water Blues

By Fred Waitzkin

Open Road Media     2019

160 pages     Literary

It is always a lovely experience when you open a book with no anticipation, and then find that it matches your reading ideals. Such was the case with the novella, Deep Water Blues by Fred Waitzkin. It is the story of a paradise island in the Caribbean called Rum Cay that becomes paradise lost. It is the story of greed and misplaced expectations, love and lust, and great loss.  

While the author himself is a character in the book, the main character is an expat named Bobby Little who has created a small paradise on a remote island in the Caribbean. The boat dock, the restaurant where Bobby is the chef, and the entertainment are all courtesy of Bobby. But then, suddenly, things change. Tragedy strikes when a boat carrying Haitian migrants capsizes in the harbor, and the grisly shark-eaten bodies cast a pall over the island. Bobby struggles to regain his footing and becomes threatened by a business partner, Dennis, who conspires to take over Bobby’s kingdom.

What makes the story unique is the insertion of Fred Waitzkin, the author, into the story line as an observer to the plot. He acts as a quasi-narrator, although he is not in every scene. He is on his fishing boat, the Ebb Tide, with a couple of buddies and an artist, John Mitchell, whose drawings become an integral part of the book. He says, “Many times I’ve made the long ocean voyage to Rum Cay to troll off the southeast corner of the island. But my fishing ardor has often been dwarfed by surprises onshore, where breezy sensuous nights plunge me back into the yearnings of a younger man and where I’ve met maimed and beautiful people on the dock and a few that were evil beyond redemption.”

Somehow, Waitzkin’s addition of himself into the plot lends authenticity to the story. What is true? What isn’t? This is a great plot device and kept me reading through a lot of grisly stuff. What was going to happen next? How would it end?

Deep Water Blues is not a book I would have picked up to read on my own, which made the surprise of good writing and fascinating plot all the more desirable. Thanks to the publicist for introducing me to a a very interesting read.

 Fred Waitzkin is the author of the memoir, Searching for Bobby Fischer, which told the story of his son Josh, a child prodigy and chess expert. Many will remember the movie based on his book. This is his website.