Key West Collection [Paperback]

Ah, here we are. Here are those oft' cited "glory days of yesteryear" lovingly reprinted by John Boisonault and Tom Corcoran - and the timing couldn't be better. From a literary perspective, it's of course Springtime with various versions of "season" winding down. Jasmine and Cereus perfume the often thunderous nights and a hammock'd or curled-up casual sip'n read offers just the sought after relaxation. Nothing could be finer or more suitable than Key West Collection. With a deft, self-depreciating yet mannered air, Ms. Raymer recounts first-hand adventures and mis-adventures in the "open air asylum" of old Key West. Here is a roustabout Last Resort of costume parties, nudity, famous writers, domestic squabbles, internecine jealousies, street bums, dirtbags, cruise ship passengers, body piercings and arguments over who got here first. Sound familiar? The beauty of the selection, of course, is how little much of our "lifestyle" has changed over the past 50 years. There is, however, one aspect that veritably screams out for notice...and that is humor, ingenuity and tolerance. I've had the pleasure of meeting many of the characters in this book. (The description of Cigarette Willy, alone, brought back a swirl of memories from that place before modernization and AIDS where one "merely had to wish to make it so.") Events like Fantasy Fest, the Suds Run, the Hemingway Festival and the Conch Republic Celebration were hatched in a hazy improvisation long before being certified as "annual events". It is worth noting that all of the events in this book took place in those days often cited as when Key West was "dying" - those days when Duval Street was shuttered and the streets were empty. Well, as the Key West Collection attests, someone was here, and though they may not have been rapaciously gouging the City and its tourists for every last penny they could squeeze out of them, they somehow managed to thrive with renegade humor and world famous alacrity. In fact, they survived so well that they created the "Key West" that so many tourists come here, in vain, to discover. Tom Corcoran's photographs from the near distant past, evoke a time of shrimpers, flop houses, stripper bars, lazy afternoons, grey weatherered buildings and Tennessee Williams - not tricked-up plastic faux once-upon-a-time trinket stands, mind you: the real thing. It's there in the scented evening air, in the smell of fresh Cuban bread and stand-up buche. It's there in a note from 1981 wherein the authoress can't find Tennessee Williams' house because "the streets were being dug up for sewer installation". We even read of a squabble between usurer Juius Stone and "Charlie Ramos" over the location of the "truly southernmost house". Key West Collection is the perfect gift for the newly arrived who'd like to know a bit more about their new "home" before they form an idea of what it ought to be. -Bud Nevero

This is one great book. I love Key West and someday I'm going to move there. It's home. When I discovered this book I didn't expect the reaction it gave me. It brought me back. The characters, the craziness, and the surreal island life of the Keys came rushing back to me like a tidal wave. It reminded me of what I love and miss about Key West. A wonderful read.

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