Cap'n Fatso

Cap'n Fatso "FANS OF ADMIRAL GALLERY'S UNIQUE BRAND OF SEA YARNS WILL LOVE IT." -- Herman Wouk "Vintage Gallery humor! As long as Fatso lives, the U.S. Navy will Survive." -- WILLIAM J. LEDERER "The U.S. Navy doesn't need a whole fleet in the Mediterranean. All it needs is a 70-foot motorized barge -- LCU-1124 -- commanded by a resourceful Boatswain's Mate First Class like Fatso Gioninni ." -- THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW. "It would take half the page to do justice to this ferociously funny novel... The imperturbable malice Admiral Gallery uses to spoof everything from the way the Navy is run to the poverty program is an exercise in risible ingenuity. This is one of the most hilarious sugar coatings over hard core of fact I have read and if it isn't made into a movie or serve as the nucleus for a TV series, there is no justice!" -- Jefferson Parish Times, Metairie, LA

This is a very well written story set in the US Navy of the 1960's. There are fascinating insights into the operation of the Navy -- how aircraft carriers work, how navies are supplied, how spying missions are flown, how American and Russian navies get along on the high seas. But at a deeper level, it's a story about how the US Navy can be a family to its sailors. The main plot is the hell that Cap'n Fatso can raise, when his fleet abandons him and sails for Vietnam. Intertwined with it is a story about how Cap'n Fatso mentors young sailors, protecting them from harm -- he even sets up a casino, serving beer, so that young marines won't be corrupted by landside attractions. I enjoyed it.

Americans, across the board, can be very resourceful people because of our freedom to operate within our system. In Capn' Fatso, Dan Gallery shows us a classic but outrageously funny example of this when a small group of American sailors led by a salty old Boatswain's Mate get cut off from their normal duties by accident. Every veteran of any branch of service, man or woman, will be able to relate to this light hearted tale of American military life since it brings to memory experiences and people each of us have known in our own lives. The characters in the story are all people we can relate to in one way or another, or remind us of unforgettable friends from our past. In my opinion, anyone who reads this book and can keep from laughing hasn't "lived."

This is a "can't put it down" book. Full of amusing phrases and "what's going to happen next" plots. I love it, I love it, I love it.

Chief Boatson's Mate 'Fatso' Gioninni finally has command of his own vessel as he cruises around the Med getting into mischief and tweaking the noses of the Russian Navy. Through mischance, he and his landing craft are left behind when his Carrier Task Force get sailing orders. Fully provisioned, Fatso and his crew of like-minded free spirits take their own version of a Mediterranian Cruise (after first disguising their craft so that nothing can come home to roost). This is a fine example of Gallery's light-hearted touch at the helm for all who have enjoyed his sea-stories before or for someone who has never read him before!