Dead Man in Paradise: Unraveling a Murder from a Time of Revolution

I was raised in Santo domingo and was 11 years old at the time of the revolution. We were also some of those "evacuated" by the U.S. Navy from the hotel. We lived at Avenida Independencia, esquina Wenceslao Alvarez avenue he speaks of in page #207 in the paperback book. We were also there when Trujillo was killed and we spent the following school year in San juan while things settled down. Dad of course stayed with house and business. The names and memories all cascade through my mind. My dad was the Volkswagen and Studebaker dealer in Santo Domingo, and he had to sell the dreaded black VW Beetles the secret police drove, which for a good period of time cost him a lot of business with the locals for obvious reasons. Sadly that same 1965 revolution took my father's life later that year from the stress of remaining in the island to guard house and business, while his wife and four children were away in Puerto Rico. He was only 46 years old. The book is written very well, and do not let him fool you, his spanish had to be good as he described the island and people expertly. It was hard for me to read as you might imagine. After 5-10 pages I would have to stop and let all the memories pass. I was last there three years ago, and much has changed, from the incredibly horrible traffic to the tall sky scrapers that dot the Capital city. One thing has not changed however, and that is the pervasive poverty and same crooked governments who line their and their friends pockets as the country continues to suffer. I have always been asked what it was like to grow there, so I am ordering 4-5 additional copies to give as gifts to those so inclined to read it, I will also send a copy to my extended "family" in Santo Domingo. These are friends I grew up with, and to this day I call them the brothers and sisters that they are to us.

I loved the book. I am Dominican and I can say proudly that I know my history; that's why I think the author of "dead man in paradise" really did his homework in order to show the reader the Dominican culture and history, as sad as it was. Do not think he is exaggerating about the cruelty and oppression of those days; he is not. By many expressions in the book, I can tell he is really identified with the Dominican People. I do not know how long it took for him to write the book, but I can tell it was quite some time. You could not get to know such a complicated history in details in a few months. I hope this book someday is translated into Spanish and put in the bookstores of the Dominican Republic. We would hear a lot about it since many people from the book are still alive, and still in powerful positions.

This book is incredible. MacKinnon follows family history in this incredible piece of literary nonfiction. His uncle was a Catholic priest, murdered by police officers in the Dominican Republic in the 60s. The police were immediately shot by an army officer. Forty years later he tries to unravel what actually happened. The thing that blew me away most was that I could feel him struggle with a foreign language in a different country. I have lived overseas as well, and his writing took me right back to the feeling of pressure inside my head, as I tried to understand. As the book progresses, the pressure diminishes. Truly spectacular writing. I tried to take it slow, to savour the book, but I finally gave up and tore through it in a day and a half. I am going to reread it this winter.