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The Legend of Ron Añejo
By Ed Teja
Novel Books, Inc.
$5.50
This book is quite simply fun, especially when read (as in my case) in the midst of a particularly nasty Boston winter. Writing humor is difficult, and Teja does it well. He tells the story of his time off and on a fictional Caribbean Island by the name of Kayakoo, where he is befriended by the legendary Ron Añejo, a drifter of many talents.
The two, through some shady dealing, find themselves in possession of an old, wooden, and rather decrepit sailing vessel, which is never actually sailed. Everything this pair does, from chartering to smuggling, goes wrong, but because it is the Caribbean or because Añejo, Teja, and later Añejo's son are somewhat knowledgeable about boats and what makes them run or perhaps because Teja himself is so horrified yet mesmerized by what he has gotten himself into, the reader knows that they will somehow come out okay.
Along the way, Teja introduces us to caricatures of the real people and places that you are likely to encounter if you spend enough time in the islands—the tourists from the fictional though very real St. Voracious, the transplants who have made a way of life out of island extortion at their markets and boatyards, even the locals who have come to accept those who have invaded their islands and have found ways to use them.
The legend of Ron Añejo is a wonderful, light read whether for dreamers during a snowstorm in Boston or the lucky ones on the foredeck of a sailboat somewhere down-island.
Gaelen Phyfe, Book Review Editor
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