For a sense of life in the Caribbean, we recommend this novel, a great rollicking comic masterpiece. It tells the tale of Norman Paperman, an expatriate American approaching middle age who sets out to run a hotel on the Caribbean island of Amerigo. The island itself may be fictional but the atmosphere is authentic, derived, in part, from the author's experience. We were thrilled to dig out our sandy, dog-eared copy that dates from a brief stint in the Caribbean twenty years ago. First published in 1965, this book is a gem.  (CRB18, $15.95)