The Cruise of the Kawa: Wanderings in the South Seas

What begins as a parody of 1920s South Seas travel narratives becomes something unexpectedly delightful. George S. Chappell, writing as the impossibly earnest Walter E. Traprock, chronicles the voyage of the Kawa and her unlikely crew: a weathered captain, a retired farmer, an artist, and a scientist. They celebrate the Fourth of July marooned in the Pacific, survive a catastrophic storm, and wash up on the mysterious Filbert Islands, where they encounter the Filbertines - a people living with a simplicity that seems both alien and profoundly appealing. The joke works on multiple levels: Chappell has crafted a sendup of Conrad, Bligh, and contemporary South Seas adventurers like Martin Johnson, yet the parody is so well-executed that it functions equally well as genuine adventure. The humor emerges from Traprock's unwavering sincerity in describing extraordinary circumstances. By the end, the book reveals its masquerade, naming the authors it has mocked. For readers who enjoy literary gamesmanship, early 20th-century Pacific history, or simply a well-constructed joke that plays fair.