It is a long jump from the anxieties of Western civilization to the carefree life of the South Seas, and many of us today would gladly change places with the Tuttles of Tahiti, who are the central figures in this gay new novel by Nordhoff and Hall. The Tuttles came originally from New England, but after three generations of intermarriage with Polynesians, their Yankee thrift and industry have given way to a delightful Tahitian indolence. The Tuttles are a large and boisterous clan. Their house in the Vaipopo valley, battered, leaky, and open to the winds, provides them with as much shelter as they need. When the fishing is good, old Jonas Tuttle sends his boys out fishing. When the fishing is bad, they hope to pick up a few dollars with their fighting cock. And when all else fails, they can borrow money from Dr. Blondin. Somehow there always seems to be enough food for one weekly feast, attended as a matter of course by the neighbors from miles around. Somehow there are always hours for dancing, singing, and the uproarious laughter which comes from a sufficiency of wine and food. And when at last the creditors catch up with them, when Dr. Blondin refuses to loan them any more money, when there is no gasoline for their ancient launch, when there are no fish to catch, and their gamecock is dead, then but that's the story.
—from the dust jacket
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