Crabs in a Barrel

Acclaimed author Byron Harmon’s third novel is a frank, no-holds-barred comedy with a sharp satirical edge. When a yachtful of party-goers headed for the Bahamas are shipwrecked and wash up on a remote island, the diverse group—ten African Americans and their white captain—are left with the usual survivor struggles: to find food, to shelter themselves, and to somehow figure out how to get back to civilization. But in their case, they also have to try not to kill each other in the effort. Before long, the different castaways—including a beautiful waitress/med student, a wealthy lawyer, a Brooklyn thug, a Black Muslim, and two gold-digging cousins—square off and start firing about their differences, their grievances, and their opinions, in exchanges that are as funny as they are explosive. Harmon uses this Gilligan’s Island meets Survivor set-up to create a story that airs out the truth about how black people feel about themselves, each other, and most everyone else.