B.D. Bruns

For a last-minute Kindle read, this filled the bill. Author is not a particularly good writer (often used the wrong word and was unnecessarily obtuse) but he does have a remarkable story. For anyone who's ever cruised or river-cruised or been part of some group expedition, this is a window into the crazy, wild world of the servants, er, service people who make it possible. Lots o' sex and alcohol and crazy long working hours = all part of the ship life. Little wonder, Bruns is the first American to ever work on a major cruise ship (Carnival) as a waiter. Most of his colleagues are Asian (Indian, Phillipino) or Eastern European (Romanian).… (meer)

Two notes: (1) I received this title through a Goodreads giveaway. (2) I have not read any of Bruns' prior titles, particularly in the series to which this title is related, so am reacting to just one piece of his body of work on cruise ships.

The story in Bruns' travel memoir UNSINKABLE MISTER BROWN stuck with me much longer than I expected it would. The plot revolves around the relationship of Brian and Bianca. Brian is a hopeless romantic who gives up his life as a techie in the U.S. to follow Romanian Bianca onto cruise ships so they can maybe... hopefully... perhaps someday be together. That is harder than it looks, as the pair is constantly shuffled from ship to ship with different vacation times, friends and responsibilities.

The major piece of interest I had in this memoir comes through the fact that Brian's situation as an employee of a cruise ship is a unique one, and an exciting way to experience a travel book. The romance between the two main characters with different locales around the world serving as backdrop adds some spice (and a touch of history) to their experiences. What makes this memoir different (and more accessible, in my opinion) is the conflict provided between personal life and ship life. While the characters are able to travel the world, they are given very little freedom outside "work breaks" and struggle with the difficulties of their career paths. These careers bring Brian and Bianca down to earth and make their emotional struggles understandable to a world of readers who feel torn between their careers and their loved ones. Of course, Brian is the author of this memoir and the perspective of this story is his own, though you can tell he tries to be fair and balanced with himself.

When I picked this up I expected it to be overloaded with details of ship life from start to finish--not so. The ship provides a setting for the story and a plot device to propel the characters forward, but it takes some time to reach a cruise ship. From what I've gathered, Bruns' other titles probably attend to the ins and outs of ship life a bit better. This is a memoir about romance and if you are typically a very practical person you won't "get" the hopeless romanticism of these characters.

Overall, I give this title 3/5 stars because of its ease in reading and its goal of teaching me something new while giving me a pair of characters to root for. If the TV networks are looking for a new workplace comedy to fill a hole in their schedules I think ship life might be an area that has some freshness left in it.… (meer)