U Got to Have U Some Fun edition by Andrew Harkless Debra L Hartmann Literature Fiction eBooks
Download As PDF : U Got to Have U Some Fun edition by Andrew Harkless Debra L Hartmann Literature Fiction eBooks 
Whether you are one of the 20 million people who cruise each year or someone who rarely even takes a vacation, this vivid work of fiction feels like the real thing.
John Smith, recently divorced and as average as his name implies, arrives home from his job at a rubber band factory to find a ticket for a cruise ship vacation in his mailbox. He assumes the ticket is from his son, because Carson made him promise to break free of his boring life and, for once, travel and have some fun.
The mysterious note with the ticket simply says, “It’s Time.”
John is puzzled because his only child was killed six months before while serving in the US Army in Afghanistan. To fulfill the promise, and though filled with anxiety about leaving his routines and comfort zone, he goes on the cruise.
During seven days of various Caribbean destinations and sea days, John meets a diverse blend of passengers and crew who influence his life in monumental ways. Each new day brings new experiences, pleasures, a new challenge to overcome, and information about the source of the ticket.
As John begins to emerge from his shell—less and less average, more and more adventurous, and destined for a new and richer life—the question still looms
Who bought John’s ticket?
Ordinary and typical John Smith’s life-changing vacation where the average baggage is anything but, challenges you to take stock of your own life. U Got to Have U Some Fun will have you crying, laughing, crying while laughing, angry, rooting, and ultimately saying yes to one question Would I do anything for my children, even change?
U Got to Have U Some Fun edition by Andrew Harkless Debra L Hartmann Literature Fiction eBooks
There is a subgenre of travel writing in which travel journalists make snarky fun of seven-day, mass-market, luxury Caribbean cruises. Never read it myself. But travel writers, such as Michael Ian Black, who bylines in The New York Times, point to an essay by David Foster Wallace, “A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again”, as the ne plus ultra of this subgenre. He also says that Wallace, who was driven to comic despair on a 1997 cruise, just didn’t get the point of the relentless pampering, the manufactured fun, the mediocre aboard-ship entertainment, and the constant upselling of a cruise. But according to Black, the point of the cruise industry is not the you-gotta-have-some-fun ethos. Instead, the point of the industry is its upscale banality. Everything on board these ships is familiar, Black declares. And, it has all been done better before.In U GOT TO HAVE U SOME FUN, Andrew Harkless (a great surname for the author of this novel) writes a narrative about a Caribbean cruise that is the opposite of snarky and ironic. To do so, he creates a simple and lonely protagonist, John Smith, who lives a very small life in a town in Kansas. In FUN, John receives, from out of the blue, a ticket for a cruise from an anonymous benefactor. And John decides to go, thereby fulfilling a promise to his deceased son, who wanted his father to live a richer and more exciting life. Well, John boards The Princess of the Seas in Miami, immediately makes friends, and is included, by his new friends, in the low, high, and athletic pleasures of the ship. With his friends, John also has off-script adventures in Haiti, Jamaica, and the Virgin Islands as Will Catcher, a bartender on the Princess, connects John to local non-touristy destinations and bars.
Harkless is definitely aware of the banality of cruise ships. But in writing FUN, he has chosen not to be snarky and ironic about their artificiality, glitziness, and shallow bonhomie. Instead, he tries to imagine a person who would find everything on a ship such as The Princess of the Seas to be new and wonderful. In doing so, Harkless creates a Bizarro World for those with a David Foster Wallace sensibility. And in this Bizarro World, John Smith, who seems to have almost no connection to hip contemporary life, actually becomes a bigger and better person. BTW, the subtitle for FUN is “A Literary Novel for the Everyman”.
There is one character in FUN, the elderly Mary Clawson, who is a reader and Henry David Thoreau enthusiast. And she does occasionally quote Thoreau to John Smith, thereby establishing a literary context for John’s transformative vacation. At the same time, I think that Thoreau is a sly presence throughout this novel as dull John makes many statements that are comically bland paraphrases of Thoreau. Here, for example, is John speaking to George, who is the only dark presence in this sweet book. “I don’t think men have a monopoly on greed and narcissistic desire. I think when people have a hole inside, they often try to fill it in with external things before searching for solution internally.” See what I mean? Still, I wish I got the joke earlier.
Rounded up.
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U Got to Have U Some Fun edition by Andrew Harkless Debra L Hartmann Literature Fiction eBooks Reviews
This was one of those books that I am very glad I didn't judge by it's cover.
There are many stories inside this gem. One is the story of John Smith. An everyman, ordinary, grieving, timid and content to stay in his own lane.
When he receives a cruise ticket in the mail with no hint of who sent it except a note telling him it's time.
Once on board the cruise ship, John is really out of his element! But it seems that the right people are there for him at exactly the right times. We watch as John emerges from his small view of life and really comes into his own.
The second story is the story of the cruise ship industry, woven into the story of John and all of the wonderful people he meets on and off of the ship.
I really enjoyed this book. As a life long cruiser, I was very interested in the behind the scenes look at the industry and I would have read the book just for that, but lucky for all of us Mr. Harkless has given us an excellent story of grief, hope, redemption and change and what power just a small amount of kindness can have on a life.
I was drawn to this book because of the cruise aspect, but this book is so much more. It was appropriate that the story was on a cruise ship because in the story line the middle age man, John Smith seems to be just drifting along in life. You can relate to the characters, they are very real and I found my self comparing them to people in my own life. It is fiction, but with an underlining current of philosophy, but at times I felt like I was reading a real person's diary. The book makes you want to have enough courage to come out of your comfort zone and into the scary unknown just to see what is out there that you have been missing all your life because of fear. The story is so fascinating, and it made me look inside myself for some answers of my own. I literally could not put the book down. I read it in a day and a half. Highly recommend this for anyone. Step outside your comfort zone if it isn't your normal genre, you will be glad you did!
I love this book about a man who never ventured too far from home, and doesn't really know that he is just existing. This sounds just like me and a whole lot of people just like me. I read a great deal about the cruise ship industry, books from veteran travelers, and books on cruise "tips".Just like Jim Smith, I haven't been on a real vacation in ions. Andrew Harkless knows people very well. He should. He spent a large amount of time studying human behavior by being a bartender.
He said that magazines are full of celebrities. Who he wants to focus on in his books is the everyman. Most of us are an "everyman". We can relate to middle aged John Smith. We can see at least a small piece of ourselves in him. That is why I believe this book can really resonate with us. Mr.Harkless conveys to us, through his book, the same lesson that Mr. Smith learns through getting out of his old reliable comfort zone and taking a cruise all by himself. When we allow ourselves to peek out of our cozy cocoons and try something scary and different, we may enjoy ourselves enough to obtain a complete metamorphosis. This is what John Smith discovered on his cruise.
He experienced a whole new cruise culture that he may never had known about, otherwise. With 2,000 passengers and about 1,000 crew all aboard a small floating city together for seven days one is bound to meet some interesting people, share stories from their lives, bond, and become friends. John learns a lot about himself as much as he did about other people. He was able to spread his wings and fly. That, I believe, is what Mr. Harkless wishes for all of us. He gets his point across in a very fun and entertaining way. What is more fun and exciting than reading about a vacation upon a cruise ship. May we all get to take a cruise at least once in our lives. Live fearless and enjoy every moment of our live.
I was given a copy of this book to read in exchange for my honest review.
There is a subgenre of travel writing in which travel journalists make snarky fun of seven-day, mass-market, luxury Caribbean cruises. Never read it myself. But travel writers, such as Michael Ian Black, who bylines in The New York Times, point to an essay by David Foster Wallace, “A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again”, as the ne plus ultra of this subgenre. He also says that Wallace, who was driven to comic despair on a 1997 cruise, just didn’t get the point of the relentless pampering, the manufactured fun, the mediocre aboard-ship entertainment, and the constant upselling of a cruise. But according to Black, the point of the cruise industry is not the you-gotta-have-some-fun ethos. Instead, the point of the industry is its upscale banality. Everything on board these ships is familiar, Black declares. And, it has all been done better before.
In U GOT TO HAVE U SOME FUN, Andrew Harkless (a great surname for the author of this novel) writes a narrative about a Caribbean cruise that is the opposite of snarky and ironic. To do so, he creates a simple and lonely protagonist, John Smith, who lives a very small life in a town in Kansas. In FUN, John receives, from out of the blue, a ticket for a cruise from an anonymous benefactor. And John decides to go, thereby fulfilling a promise to his deceased son, who wanted his father to live a richer and more exciting life. Well, John boards The Princess of the Seas in Miami, immediately makes friends, and is included, by his new friends, in the low, high, and athletic pleasures of the ship. With his friends, John also has off-script adventures in Haiti, Jamaica, and the Virgin Islands as Will Catcher, a bartender on the Princess, connects John to local non-touristy destinations and bars.
Harkless is definitely aware of the banality of cruise ships. But in writing FUN, he has chosen not to be snarky and ironic about their artificiality, glitziness, and shallow bonhomie. Instead, he tries to imagine a person who would find everything on a ship such as The Princess of the Seas to be new and wonderful. In doing so, Harkless creates a Bizarro World for those with a David Foster Wallace sensibility. And in this Bizarro World, John Smith, who seems to have almost no connection to hip contemporary life, actually becomes a bigger and better person. BTW, the subtitle for FUN is “A Literary Novel for the Everyman”.
There is one character in FUN, the elderly Mary Clawson, who is a reader and Henry David Thoreau enthusiast. And she does occasionally quote Thoreau to John Smith, thereby establishing a literary context for John’s transformative vacation. At the same time, I think that Thoreau is a sly presence throughout this novel as dull John makes many statements that are comically bland paraphrases of Thoreau. Here, for example, is John speaking to George, who is the only dark presence in this sweet book. “I don’t think men have a monopoly on greed and narcissistic desire. I think when people have a hole inside, they often try to fill it in with external things before searching for solution internally.” See what I mean? Still, I wish I got the joke earlier.
Rounded up.
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