Author: Michael Kasenow
ISBN: 978-1-4401-2001-5

The Last Paradise was at times not easy to stay with as it dwells so profoundly upon appalling racist behavior, sadness and anger, all taking a heavy emotional toll, nevertheless it still was a great read.  In addition, Kasenow’s cast of rich and vivid characters particularly the two main protagonists and their stories make it possible for the reader to navigate a landscape that is at times appalling but nonetheless illuminating. In fact, you want to keep reading just to find out what becomes of them.

Our tale unfolds in Galveston, Texas in 1900 just prior to the Great Hurricane when our two principal protagonists, Maxwell Hayes and his friend Newt Haskins are standing trial before a bigoted Judge Hammer. Apparently, the two were engaged in a knife fight while being smashed and were now standing trial for committing a public disturbance. Attorney Howard Dean is representing the accused, however, Judge Hammer shows very little respect for their legal counsel and he is ordered to sit down and keep quiet.

Judge Hammer finds both guilty and as a punishment Newt is fined three dollars and is not to take a drink of alcohol for one year. He also must do community service three times at week at the St Mary’s Orphanage. As for Maxwell, he is fined six dollars and this is probably the result of his getting on the good side of the judge telling him a story about his father who supposedly died at “Shilo. Fightin’ for the Rebs.” He even produces, as he professes, his father’s authentic Confederate thirty-eight-caliber revolver with one gold bullet that belonged to a friend. Moreover, when asked by the bigoted judge why he liked Galveston, he replies that two signs attracted his attention when he entered the island six months ago. These signs told him everything he needed to know about Galveston. The first stated: “Welcome to Paradise, Galveston Texas, Wall Street of the Southwest Third Richest City in the Nation.” The second, according to Hayes, was a real piece of work. One day, on his way back to his boarding house, he saw a dead African-American hanging from a noose on a tall oak tree with a sign around his neck: “screamin’ like an angel: “This Nigger Voted.” As we will find out, the implications of these two signs as well as Newt’s community work and Maxwell’s revolver with its one gold bullet all are eventually played out leading to an unforeseen ending.

Kasenow has certainly done his homework in recreating the flavor of Galveston at the turn of the last century as he blends vivid and harsh descriptions with social, political and economic commentary that is caught up in a hideous and haunting tangle of racism. His knack in revealing off-the-wall characters in small gestures and poignant dialogue adds to their authenticity as we witness them being caught up in a range of situations, some not exactly lawful, that all come together into a tightly knitted story. He even manages to throw in a bit of romance and sly humor providing the reader with a change of pace and a kind of relaxed center from the various mad events spinning around in the novel. By the time you have completed the reading of The Last Paradise, you may actually believe it is true.  How can you knock that, if it is well done? 

In addition to being a novelist, Michael Kasenow is also a poet, scientist and currently a geology professor at Eastern Michigan University, where he teaches Environmental Science. He is the author of fourteen environmental science books that have been published internationally.

CLICK HERE TO READ NORM'S INTERVIEW WITH MICHAEL KASENOW