James davis eric walrond led a peripatetic life, residing in a variety of locations, including british guiana, barbados, panama, new york city, and various cities in france and england. during several periods of his life almost nothing is known of his whereabouts and activities. nevertheless, james davis manages, by combing the records and existing correspondence and providing biographical informa- tion gleaned from walrond’s writing, to stitch together a plausible narrative of this enigmatic author’s life. the book is particularly strong on walrond’s most productive period, 1918-27, when he lived in new york and published his highly acclaimed collection of short stories, tropic death (1926), and 1927-66, when only scrappy bits of information are known about him. much of this material has come from davis’s visits to the places where walrond lived. the book chronicles walrond’s life from his birth in british guiana in 1898 to his youth growing up in barbados and then panama. walrond’s father, a tailor, moved to the panama canal zone after economic upheaval in barba- dos. davis’s discussion of walrond’s life in the highly segregated city of colón, wherediscriminationagainstblackswasrampant,andthebackgroundonwal- rond’s beginnings as a reporter for the important english-language panama- nian paper, the star and herald are first-rate, and walrond’s decade in new york city is richly detailed. davis describes walrond’s apprenticeship in mar- cus garvey’s popular newspaper negro world and his eventual involvement with the national urban league’s flagship publication opportunity . the latter experience would foster his entry into the fledgling new negro movement. the chapter on (a collection of ten short stories set in the caribbean) provides an insightful close reading of the book, which is walrond’s major lit- erary claim and one of the earliest pieces written largely in the caribbean ver- nacular. davis explains the imposing linguistic challenges the work posed (and still poses) for its largely american audience. davisuncoversnewmaterialonwalrond’slongsojournineurope.afterwin- ning a guggenheim fellowship in 1928 to do research in the caribbean for the bigditch , a book on the building of the panama canal, walrond never returned to the united states except for one short visit in 1931. he lived mainly in eng- land, where most of his activities remain uncertain. davis is particularly effec- tive in documenting walrond’s years as a “voluntary” patient at the roundway hospital,apsychiatricfacility,during1952-57.whileundertreatment,walrond publishedawealthofmaterialinthehospitalnewsletter, theroundwayreview , including numerous stories and fifteen installments of “the second battle,” a