This 1970 novel by ex-sailor Darryl Ponicsan follows the classic picaresque road trip formula, but with some added satisfactions. The story is simple: Two Navy lifers must escort a seaman from Norfolk to Portsmouth Naval Prison. The young man has been convicted of stealing $40 from a charity collection box and sentenced to eight years and a "DD" – dishonorable discharge. The excessive punishment weighs on the two Shore Patrol men, "Bad-Ass" and "Mule," to the extent that they decide to show the convict a good time before he's locked up. Military injustice, racism, the perils of thinking that "doing your job" is enough to excuse anything – these themes and others are effectively explored in this entertaining, bawdy novel.
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