"Pell-Mell ... So We Live " shares a collection of brief, often poignant anecdotes that provide a whimsical glimpse into how people live in the Caribbean, West Indies, and the Virgin Islands. In "Pell-Mell, " justice and nature fuse into one, parenting is skittish, a fugitive blue mongoose is caught red-handed, and the stork learns that delivering babies is safer. Afro-Caribbean Virgin Islander Gilbert Sprauve continues where he left off in his previous collection, "Soundings over Cultural Shoals." Sprauve holds the magnifying glass that peers into a fascinating local culture and offers reflections about a world in and about the Virgin Islands, where a crane dozes in pain, a handy popgun saves a groom-son, and serial eulogies crack frail ribs. "Pell-Mell ... So We Live " offers a memorable look into the variations of life-from the heart, mind, and soul of a beautiful people-the Virgin Islanders.