Book excerpt: Detailing life in tiny, artsy, anything-goes Key West—where Broadway composers and bestselling authors live on the same funky blocks as housekeepers, bartenders, and tour guides—this updated collection of essays and columns about island life features pieces that first appeared in the Miami Herald. Profiles of colorful characters such as an Italian heiress who waits tables, a dishwasher with a PhD, and a taxi-driving opera singer provide a kaleidoscopic portrait of residents living, working, and playing in a caste-free, rowdy paradise.