Hiaasen, Carl

Average customer rating:

awful
Rollicking good fun
GOOD, BUT NOT LIKE HIS OTHERS
Pretty much hits it on the head
Still hopelessly devoted

Nature Girl
Carl Hiaasen
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Flush
Hundred-Dollar Baby

ASIN: 0307262995
Release Date: 2006-11-14

Book Description

Honey Santana—impassioned, willful, possibly bipolar, self-proclaimed “queen of lost causes”—has a scheme to help rid the world of irresponsibility, indifference, and dinnertime sales calls. She’s taking rude, gullible Relentless, Inc., telemarketer Boyd Shreave and his less-than-enthusiastic mistress, Eugenie—the fifteen-minute-famous girlfriend of a tabloid murderer—into the wilderness of Florida’s Ten Thousand Islands for a gentle lesson in civility. What she doesn’t know is that she’s being followed by her Honey-obsessed former employer, Piejack (whose mismatched fingers are proof that sexual harassment in the workplace is a bad idea). And he doesn’t know he’s being followed by Honey’s still-smitten former drug-running ex-husband, Perry, and their wise-and-protective-way-beyond-his-years twelve-year-old-son, Fry. And when they all pull up on Dismal Key, they don’t know they’re intruding on Sammy Tigertail, a half white–half Seminole failed alligator wrestler, trying like hell to be a hermit despite the Florida State coed who’s dying to be his hostage . . .

Will Honey be able to make a mensch of a “greedhead”? Will Fry be able to protect her from Piejack—and herself? Will Sammy achieve his true Seminole self? Will Eugenie ever get to the beach? Will the Everglades survive the wild humans? All the answers are revealed in the delectably outrageous mayhem that propels this novel to its Hiaasen-of-the-highest-order climax.

Customer Reviews:

awful.......2007-06-16

i have read all of carl's books and loved them. this book is terrible and a waste of my time....carl are you getting lazy?

Rollicking good fun.......2007-06-13

The Seminoles had a casino. Tigertail was descended from one of the great Seminole warriors. As the book opens Sammy Tigertail has to remove Wilson, a dead man, from the reservation. In addition to the casino industry, telemarketing and eco-tours are featured in the novel.

A tree-trimmer has used a hurricane to cover up his misdeeds. His location is Fernandina Beach near Jacksonville, quite far from the casino in the vicinity of the Everglades. Then there is a plot tie-in to a call center in Texas. There are rich rewards in humorous possibilities to this writerly decision to write a book based upon the employees, ex-employees, and customers of a call center. Flexibility is maximized.

Boyd Shreave, an ex-employee, is supposed to meet with his wife. She wants to sell all of her pizza stores and doesn't want to share the proceeds with him. Resultantly she hires a private detective to track his moves. Boyd is about to be the subject of a sting for reason of his telephone manners at the call center. It is billed as an eco-tour. It is being staged by Honey Santana, a maniacal call-center victim. Boyd had called her at dinnertime and had completely lost his self-control.

The scene shifts to the Everglades where Sammy Tigertail is faced with a dilemma and where the other members of Hiaasen's cast of characters are heading. This is a real feast-- a tall tale, a southern Gothic-style tale.

GOOD, BUT NOT LIKE HIS OTHERS.......2007-06-09

Entertaining book but not on par with Striptease and Skinny Dip.

Pretty much hits it on the head.......2007-06-05

Unlike most reviewers, I grew up not too far away from where the book takes place. Although the probability of this combination of personalities landing in the same location is remote, similiar circumstances have been known to occur in South Florida. His choice of characters may seem outlandish to people out of state, but not to us. I highly recommend the book, and am looking forward to his next.

Still hopelessly devoted.......2007-06-03

On a frigid afternoon in January, a copy of NATURE GIRL flew out of the 2nd floor window of a Manhattan high-rise and landed on the coiffed noggin of Jane May. Despite a minor concussion, no charges were pressed. Ironically, Ms. May, a loyal Carl Hiaasen fan, had intended to order his latest bestseller on Amazon that very night. Pleased to have scored a free book with no shipping charges, she stuffed NATURE GIRL into her designer handbag and stumbled home to read it. Although the plot was rather weak as compared to some other Hiaasen classics (STRIP TEASE, BASKET CASE, SICK PUPPY, etc) the novel certainly made quite an impression on her.

Average customer rating:

Skin tight by Carl hiaasen
Miami mayhem.
DISAPPOINTING TO BE COMPARED WITH HILLERMAN
skin tight review
Hysterical

Skin Tight
Carl Hiaasen
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0446695696

Book Description

Somebody wants Mick Stranahan dead. Mick is sure of this, because he just had to dispatch a pistol-packing intruder with the help of a stuffed marlin head. But who would want to hurt a former Florida state investigator? The answer is plenty of people-as Stranahan soon finds himself acquainted with a litter of nefarious players, including a hit man whose skin problems could fill a comprehensive (if bizarre) medical textbook, a lawyer of questionable repute who advertises on billboards, and a TV show host whose taste for sensationalism is exceeded only by his vanity. The whole thing gets downright harrowing for the ex-cop in one of Hiaasen's most breathtaking, madcap romps ever-where even a plastic surgeon with extremely shaky hands waits to wring Stranahan's neck.

Customer Reviews:

Skin tight by Carl hiaasen.......2007-06-08

I read my first book by carl Hiaasen titled 'Skinny Dip" and i am hooked...Great funny laugh out laugh read...a must for summer reading...I have purchased 6 more of his books...all I just LOVE!!!!
Plus on the back of the jacket...he is a good piece of eye candy..............

Miami mayhem........2007-05-08

The protagonist in this bitingly funny novel is Miamian Mick Stranahan, a former investigator and a seriously flawed human being. Early in the narrative, a professional hitman makes an unsuccessful attempt on Mick's life. This leads to the reopening of a four year old missing persons case that was never solved.

As we've come to expect from novels written by Carl Hiaasen, Skin Tight is brimming with over-the-top characters who do the most outrageous things to each other. Included in the very interesting cast are an unscrupulous plastic surgeon who is less than competent and a Geraldo Rivera clone from the days when Geraldo kept getting beat up on camera.

This is a no holds barred satire that just drips with Hiaasen's unapologetic brand of cynicism. Fast paced and hilarious, Skin Tight ranks among the author's best. A five star effort well worth reading.

DISAPPOINTING TO BE COMPARED WITH HILLERMAN.......2007-04-24

Not being able to get enough of Hillerman, Coel and Doss I noticed what I now know as a Publisher's trick of a one line 'testament' by a respected author wowing this other author's work. Seeing Hillerman on one of my other books and thinking it was in the same genre as Hillerman and Coel I bought a few of Hiaasen's books. I found the writing to be uninteresting, a bit absurb and the character's not the least bit engaging. Though I applaud his condemnation of the influx of development and the disappearing marsh lands and wet lands I felt the story wasn't gripping or intellectually stimulating enough for me to continue reading his books. The beauty of the other authors is they tie their message into a fabric of connectivity to the environment and the past. Hiaasen's characters have no connection to anything and hardly believable. He treats the victims as one dimensional and makes them unsympathetic. Reading about murder as a pastime and making the victims so black and white makes for slow reading and in the end I just didn't care about the outcome.

skin tight review.......2007-04-05

It's an enjoyable book. I like it alot so far, though as of yet I have not finsihed it. I'm not much of a literature buff though, so I cannot honestly write much of a review.

Hysterical.......2007-03-13

One word sums up Skin Tight -- Hysterical!

Never having read a Carl Hiassen book before I didn't know what to expect, and I was unbelievably and pleasantly surprised, and completely entertained with his writing. I could not put this book down.

The character of Stranahan was absolutely one of the funniest characters I've read in a very long time.

I will definitely read more of Hiaasen's books.

As a side note, this book was apparently first printed in 1989 but the humor, story-line and unforgettable wit holds up just as well today as it did when it was first published.

Average customer rating:

An Inspiring Book
A great book but I liked the Tommytown series better
give a Hoot about this book:0
satisfied customer
Hoot

Hoot
Carl Hiaasen
Manufacturer: Yearling
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0440421705
Release Date: 2006-03-14

Amazon.com

Roy Eberhardt is the new kid--again. This time around it's Trace Middle School in humid Coconut Grove, Florida. But it's still the same old routine: table by himself at lunch, no real friends, and thick-headed bullies like Dana Matherson pushing him around. But if it wasn't for Dana Matherson mashing his face against the school bus window that one day, he might never have seen the tow-headed running boy. And if he had never seen the running boy, he might never have met tall, tough, bully-beating Beatrice. And if he had never met Beatrice, he might never have discovered the burrowing owls living in the lot on the corner of East Oriole Avenue. And if he had never discovered the owls, he probably would have missed out on the adventure of a lifetime. Apparently, bullies do serve a greater purpose in the scope of the universe. Because if it wasn't for Dana Matherson...

In his first novel for a younger audience, Carl Hiaasen (Basket Case, etc.) plunges readers right into the middle of an ecological mystery, made up of endangered miniature owls, the Mother Paula's All-American Pancake House scheduled to be built over their burrows, and the owls' unlikely allies--three middle school kids determined to beat the screwed-up adult system. Hiaasen's tongue is firmly in cheek as he successfully cuts his slapstick sense of humor down to kid-size. Sure to be a hoot, er, hit with middle school mystery fans. (Ages 10 to 15) --Jennifer Hubert

Book Description

Unfortunately, Roy’s first acquaintance in Florida is Dana Matherson, a well-known bully. Then again, if Dana hadn’t been sinking his thumbs into Roy’s temples and mashing his face against the school-bus window, Roy might never have spotted the running boy. And the running boy is intriguing: he was running away from the school bus, carried no books, and–here’s the odd part–wore no shoes. Sensing a mystery, Roy sets himself on the boy’s trail. The chase introduces him to potty-trained alligators, a fake-fart champion, some burrowing owls, a renegade eco-avenger, and several extremely poisonous snakes with unnaturally sparkling tails.
Roy has most definitely arrived in Carl Hiaasen’s Florida.

From the Hardcover edition.

Download Description

2003 Newbery Honor Winner!

Unfortunately, Roy's first acquaintance in Florida is Dana Matherson, a well-known bully. Then again, if Dana hadn't been sinking his thumbs into Roy's temples and mashing his face against the school-bus window, Roy might never have spotted the running boy. And the running boy is intriguing: he was running away from the school bus, carried no books, and -- here's the odd part -- wore no shoes.

Sensing a mystery, Roy sets himself on the boy's trail. The chase introduces him to potty-trained alligators, a fake-fart champion, some burrowing owls, a renegade eco-avenger, and several extremely poisonous snakes with unnaturally sparkling tails.

Roy has most definitely arrived in Carl Hiaasen's Florida.

<HR>

WINNER OF THE 2002 Association of Booksellers for Children (ABC) CHOICES AWARD!

Customer Reviews:

An Inspiring Book.......2007-06-04

I have recently read the book Hoot by Carl Hiaasen. Have you ever felt left out, or have you felt like your not where you're supposed to be? This is how Roy Eberhardt, a teenage boy from Montana, feels after moving to Florida. Roy investigates a mystery of the boy running with no shoes on, while he tries to save an owl species. Will life in Florida be looking up for Roy?
The theme or lesson of this book I think was to not let things get in your way. Hoot was very inspiring and it makes you want to help animals in your community. Also, you can literally feel yourself as if you were a character in the setting. I'd advise you to read Hoot because I know you'll love it.

A great book but I liked the Tommytown series better.......2007-06-01

I thought this was a great book, but not as good as the Tommytown series. In Tommytown the boys 11 -14 and the girl, Karen 14 years old acted more like their age and the scenes where funny and exciting. But both writers are super! Take a look at Tommytown and The Boys From Tommytown , (I actually did it. I inserted the titles) Anyway you won't be sorry.

give a Hoot about this book:0.......2007-05-22

I thought that this book by Carl Hiaasen was great! This was a very inspirational book about a boy named Roy who moves to Coconut Cove, Florida. He faces many problems like a bully named Dana Matherson, and he meets a girl Beatrice, and her mal treated step- brother. Together the kids try to save mini owls who were going to get hurt, or killed by a building company that was building a new Mother Paula's Pancake House. I would reccomend this book to any one, but especially animal lovers. It is a great novel just like Carl Hiaasens other novels.

satisfied customer.......2007-05-12

got this as a summer reading book and passed the entry test at school on this year--great deal and was in excellent shape--thanks

Hoot.......2007-05-08

I thought the book Hoot was very good, it was about three teenagers daring to do something that normally kids would never dream of doing, saving little owles and there home from becoming a MaMa's Pancack house. this book is not only inspiring but it also is full of adventure, friendship, betrail, and coming together to help one another.
Alexis, student at SMS.

Average customer rating:

Don't Be Misled
book review
Terrorism once was funny... really funny.
funny ecomystery
Radical but good.

Tourist Season
Carl Hiaasen
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0446695718

Book Description

The only trace of the first victim was his Shriner's fez washed up on the Miami beach. The second victim, the head of the city's chamber of commerce, was found dead with a toy rubber alligator lodged in his throat. And that was just the beginningNow Brian Keyes, reporter turned private eye, must move from muckraking to rooting out murderin a caper that will mix football players, politicians, and police with a group of fanatics and a very hungry crocodile.

Customer Reviews:

Don't Be Misled.......2007-04-24

I found TOURIST SEASON while browsing through mystery titles. If a mystery is what you're looking for, don't be misled -- this isn't one. It becomes quite clear who's doing what to whom very early in this grim little tale. No way is this a whodunit, so if that's what you want, I advise you to look elsewhere.

That said, this book came fairly highly recommended, and most of the reviewers here seem to like it. At the risk of making myself unpopular, I'm going to offer a dissenting voice. I found the characters in this book to be creeps. The "bad guys" are feeding random victims to a giant crocodile. It's their way of returning Florida to it's original, pristine condition, the idea being to scare everybody into leaving while operating under the guise of a "terrorist" group. It's an absurd notion, but not one I found "funny" absurd. Just nasty. The idea that random killing is an acceptable way to pursue a social goal, no matter how desirable that goal might seem, is already too disturbingly common in the real world for this to come across as anything other than simply ugly. Through it all, Hiaasen seems to want the reader to feel somehow sympathetic towards the lunatics. Sorry, but I couldn't go there.

TOURIST SEASON isn't a mystery, nor is it, to me, funny. The story kept moving at a good pace, but I didn't like the characters much (not even the "good guy"), the plot was not one I found amusing, and I was glad to finish it and move on. I understand this was Hiaasen's first book, and later efforts have drawn decidedly favorable comments, but I won't be reading more of his work any time soon. In short, I didn't like TOURIST SEASON very much, and I don't recommend it.

book review.......2007-04-04

This author is new to me, very zany charactors! Was a good read while on South Beach in Miami! Just the ticket!

Terrorism once was funny... really funny........2007-01-24

Judged against Hiassen's more recent work, Tourist Season is something of a middling effort. But if you take into consideration the fact that this was his first in a series of comedic South Florida thrillers, it's more than just filler for your Carl Hiaasen portfolio; definitely worth the read!

Dade County is experiencing a wave of murders, with a puzzling variety of victims that includes a visiting Shriner, an attractive Canadian tourist, the semi-legendary head of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce and a shrewish resident of a retirement community. Each death or disappearance tends to be more creative (in the macabre sense) than the one preceding it, eventually leading to a murky terrorist cell (uh... aren't all terrorist cells murky?) that calls itself Las Noches de Diciembre. Of course, Anglo sensibilities being what they are, the cops and C of C types can't seem to get past referring to them as Las Nachos.

Leading the posse to head off Las Noches/Nachos is Brian Keyes (a former reporter turned private investigator) and homicide detective Al Garcia. You can add to the cast of characters a crazy like a fox columnist with a passion for the "pre-influx" Florida, his aerobics instructor girlfriend, an ex-Miami Dolphin fullback, a Cuban Revolutionary from New Jersey and the newly crowned Orange Bowl queen (a girl with an attitude and libido far exceeding her 19 years).

In the twenty plus years since Tourist Season first hit the shelves, Mr. Hiaasen has honed his ability to make murder even more hysterically funny, but his ability to craft unique and colorful characters was there from the very start.

funny ecomystery.......2007-01-10

Hiaasen's outrageous characters are so well-developed they are believable. This eco-mystery is full of laugh-out-loud scenes.

Radical but good........2006-12-11

I enjoyed this since I live in Florida year round and as a full time resident many times I become angry with the tourists and part time residents who come here and want to change the environment. They are slowly cementing over Florida and tearing down every tree along with killing and driving out all the animals. The tourists are killing the reefs, polluting the land, besides filling the land fills in Florida. Carl goes a bit far in his book but he gets the point across. This was an interesting book.

Average customer rating:

Flush Book Review
This was a good book but not a Super Book
Grandpa and Granddaughter Recommended!
The Last Flush
Flush

Flush
Carl Hiaasen
Manufacturer: Knopf Books for Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0375821821
Release Date: 2005-09-13

Book Description

You know it’s going to be a rough summer when you spend Father’s Day visiting your dad in the local lockup.
Noah’s dad is sure that the owner of the Coral Queen casino boat is flushing raw sewage into the harbor–which has made taking a dip at the local beach like swimming in a toilet. He can’t prove it though, and so he decides that sinking the boat will make an effective statement. Right. The boat is pumped out and back in business within days and Noah’s dad is stuck in the clink.
Now Noah is determined to succeed where his dad failed. He will prove that the Coral Queen is dumping illegally . . . somehow. His allies may not add up to much–his sister Abbey, an unreformed childhood biter; Lice Peeking, a greedy sot with poor hygiene; Shelly, a bartender and a woman scorned; and a mysterious pirate–but Noah’s got a plan to flush this crook out into the open. A plan that should sink the crooked little casino, once and for all.

Download Description

Carl Hiaasen is a columnist for the Miami Herald and is the author of many bestselling novels, including Basket Case and Skinny Dip. Hiassen’s first novel for young readers, Hoot, was also a bestseller, and received a Newbery Honor Award. The author lives in the Florida Keys.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

Flush Book Review.......2007-06-02

Flush is about a teenage boy, Noah, who tries to save the environment, by following his dad's footsteps. The story begins with Noah's dad in jail accused of sinking a casino boat after realizing that the owner of the boat had been dumping sewage waste into the water ruining the water quality and habitat of turtles and fish. Noah and his sister then try to explain their dad's action by trying to document and find evidence of the dumping.
I think Flush is a fascinating book. The characters have unique and interesting personalities. I especially like Noah's courage and his dedication to helping his family and to protect the environment. I recommend Flush to anyone who is concerned with saving the environment.

This was a good book but not a Super Book.......2007-06-01

I thought Flush wush was a good story, but not a good as the Tommytown series that I just finished reading. In Tommytown the boys, Barry, Noah and Petey acted like 11 and 12 year olds. Their sister Karen also seemed like a real 14 year old. Even being poor didn't stop the boys from having fun and the story was very exciting. Tommytown and The Boys From Tommytown are Super books. (I actually inserted a book. WOw.Hope I did it right.) Please read them you won't be sorry! Have a great summer!

Grandpa and Granddaughter Recommended!.......2007-05-31

There aren't many books that can appeal to both a grandfather and granddaughter, without leaving one or both of them feeling just a little shortchanged. Flush is that very, very rare exception!

Carl Hiassen has mixed in his usual elements into a froth that's appropriate for youths, but remains equally appealing to adults. There's a comic bad guy who values profit over quality of life (in this case the owner of a floating casino); a few witless thugs (both adult and kid-sized) and a man with anger management issues (a little reminiscent of the guy in Sick Puppy). But the heart of the story rests with the narrator, Noah and his little sister Abbey, two kids that share their dad's love for the Florida Keys.

Noah's dad has already tried to stop the Coral Queen casino boat from dumping raw sewage into water around the Keys, by sinking it. Unfortunately, the efforts of the local sheriff have restricted his ability to follow through once the boat is raised and reopened within a week. That leaves Noah and Abbey to find a way to shut down the boat, and clear their dad before their mom loses her patience and leaves him. But how do you prove that a specific boat is the source of foul bacteria and worse, especially when there's rat in the Coast Guard office that tips off the boat's operator whenever they are about to pop a surprise inspection?

It helps if you're resourceful and don't mind riding your bike everywhere. It also helps if you befriend a semi-rough blonde with a barb wire tattoo, and can stay clear of the boat owner's bully of a son.

I bought this book for my 10 year old granddaughter and she loved it! Then I read it and loved it. Within a month or so I suspect that everyone in the family will have finished it, with similar results.

The Last Flush.......2007-05-28

I absolutely think that this book was wonderful and most definitely recommend it. This book never ran out of things to talk about. It kept on going. As I read it felt like hours were seconds, that's how much I was into it. This book was most definitely a page tuner because you want to know if Noah and Abbey would nail Dusty. It felt like there were two investigators, Noah and myself. As I kept reading I was trying to predict and figure out the end. I would positively recommend it to those people who love mysteries and try figure problems on their own.

Flush.......2007-04-25

"I'm not sorry for what I did, Noah. The only thing I'm sorry about is that you've got to see me locked up like an ax murderer."
Imagine if your father was thought of as a crazy hooligan that needed a psychiatrist! Not just by your mother, an environmental lawyer, or your sister, but by all the people in your community! Wouldn't that be ghastly? Paine Underwood, Noah's dad, is held captive in prison for sinking the notorious Dusty Muleman's casino boat, the Coral Queen. His reason: The Coral Queen dumps it's "sewage" into the water, polluting marine wildlife. You might think, well that's just stupid! But when it comes to the environment, Paine Underwood takes serious measures to help! His drastic deeds land him in the local jail, and he can do nothing to prevent Dusty from repairing the sunken boat. Which is why he asks Noah to complete the job. With school, bullies, and the divorce of his parents, now Noah has a handful of problems to take care after. How will he manage to save the divorce, protect himself, and "flush" Dusty Muleman scheme out???
Personally, I loved this book!!! It's filled with cliff-hangers and suspense-it's sure to keep you up wondering about the outcome! My favorite part is when Noah, his sister, and Shelly (a helper) conduct the Operation "Flush". I would recommend this thriller to and mystery-fanatics. So if you want to find out what happens in the end, read the book!!!

Average customer rating:

A really excellent waste of time.
Carl Hiaasen's Skinny Dip
A tale of revenge.
Loved It
Great, but ending was a letdown

Skinny Dip
Carl Hiaasen
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0446615129

Amazon.com

Charles "Chaz" Perrone fancies himself a take-charge kind of guy. So when this "biologist by default" suspects that his curvaceous wife, Joey, has stumbled onto a profitable pollution scam he's running on behalf of Florida agribusiness mogul Red Hammernut, he sets out right away to solve the problem--by heaving Joey off the deck of a luxury cruise liner and into the Atlantic Ocean, far from Key West. But--whoops!--Joey, a former swimming champ, doesn't drown. Instead, as Carl Hiaasen tells in his 10th adult novel, Skinny Dip, she makes her way back to shore, thanks both to a wayward bale of Jamaican marijuana and lonerish ex-cop Mick Stranahan (Skin Tight, 1989), and then launches a bogus blackmail campaign that's guaranteed to drive her lazy, libidinous hubby into a self-protective frenzy.

You've got to hand it to Hiaasen: He's perfected a formula for crisply written, satirical crime fiction that makes the best use of imaginatively repulsive villains, as well as less thoroughly venal scoundrels and victims who ultimately overcome their antagonists, all while stumping for the preservation of Florida's environment, particularly the Everglades. In Skinny Dip, we find Chaz (who'd rather be golfing than puttering around the "hot, buggy, funky-smelling and treacherous" reaches of nature) falsifying water samples to help Hammernut turn the 'Glades into "God's septic tank." That scheme, though, is endangered not just by Joey's sudden disappearance, but by the suspicions of a python-loving police detective and Chaz's own outstanding inability to tame his Viagra-enhanced tumescence. Even by assigning Chaz a baby-sitter--the hulking, hirsute, and painkiller-addicted Tool--Hammernut can't keep his pet biologist out of trouble. As Joey and Stranahan unfold their revenge plot, and Tool's conscience grows in competition with Chaz's ego, the reader can only marvel at the extent of the train wreck ahead.

As much fun as Hiaasen has delivering Chaz his climactic comeuppance, what's missing from Skinny Dip is a more complex, more credible development of Mick Stranahan's character and the relationship he builds with the much younger Joey Perrone. Like Erin Grant, from Strip Tease, Joey has far more going for her than her bra-cup size; but "hero" Stranahan is of far less interest here than any of his fellow players. --J. Kingston Pierce

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Chaz Perrone might be the only marine scientist in the world who doesn¿t know which way the Gulf Stream runs. He might also be the only one who went into biology just to make a killing, and now he¿s found a way¿doctoring water samples so that a ruthless agribusiness tycoon can continue illegally dumping fertilizer into the endangered Everglades. When Chaz suspects that his wife, Joey, has figured out his scam, he pushes her overboard from a cruise liner into the night-dark Atlantic. Unfortunately for Chaz, his wife doesn¿t die in the fall.

Clinging blindly to a bale of Jamaican pot, Joey Perrone is plucked from the ocean by former cop and current loner Mick Stranahan. Instead of rushing to the police and reporting her husband¿s crime, Joey decides to stay dead and (with Mick¿s help) screw with Chaz until he screws himself.

As Joey haunts and taunts her homicidal husband, as Chaz¿s cold-blooded cohorts in pollution grow uneasy about his ineptitude and increasingly erratic behavior, as Mick Stranahan discovers that six failed marriages and years of island solitude haven¿t killed the reckless romantic in him, we¿re taken on a hilarious, full-throttle, pure Hiaasen ride through the warped politics and mayhem of the human environment, and the human heart.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

A really excellent waste of time........2007-06-23

The title sounds as though I were damning Skinny Dip with faint praise, but this is not true. I spend a lot of time at airports or on trains. I often find myself trying to waste my time with a book that purports to be pure entertainment. Most of the time I am only dully amused, or even roundly bored. Hiaasen allowed me to completely ignore a packed and turbulent flight to Copenhagen. No small accomplishment.

Think Travis McGee, only in an environmental thriller, and funnier.

I haven't read any of his other books, because I suspected that I would find them too slick. I might still even find them too slick if I read too many of them at the same time. His prose moves trippingly off the pen, and keeps the reader speeding through the pages. He uses humor both gentle and unkind, and a zippy plot that feels more important than the characters themselves.

I really liked this one. Great airplane reading.

Carl Hiaasen's Skinny Dip.......2007-06-16

I did not think this book was well written. The main character, Joey Perrone, was under-developed. We don't even know what she looks like, other than she has blonde hair and great legs. Her character was so under-developed that I had no reason to like her or dislike her. Most of the other characters were outrageous and unrealistic as a lot of the events that took place. The plot is
good. It was a great idea for a book. A man, Charles Perrone, tries to murder his wife by throwing her off a cruise ship. She survives and the rest of the book is about her playing with his head, trying to make him go crazy. Great idea, just not well written. This is the first book by this author that I've read and I'm sure I would read any other work by him.

A tale of revenge........2007-06-11

Chaz Perrone has got to be the sleaziest, most unlikable character Carl Hiaasen has ever created. If you're familiar with Hiaasen's work, you will know that that's saying quite a bit.
Chaz and his wife Joey (she was named after Joey Heatherton) are on a cruise to mark their second wedding anniversary. Chaz cold-bloodedly throws Joey over the side to what he is sure will be a certain and agonizing death.

But Joey manages to survive and vows to exact revenge. Aiding and abetting her in this pursuit is Mick Stranahan, a reclusive former investigator who served as the protagonist in Skin Tight, a much earlier Hiaasen novel.

This book is teeming with a host of way over-the-top characters guaranteed to tickle the funny bone of even the most jaded reader. When it comes to outrageous humor, Florida style, Carl Hiaasen sets the standard. If you like cynical humor that pulls no punches, read Skinny Dip. You won't be disappointed.

Loved It.......2007-06-10

When it comes to Carl Hiaasen, either you love him or you don't. He has a style that takes no prisoners. There is no question how he feels about urban sprawl. He has watched Florida, as have I, ruined by over development and greed. If you look at an empty natural area and fantasize about condos and the money that could be made through development you will hate ALL of Carl's books. Also, I'm pretty sure the people who complain about the plausibility of his characters aren't very familiar with Florida. Yes, America, imagine it and you will find it in Florida. Carl knows Florida like the back of his hand. I immensely enjoyed this book. The story made me laugh out loud and cheer as the bad guys got theirs in that oh so gratifying Hiassen manner. If Carl Hiaasen is the master of anything, he's the master of satiric tales with painful realities we don't want to face about ourselves that bear out the timeless truth: "You reap what you sow."

Great, but ending was a letdown.......2007-04-22

This was an amazing book. I really liked the characters and the story and the whole premise, but the story kept building towards what should have been a climactic ending, but to me it just seemed to kind of taper off, and I felt the story didn't get the crazy ending it deserved. But other than that, the story is solid and a great read.

Average customer rating:

Not his best
Completely implausible, yet believable.
Great florida read
Sick, Repetitive Story
One of his best

Sick Puppy
Carl Hiaasen
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0446695688

Amazon.com

Carl Hiaasen's characters ride and flail on little verbal hurricanes, and his literary storm shows no signs of dying down. Sick Puppy shares Dave Barry's giddy gift for finding humor in South Florida horrors, and a bit of Elmore Leonard's genius for pitch-perfect dialogue spouted smartly by criminals who are dumb as stumps. The title of Hiaasen's eighth novel could apply to most of its characters, but it chiefly refers to an ebullient Labrador retriever named Boodle and the millionaire eco-terrorist Twilly Spree. Let's just say that Twilly has a singular affliction: poor anger management in the face of environmental irresponsibility. When he spots Boodle's owner, Palmer Stoat, tossing litter from a car, Twilly goes to Stoat's home and removes the glass eyeballs from the animals that the bloated lobbyist had shot and mounted on his walls. Boodle gulps down the eyeballs, sustaining no small amount of digestive difficulties.

Soon Boodle and Stoat's wife, Desie, are fugitives from Florida's nature despoilers (who include the Governor, a "gladhanding maggot," the amusingly slimy Stoat, the human bulldozer Krimmler, the cocaine-importer-turned-developer Clapley, and the hit man Mr. Gash, who's fond of sex with multiple beach bimbos in iguana-skin sex harnesses to the tunes of The World's Most Blood Curdling Emergency Calls). Desie, who has a knack for calamitous romance, is smitten with Twilly, but urges him not to kill any litterbugs or pelican molesters: "Jail would not be good for this relationship." What keeps pure farce at bay in a novel that romps with the abandon of a scent-crazed Labrador is the otherwise charming Twilly's creepy edge of implacable fanaticism. And what redeems the funny/ugly violence from cliché is its colorful bad guys (they're as iridescent as oil slicks), Hiaasen's excellent wit, and the music of his prose. To evoke a drunk asleep on the beach, he adds a pungent detail: "a gleaming stellate dollop of seagull shit decorated his forehead."

Hiaasen is not unflawed. His original eco-terrorist character, ex-Florida governor Clinton "Skink" Tyree, seems like an interloper from the earlier books. But Hiaasen's the master of madcap ensembles (which is partly why the star-vehicle film of his fine book Strip Tease flopped). And even when you can see a chase scene's denouement coming for a beachfront mile, each paragraph packs descriptive delights to keep you going at breakneck pace. --Tim Appelo

Book Description

An eco-terrorist with a trust fund, Twilly Spree is tailing a litterbug in a purple Range Rover with plates that read COJONES. Before he knows it, Spree is up to his cojones in corrupt Florida politicos and some very sick puppies, including a Toyota salesman turned governor, a Republicans-only hooker, and a millionaire developer with a fetish for Barbies. But when Spree learns that the fate of an unspoiled island is at stake, he's determined not to be outdone. While defending the toads of Toad Island-not to mention one cheerfully oblivious Labrador-he'll steal a man's wife, gouge out the eyes of big game trophies, and even risk his life two or three times in this, Hiaasen's most gleeful muckraking story yet.

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Litterbugs, eco-terrorists, easy politicians, greedy folk, righteous folk, a kidnapped (but cheerfully oblivious) Labrador retriever, and thousands of squashed toads. That's only a partial accounting of the characters who inhabit this unbridled and outrageously funny novel that is Hiaasen at his riotous and muckraking best!

Customer Reviews:

Not his best.......2007-06-23

I have read all of Carl Hiaasen's previous books and really loved them. Could not find anything negative to say about his writing but Sick Puppy is another matter.

It just seems more of the same repeated again and again. It does have its amusing moments but they are between countless pages of repetition. If you have read his earlier books, you would know exactly what this book is about and that is normally a good thing, but this time, the characters were a bit dull and the action too drawn out for my tastes.

Most disappointing. I will put the book back on my bookshelf and hope that Hiaasen's future books are better.

Completely implausible, yet believable........2007-06-01

This is one of my all-time favorite books. I recently read Nature Girl, and although I liked those characters, that story didn't work as well for me, somehow. If I stop to think about the characters and plot of Sick Puppy, it is all completely ridiculous and unbelievable. If I were to explain it to someone else, they would just look at me like I was an idiot. Yet, while reading it, it all makes perfect sense. Twilly Spree's craziness is the only logical response to the illogic of everyday life. Even the highly-improbable climactic scene, involving a charging rhino, rings perfectly true while you are entranced by the story.

I hope Twilly goes off his meds again and ends up in another Hiaasen story.

Great florida read.......2007-02-20

This was the first Hiaasen book that I read and I was immiadetely hooked on. It is light and funny and describes Florida in way that only Hiaasen can- blunt but with many true facts. It is a book that you can read on the beach and really relax and laugh aloud. Full of interesting caracters that make the plot and not vice versa. Enjoy it.

Sick, Repetitive Story.......2007-02-07

Well I think I have reached my limit with Carl Hiaasen. This novel was definitely over-the-top ridiculous. It was about 200 pages too long to begin with and the antics were something out of an old Laurel & Hardy film. The basic premise starts out quite amusing as millionaire/ dropout, Twilly Spree (26 year old spoiled kid with too much time on his hands) follows behind a litterbug, ego maniac lobbyist's car, one Palmer Stoat, watching him discard his lunch bag, papers and several other items without any thought at all to the disgusting, lazy human being he actually is. Now I know there are plenty of people who think they are too high and mighty to use trash cans (I ride the train with them every day). A trash bag could be right under their nose and they throw the stuff on the floor. This is extremely irritating and I could fully appreciate Twilly's mission. However, the story got out of control about a quarter of the way into the plot and had a domino effect of ridiculous antics from the rhino horns and the hunts to the 911 calls being a form of entertainment, the Barbie-doll twin fetish of one Robert Clapely, developer for Toad Island, Desire Stoat, wife of lobbyist/litterbug, and her desire to beg to be kidnapped by a crazy "kid" along w/her dog, Boodle/McGuinn. This story was just too "out there" as Hiaasen seemed to repeatedly stress the obnoxious behavior of politicians (we got the idea soon enough after the opening scene and the "rhinoceros hunt"). Frankly, I don't understand how so many previous reviewers thought this was such a great read. By the time I arrived at the conclusion, I was more than done with this story. The finale was just as ludicrous; leaving the reader basically at a point right where he/she started from. My advice; don't bother with this one. After three novels by this author, "Skinny Dip" was my favorite and I believe I should have stopped right there.

One of his best.......2007-01-10

Carl Hiasson is fantastic. His books are funny, well written, and fit right in with what we know is a weird world today. This has to be my favorite of his books-- I bought this copy for my dad> THe new one-- Nature GIrl is good too. Highly recommend him -- BUT -- dont let your kids get these books. My kids loved his kids books--HOOT and FLUSH which are great but I caught one reading this book which is definitely not for kids. Great for adults though!

Average customer rating:

Another good read by Hiaasen
A second tier Hiaasen novel.
Loved it
Could have been written by "Derek Grenoble"
Nah......this one was not for me.

Basket Case
Carl Hiaasen
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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Sick Puppy
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ASIN: 044661193X

Amazon.com

Take one dead rock & roll star, his Courtney Love-type widow, the mysterious deaths of his former bandmates, and the lost tracks of a comeback album. Stir in Jack Tagger, a middle-aged investigative reporter obsessed with death since his banishment to the obit desk; a fetching young editor with a yen for our hero; and a boss looking for a reason to fire him. Put them in the hands of a master like Carl Hiaasen, who adds his trademark flourishes (who else would use a frozen lizard as a weapon?) to a creaky plot like this one, and the result is a winner. Florida is full of caper writers with journalistic credentials, and plenty of them have a deft hand with quirky characters, but no one in the genre is better than Hiaasen. --Jane Adams

Book Description

Once a hotshot investigative reporter, Jack Tagger now bangs out obituaries for a South Florida daily, "plotting to resurrect my career by yoking my byline to some famous stiff." Jimmy Stoma, the infamous front man of Jimmy and the Slut Puppies, dead in a fishy-smelling scuba "accident" may be just the stiff Jack needs-if only he can figure out what happened. Standing in the way are (among others) an editor who wants Jack to "break her cherry," Stoma's ambitious pop-singer widow, and the soulless, profit-hungry newspaper owner Jack once publicly humiliated. As clues from Stoma's music give Jack Tagger the chance to trade obits for a story that could hit the front page, murder gives his career a new lease on life.

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Once a hotshot investigative reporter, Jack Tagger now bangs outobituaries for a South Florida daily, "plotting to resurrect mynewspaper career by yoking my byline to some famous stiff." Jimmy Stoma,the infamous front man of Jimmy and the Slut Puppies, dead in afishy-smelling scuba "accident," might be the stiff of Jack's dreams --if only he can figure out what happened.

Standing in the way are (among others) his ambitious young editor, whohasn't yet fired anyone but plans to "break her cherry" on Jack; therock star's pop-singer widow, who's using the occasion of her husband'sdeath to re-launch her own career; and the soulless, profit-hungry ownerof the newspaper, whom Jack once publicly humiliated at a stockholders'meeting.

With clues from the dead rock singer's music, Jack ultimately unravelsJimmy Stoma's strange fate -- in a hilariously hard-won triumph formuckraking journalism, and for the death-obsessed obituary writer himself.

"Always be halfway prepared" is Jack Tagger's motto -- and it's morethan enough to guarantee a wickedly funny, brilliantly entertainingnovel from Carl Hiaasen.

Customer Reviews:

Another good read by Hiaasen.......2006-11-20

This is yet another wacky crime comedy by Carl Hiaasen. The setting is of course South Florida but this time we don't get lectured about the environment but in it's place, the lament of the death of city newspapers. Of course you would expect this since Hiaasen is a newspaper journalist. Ignoring this aspect of the story, there still is much to like in the wacky brand of story telling authored by Hiaasen. We have a burglar beat up by a dead animal stored in the freezer, a Courtney Love type of widow who flashes in her video on MTV, an old rock band, the slush puppies, who are getting killed one by one. Overall it's an entertaining read with just the right amount of comedy to temper the serious pursuit of the bad guy and of course a love interest of the protaganist, Jack. Somewhere in there is the evil corporate raider who buys up newspapers and turns them into fluff with stories, graphics and entertainment in the genre of USA Today or Fox news. This has nothing to do with the main story but is this book's lecture by Hiaasen as a substitute for his usual lecture about the environment. Overall, I liked this book.

A second tier Hiaasen novel........2006-08-23

Missing from Basket Case is the author's well known outrage over the ruination of Florida's natural environment by commercial interests. Some readers might see that as a refreshing change of pace while others might be sorely disappointed.
The name of the novel's protagonist and first person narrator is Jack Tagger. Jack is a newspaperman who at one time was a top flight investigative reporter. Unfortunately, his career has taken a turn for the worse and now he has been demoted to the lowly position of obituary writer.
Basket Case's shaggy dog of a plot revolves around Jack's investigation of the drowning death of an ex-rocker known as Jimmy Stoma formerly of Jimmy Stoma and the [..] Puppies.
Carl Hiaasen has filled this comic novel with lots of cynically funny dialogue and some very outrageous situations. On the receiving end of much of Hiaasen's barbed humor are the music industry and the sad state of certain newspapers.
Though entertaining Basket Case does not quite rise to the level of the author's best work. A good satiric novel, not a great one.

Loved it.......2006-05-08

This book was one of the funniest that I have read in a long time. Carl hasn't let me down yet, i got hooked on his books arter reading skinny dip. This deffinatly was not a hard read but it was VERY entertaing. I would recomend this book to any one looking to have some laughs and kill some time. Later on this book becomes a real page turner and you dont want to put it down. I loved this book.

Could have been written by "Derek Grenoble".......2006-03-20

My first time to read this author. I was intrigued by the plot. It was a little light reading...............would have enjoyed it more if Jack could have a found a more age-appropriate love interest...............maybe this author's audience is mostly male.

Nah......this one was not for me........2006-03-19

Since he is the famous writer and I'm just a reader, it must me be. But I find stuff written in the first person and the present time a nuisance. Having read almost all of Hiaasen's books, this one was like a cold shower. I sometimes actually doubted that he had written it himself 'cause often the phraseology is so totally not the Hiaasen I got used to.

Team Rodent : How Disney Devours the World

Average customer rating:

Upset by Disney urbanizing the State
Not at all what I expected
Just the thing to read while you wait for the parade!
Fundimentally flawed, but a fun think piece.
A quick, fun read for Hiaasen's fans

Team Rodent : How Disney Devours the World
Carl Hiaasen
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
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ASIN: 0345422805
Release Date: 1998-05-05

Amazon.com

Let's get one thing straight: Carl Hiaasen doesn't like the Walt Disney Company. Whenever the giant entertainment conglomerate stumbles, as it did with its proposed Civil War theme park in Virginia, Hiaasen cheers. When a rhinoceros mysteriously dies at Disney's new theme park, Animal Kingdom, Hiaasen secretly hopes for the worst, because, as he writes, "no scandal is so delectable as a Disney scandal."

A native of Florida, author of such thrillers as Lucky You and Strip Tease, and a journalist for the Miami Herald, Hiaasen comes by his dislike for Disney honestly. He has witnessed the relentless success of the Disney machine firsthand with the development of Disney World and other properties around Orlando. In Team Rodent: How Disney Devours the World, Hiaasen paints a witty and sarcastic portrait in this nonfiction account of a company who can control the press, manipulate local governments, and because it's Disney, get away with it. Team Rodent is a quick, entertaining read that even the most loyal Disney shareholder (except maybe Michael Eisner) will find enlightening and amusing. --Harry C. Edwards

Book Description

"Disney is so good at being good that it manifests an evil; so uniformly efficient and courteous, so dependably clean and conscientious, so unfailingly entertaining that it's unreal, and therefore is an agent of pure wickedness. . . . Disney isn't in the business of exploiting Nature so much as striving to improve upon it, constantly fine-tuning God's work."
--from TEAM RODENT

TEAM RODENT
How Disney Devours America

"Revulsion is good. Revulsion is healthy. Each of us has limits, unarticulated boundaries of taste and tolerance, and sometimes we forget where they are. Peep Land is here to remind us; a fixed compass point by which we can govern our private behavior. Because being grossed out is essential to the human experience; without a perceived depravity, we'd have nothing against which to gauge the advance or decline of culture; our art, our music, our cinema, our books. Without sleaze, the yardstick shrinks at both ends. Team Rodent doesn't believe in sleaze, however, nor in old-fashioned revulsion. Square in the middle is where it wants us all to be, dependable consumers with predictable attitudes. The message, never stated but avuncularly implied, is that America's values ought to reflect those of the Walt Disney Company, and not the other way around."

Customer Reviews:

Upset by Disney urbanizing the State.......2007-04-17

A novelist and Florida columnist laments the overwhelming presence of the Walt Disney Company, especially in his state.

Hiaasen blames Disney for the ugly sprawl that is Orlando while pointing out that Disney World itself is not subject to urban planning regulations. On this count he is accurate. When Disney moved in, all land they purchased seemed to be exempt from many regulations. But as much as he laments on the evils of the Mouse, the largest damage is done by all the smaller companies that build up around Disney to take advantage of the millions of tourist flocking to the Magic Kingdom.

But he fails to mentions all the jobs they provide. Though many employees say they do not like their rules and regulations. All successful companies must have them, especially when your business is the entertainment and safety of children. And lets be clear, all children love the Disney experience.

Hiaasen asserts that Disney building their store was the genesis that cleaned up Time Square in New York. While in truth, they only agreed to open their store if Giuliani promised and followed through to clean up that part of town. And the Mayor was able to accomplish the required goals, at least on the surface.

It is worth reading, but it is not up to his normal standards. It would have been better if the author used his investigative skills to gather some facts. This small book it is a very short and easy read. There is strong language.

Not at all what I expected.......2007-03-22

To begin with, it was a lot shorter read than I had hoped. For the price of the book, it seemed more like a phamphlet than a book.

Secondly, it certainly wasn't very Hiaasen-like. As an admirer of his fiction, it seemed that he abandoned his writing style for this book. It appeared to be more of a personal rant than an enlightening look at Team Rodent.

Just the thing to read while you wait for the parade!.......2007-01-11

The basic premise of this little treatise is solid. The Walt Disney Company is too big for its britches, too controlling, to paranoid and just not as good for society as they'd like you to think. Okay, so a few more details to back all of that up would be nice. But too many details would probably make this book far less readable and not nearly as enjoyable.

To be fair, Carl Hiassen lays a lot of the damage wreaked on his beloved state of Florida on the neighbors that Disney attracts. Of course, as Hiassen points out, the mouse guys insulate themselves with a healthy buffer of manicured "wilderness" between them and their lower class hangers-on like the outlet malls, themed dinner theaters and miniature golf courses. But he rightfully takes Team Rodent to task for their anal desire to control the information and image that filters out of their controlled environment in exchange for gazillions of dollars from tourist and entertainment seeker wallets.

Even though this book is almost 9 years old, Hiassen's wit and style make it an enjoyable (albeit a very quick 83 page read). If anything, time has simply validated a lot of the points that he makes. Something tells me that you won't find it at many bookstores in "the World" as they like to call it, so order it before you head to Orlando. And just for fun, make a show of reading it on one of the benches at EPCOT.

Fundimentally flawed, but a fun think piece........2006-07-22

In Team Rodent, Carl Hiaasen delivers an honestly entertaining picture of his own reservations at what he sees as the Disney Corporation's attempts at becoming a culturally omnipotent force. This piece is more of a political pamphlet in format: it's too long to be considered a simple essay, but it's certainly short enough to be read in a single sitting.

As I suggest in the title of my review, Hiaasen's biggest issue with this piece is the fundimental flaws that underlie this work. Hiaasen's thesis isn't really much of a thesis at all: Disney sucks, and they're gradually taking over the world. Whether or not Disney sucks is certainly a matter of taste. The largest part of Disney's product and service line is devoted towards entertainment for children and families, which is naturally not the preferred choice of entertainment for intelligent, literate adults, myself included. No one is obliged to love Mickey Mouse. If a parent who dislikes Mickey finds themselves buying products bearing Mickey and Co., it's certainly regrettable but they're hardly the only parents who have found themselves suckered into supporting obnoxious and bewildering children's entertainment.

Whether Disney is taking over the world is yet again a matter of perspective. Disney certainly acts like the megacorporation that it is, but it's hardly the only megacorporation out there. This doesn't necessarily exempt Disney from well-intentioned criticism, and Hiaasen does present some fairly potent items: Disney's maintenance of an autonomous hegemony over its occupied land in Central Florida, the notorious dictatorial micromanagement of now-former Disney Chairman Michael Eisner, Disney's shoddy business practices and shady legal dealing surrounding its 1980s Country Walk housing development, and Disney's ethically sketchy policies of bribery for positive news coverage, among others.

Yet, some of Hiaasen's criticisms seem misdirected, if not elusive. Hiaasen spends the early part of the book bemoaning the notorious Disneyfication of Times Square, and seems to place the blame squarely on Disney for this. Yet, he ignores the facilitation of the Disney takeover through Rudolph Giuliani's policies, which it could be argued are vastly more malignant than the simple presence of a Disney Store on the Great White Way.

Hiaasen also points to the example of the Insane Clown Posse's short-lived recording career with a Disney-owned record label. Hiaasen does little here but muddle his point--he certainly dislikes Disney's Bowdlerization of culture for blatant kiddie-centric consumerism, but he sees nothing hypocritical in ridiculing Disney for both releasing and recalling the Insane Clown Posse. Hiaasen neither advances nor supports any clear, cogent points other than his distaste for rap music and his drive to engage in gleeful schadenfreude against Disney whether it's journalistically sensible or not.

In yet another part of the book, Hiaasen criticizes the opening of a Disney cruise line which docks at a private island which had previously been used as a stopover for drug smugglers (which it should be noted, obviously had no connection to Disney's later purchase of the island). Hiaasen criticizes Disney for providing a tourism option so far removed from the actual cultural environment of the Carribean, but it seems unlikely that Disney would be making unrealistic promises of an authentic Carribean cultural experience. Even Jamaica, an island noted for its poverty and unrest, has sanitized resorts just as far from authentic as the Disney experience, operated by companies with no relationship with Disney.

Hiaasen makes it clear that he finds the environment around Disney World to be ugly, describing the tourist-oriented sprawl of central Florida. Yet, just as ugly would be a Florida deprived of the jobs which Disney supports--Sure, Disney is a big, soulless company, but they are a massive force in the Florida economy, likely providing the livelihood for any number of families.

It should be noted that, despite these flaws, the book does not suffer from lack of readability. Hiaasen is engaging with his material, despite the problematic nature of his core ideas. His descriptions of his experiences at a Disney-sponsered press event featuring a journalist who faced KGB detention in the Soviet Union. Hiaasen's work would have made a much better long magazine article than a book, but it's still very enjoyable.

If you're fond of relatively skilled op-ed writing, Hiaasen's work here is certainly worth prerusal. This is not a piece of investigative journalism per-se, and there are many better examples of extensive critical writings on Disney corporate culture. Hiaasen's book is at least worthwhile as a quick and easily digestible version of the arguments.

A quick, fun read for Hiaasen's fans.......2006-05-12

Not much to add beyond the title of this review. Yup, Carl despises Disney. A very lucid and well written diatribe.

Average customer rating:

Bestseller 1995 and entertaining.
Classic Hiaasen
Perfect Hiaasen: The comic morality tale.
This is where I came in...
What fun

Stormy Weather
Carl Hiaasen
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0446677167

Book Description

A seductive con artiste stumbles into a scam that promises more cool cash than the lottery. A shot-gun toting mobile home salesman is about to close a deal with disaster, while tourists by the thousands bail from the Florida Keys. They are now entering the hurricane zone, where hell and hilarity rule. And in the hands of the masterful, merciless Carl Hiaasen, everyone is in for some stormy weather!

Customer Reviews:

Bestseller 1995 and entertaining........2007-05-05

As a hurricane hurtles through Florida, a handful of unusual people react in peculiar ways. Honeymooning Max Lamb eagerly videotapes the wreckage but is soon kidnapped by a reclusive ex-governor called Skink. Meanwhile two hustlers try to stage an insurance scam, and Max's new wife hunts for him with the help of a millionaire who juggles skulls. Book contains strong language, some violence, and some explicit descriptions of an adult nature. Even with all that, this is a humors tale with a strange sense of justice.

Classic Hiaasen.......2007-03-12

This is as classic as a novel by Carl Hiaasen can get. The plot is evolved during and after south Florida gets hit by a hurricane with all the characters, the twists and humor that you would expect from Hiaasen.
If you have not read one of his novels yet, I should note that Hiassen is an enviromentalist (who is a regular columnists for the Miami Herald) and and all his novels take place in Florida. Full of different (and sometimes extreme characters) and a unique humor/satire he is enjoyble to read. His novels are not exactly crime stories but rather about life in Florida that has a bit of everything.
Enjoy it.

Perfect Hiaasen: The comic morality tale........2006-12-05

I'm an environmentalist on the basis that I like clean air, water, etc., as opposed to being a watermelon environmentalist: green on the outside, communist red on the inside.

I like Carl Hiaasen's books because the environmental message isn't preachy. Instead, he simply writes hysterically funny stories about the assorted unfortunate (and self-inflicted) fates of people who show up make a quick buck on Florida, at the cost of Florida.

This book is a hilarious romp through post-Andrew South Florida. The bottom line is that hurricane's are nature's way of saying "Don't build here!" and people who move to South Florida to buy shoddily-constructed, never-inspected houses are simply getting what they deserve.

Of course, not everyone is a dupe or a huckster. There are some actual decent people in his books, and their sterling qualities are the perfect foil for the dupes and hucksters that constitute the rest of local humanity.

Hiaasen's genius is in his caricatures and how he plays them off against each other.

Great book.

This is where I came in..........2006-07-07

Stormy Weather was the first Hiaasen novel I read. I picked up a paperback copy at a remainder sale. Never heard the name of the guy and didn't expect much; but it was cheap, and so...

Boy, was I wrong! Since then I have made sure that I read every Hiaasen in and out of print, and I'm about to catch up on some of his real old stuff. His writings opened up the world of the writers and the universe of that nook of America called 'Florida', which is about as whacky and demented as it comes. Actually, I've _been_ to Florida, though not down to the Keys; but it's amazing what you miss when you basically just pass through or dip in and out of it. No wonder Piers Anthony used it as the setting for a bunch his, firmly tongue-in-cheek, fantasy novels.

Stormy Weather, to get back to the subject, piled on charcaters I'll never be likely to forget, from the skull-juggling Augustine to the simply impossible 'Skink'. A never-ending litany of ascerbically presented character sketches and Hiaasen's usual--entirely justified!--tirade and caricature of venal politicians, environmental rape and greed; plus some truly and honestly _stupid_ people.

Fun and games and I never looked back. There are other 'Florida' writers I've come to like, especially James Hall and Laurence Shames. Depending on my mood, I sometimes like them better than Hiaasen, especially Laurence Shames. All three of them offer different perspectives on life in and beyond that strange place called 'Florida'. As I said, it depends on my mood. Hiaasen usually ends up at the top when I'm in a 'South Park' disposition; needing satire with heart. And I need some more of that now and soon and please!

Till Noever, owlglass.com

What fun.......2006-07-05

Great characters, the book stays true to its genre without losing the element of surprise. Good summer read.

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