Star Island
Carl Hiaasen
Hiaasen’s newest title, Star Island, is by far my favorite since Skinny Dip. Using the trite and oft-seen story of a starlet going off the rails, Hiaasen drags Cherry Pye, a mediocre singer filled with blind ambition, had her double Ann, into the psychotic world of The Captain’s Florida. Never one to disappoint, Hiaasen’s characters careen widely from one-near miss to another. The bad get theirs in the end and the good get a nasty vindication. Cheaper than drugs and just as shiny and confusing.
Nature Girl and The Big Bamboo
Nature Girl (Karl Hiaasen) and The Big Bamboo (Tim Dorsey)
I hit two of the unholy Floridian trinity (Dave Barry being the third… yes, that Dave Barry) within a week, so I can’t be held accountable for my actions. Both books live up to their own bizarre standards and fit the much loved Florida template. Wacked out lunatic hero-ish? Yup. Dorsey focuses on Serge A. Storms, his psychotic history-loving mass murderer. While The Governor does not appear in the Nature Girl, Hiaasen more than makes up for it with his uber-protective and delusional mother Honey Santana. A plethora of Florida history and nature worked into plot? Yep. Both of our anti-heroes blither on about...
Tattoo Blues
Michael McClelland
“With hot sauce”
Rubber dinosaurs
A lesbian clam pirate.
‘Nuff said. Or is it??
The Celebration Chronicles – Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Property Values in Disney’s New Town
The Celebration Chronicles – Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Property Values in Disney’s New Town – Andrew Ross
We Americans like describing ourselves as pragmatic realists – capitalists who make cold, shrewd decisions based on the market and the value of a dollar stretched as thin as possible. However, conjure up visions of white picket fences, front porches, little Susie on her bike and mom making apple pie and all but the most hard-core of us will turn squishy at the knees. And there is no company on the earth to inject dreams and desires into the average Joe than the magical company of Disney. And boy do they know it. The Disney-backed planned town of...
Cadillac Beach and Triggerfish Twist
Cadillac Beach and Triggerfish Twist – Tim Dorsey
Dorsey is in one of my favorite genre of writers – wacked-out Floridian. Apparently there is something about southern Florida that produces psychotic characters and bizarre plot twists. I’m guessing it if because southern Florida is full of psychotics with bizarre lives. Dorsey’s main character, Serge A. Storms, is a raving lunatic hell-bent on writing the wrongs imposed on his beloved Florida by a myriad enemies – developers, tourists, the government, college students, various mafias and anyone else who crosses his path. With his perpetually stoned sidekick Lenny, Serge careens across Florida in...