Tourist Season, In its entirety- Matt

I loved it, again, as expected, from start to finish. 

Hiaasen is at once uplifting and cynical.  Keyes and Garcia are the clear good guys, and nobody wants to see the beautiful, yet equally down-to-earth, Kara Lynn Shivers come to any harm.  Bert and James are lovable too, and in the end, you are happy to see the Las Noches de Diciembre lose, but at the same time, Florida loses too.

Skip Wiley, we can assume, dies a bizarre but ultimately heroic death, trying to save a bald eagle from the dynamite of developers.  I suppose for glass is half full folks, we can assume the eagle flies, and we can assume the death of Skip Wiley brings about some more publicity to the plight of Florida.

This is the only Hiaasen book in which the bad guys are the ones fighting to protect what is left of wild Florida.  In his later efforts, the line between the good guys and the bad guys is clearer.  I have to say I like the ambiguity.  My guess is that in later efforts it was just too much for Hiaasen to kill of the people he was really rooting for.  As a home grown Florida guy, Hiaasen’s views on the development of Florida are largely the same as Wiley’s, though his views of terrorism and murder differ.

I have several questions for your consideration.

Do you attach any symbolism to Viceroy’s demise on the same football field that was home to his past glories?   It makes sense until you consider he doesn’t seem to like football or the Dolphins all that much.

Do you think Hiaasen, through his spectacular writing, has done damage to his own cause?  Every time I pick up one of his works, it makes me yearn to be in the sunshine state, no matter how insane his criminals or how random and egregious the violence.  Even through the greed and madness, Hiaasen’s love of the sunshine state is evident and contagious.  I have spent a good chunk of my life in Florida, and though that probably has more to do with the weather and the availability of gamefish, Hiaasen’s works certainly contributed.  Has Hiaasen inadvertently contributed to the demise of the Florida wild that he holds so dear?

To answer my own question, I would say no.  The allure of Florida is strong with or without Hiaasen; nothing can be done by Hiaasen or Skip Wiley to stop people from coming.  What could stop it are the developers and the greed-heads getting their hands on all of what makes it wonderful in the first place.  Hiaasen has alerted his readers to the problem, and done a significant service by influencing Florida’s citizens and visitors to behavior more appropriately and be respectful of the fragile South Florida environment.  When considering how to behave, everywhere, but particularly in Florida, everybody should ask himself or herself the following question: What would Hiaasen do?

In fact, that may be the first piece of official Guys Who Read merchandise: What would Hiaasen do? Bumper stickers, t-shirts, etc. 

Finally, I would like to hear your take on the literary merit of Tourist Season.  It is sort of a pop-literature book and genre, but with a message that is clearer, more important and more applicable than that of any of the other works the Guys Who Read have tackled so far.  In my eyes this is clearly the best book of any genre we have read, and it pains me that nobody is rolling out Pulitzers and Nobel Prizes for my man Carl Hiaasen?  What are your thoughts on that?

Tourist Season - through 256 Ryan

So in a few hours here, a few there, I've blown through about three quarters of the book.  This is my second go round with Hiaasen; I read 'Nature Girl" awhile back, and thoroughly enjoyed it.  This is no different.  The characters are crazied, the plot is outrageous, and I too have found myself giggling out loud.

Keyes is very cool customer.  You can't help but love him.  Wiley is clinically insane, and yet despite his murderous rampage, you kinda feel drawn to him too.  Truth be told, there is not one character that Hiaasen doesn't draw you to in some way - even a sap like Richard Lancelot Bloodworth has me pulling for him in a weird so of way - particularly once his fries his little member in the one and only bombing Jesus doesn't royally screw up (even if the intended target Garcia escapes unharmed).

But nobody beats Daniel "Viceroy" Wilson - what a contradiction!  Former pro football player, sexual gladiator, junkie, philosopher, petty thief, burgeoning terrorist and car enthusiast.  I assume he won't get his own spinoff, as Keyes will ultimately end up getting the best of him and his gang, but I can't wait to see how it plays out.  I'm pulling for a big finish from him.

I had to check back to see when this was originally penned - 1986 as it turns out - because Hiaasen is killing me with all these comical Cold War references about commies, right wing Cubans, and the like.  He makes the Florida of yesteryear sounds like quite a concoction...I can't imagine what the cocaine filled 80's were like down there.

I've got just over a 100 pages yet, and there are a lot of plot lines hanging out there - can't wait to see how weaves these together.  Kudos to Matt on the selection
     

Tourist Season Page 141- Jake

I love it!!! This has been a complete 180 degree turn from the last book. Being born and raised in a tourist town, I can easily relate to the relationship developing with the locals and the tourists, not to the extent that our Nachos de Deciembre feel. Keyes on the other hand is a character that I am fully behind. I appreciate the way that Hiaasen has slowly and craftily developed each character, giving you enough relevant information and loosely weaving each of them together. I must admit that I have laughed out loud several times and I am especially tickled by the Darmouth educated bomber, who can't seem to get his timing down. WTF? I am also finding the boggling of the case by the Miami PD true to form. Not that I have much experience with the Miami PD, it just seems fitting.
I am not so sure that Matt is correct on the topic of Jenna, I think she may just be torn between two lovers and is trying to end up on the winning side. I understand that she makes a very sexy nurse.
I have read many Carl Hiaasen novels and I have enjoyed them all very much, but what I remember the most is how he manages to pair dissimilar criminals and force them to work together. I enjoyed the last interaction between Wilson and Jesus on the way to apply for the security detail for the parade. I can see the destruction of this duo in the near future.
For now, one page at a time.

Tourist Season through page 95

I opened it last night, and what an absolute pleasure it has been.  The only difficult thing about this book is having to put it down to share my thoughts here.  It has been quite some time since I read Tourist Season, and the much of the plot has become a mystery again.  I believe I remember the ending, but the possibility that I have remembered it wrong is enough to keep me racing through the pages.

As is my usual with Hiaasen, I am often laughing out load.  If you plan to read in bed, next to snoozing significant other, keep that in mind.  It will be difficult to keep silent.

I have no recollection of Jenna and her role.  To this point, I think it fairly obvious that she set up Keyes, and is in cahoots with Wiley to some degree more than she is letting on, but I feel she also stops short of a full and knowing acomplice.

The interesting thing about Tourist Season is that the bad guys are good guys.  Our protagonist Keyes is a good guy, certainly a compassionate, honest, and of sound morals.  Stabbing the public defender with a shrimp fork is great, and Hiaasen’s way of divulging that information to us via newspaper report is masterful.

Keyes is beyond reproach, but Las Noches do Diciembre, especially Skip Wiley and Tommy Tigertail, are fighting the good fight as well.  Obviously, their methods go a little beyond the pail.  Feeding board of commerce directors, Shriners, Canadians, and retirees to a massive American crocodile is brutal, though you can see the beauty of Wiley’s logic.  It will be interesting to see if some of the bad guys with good causes come out alright.

I am going to get back to reading, and I look forward to hearing from you.  I wonder if my absolute adoration of Hiaasen and his works will be adopted by all the Guys Who Read, or whether you will find fault where I have found none.

Until Next Time,

Matt

The epic failure of 'City of God' - through the end Ryan

I've been caught up with some issues that required attention, and so my posting on this book with be short and to the point, particularly given that it was obviously NOT a fan favorite, as both my fellow travelers barely made it through the entire read.  Personally I was impressed with the Doctorow was trying to accomplish with this novel - although I will grant you that the varied tracts and voices made it challenging to say the least.

With simultaneous voices offering contemporaneous as well as historical perspectives, Doctorow spoke to the varied impact of life, death and religion on the trajectory of the characters of Pem - a confused minister, and Sarah , a female rabbi who he meets under peculiar circumstances.  Overall I found it to be ambitious and unique...that much would be tough to argue.  As far as its merit, I enjoyed the read - others did not.  Given my inattentiveness on this one, we'll leave it at that.  From what I gather, the guys are moving on to some much needed lighter fare, per Matt.  Moving on...

Ryan

On the Selection of Tourist Season

For our next selection, I have chosen Carl Hiaasen's Tourist Season.  It will be the first time I am rereading a book for the Guys Who Read, and I am looking forward to it.  When I finish a great book, I often wish I had somebody to talk it over with, and one of the key reasons we started this was to revisit personal favorites and this time around be able to talk about it.  I am a Hiaasen fan of the first order, and I would imagine that in the coming years Guys Who Read will select all of his titles at some point, and that being the case, I thought we would start at the beginning with Hiaasen's first solo effort.

Many years ago I received Tourist Season as a Christmas gift from my Uncle Bob, and though I do not recall how old I was at the time, I do recall that I was not old enough to be excited about receiving a book for Christmas.  It languished on the shelf for a number of months or years, and I finally removed it when I needed a book to travel with, I believe to Florida.  Within a few pages, I was hooked.  After finishing Tourist Season, I read all of his published works in succession and immediately bought his new books when they came out, usually refusing to wait for the paperback and buying the hardcover.  The book is still my most retroactively excellent gift.

On the spectrum of literature versus popular fiction, this is selection is our furthest toward the popular fiction side.  This is not entirely coincidental, as I thought we needed something lighter after the "City of God Awful" incident.  However, I intended from day one to make Hiaasen’s works a staple of Guys Who Read. I would also argue that Hiaasen's work contains a message and social commentary that is both relevant and important.

That original from Uncle Bob is no longer on my bookshelves and I have ordered a used hardcover to add to my collection.  As soon as it arrives I am going to dive in, and I will post shortly after.  Hiaasen’s books are real page-turners, and I do not anticipate this book lasting long for anybody.

I look forward to rereading one of my favorites with everybody, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Until Next Time,

Matt

City of God End -Jake

I have finally, with much effort and a few skipped pages finished what is possibly the worst book published in 2001. I am not sure what it was really about. I have to agree with Matt that good writing is clear, this cloudy drivel, focusing only slightly on Pem and Sarah, the Holocaust, Cinema, a washed up writer? Has close to no point. I am truly disappointed that the only information about the heist was a cross was stolen and found, its only importance is that it was a vehicle to loosely spark a fire to tell multiple unrelated stories. In my opinion, each of these stories would have made a fine novel in its own right, some of which I may have chose to read.
Some final thoughts. If anyone has stumbled upon this blog and has ignored our advice to put this waste of paper back on the shelf. Who is the Ex-times guy? Everett? Why the Mid- blah blah Jazz thing? Who is that? Why are we comparing the evolution of man to the cinema? I am also confused as to why Pem and Sarah are not really friends with Everett? What happened? They seemed to be getting along so well. Lastly, after finishing the book, I get the point E.L. Doctorow was trying to make, maybe. God is all seeing, all knowing and perhaps the expansion of the universe was his design as was the evolution of human thought and understanding of such and ever expanding and eventually shinking universe. Additionally, that all of that could have been so that I could write about it here? At any rate, to make his point, he seems to have taken the scenic route for no good reason.

looking forward to the next book.

City of God through p.64 - Matt

This book is terrible.  If you are considering buying and reading this book, I advise you in no uncertain terms that you should not.  This is the first book that I am reading on the Nook, and for several pages until I touched base with Jake and Ryan, I was under the impression I did something wrong or the download malfunctioned and I only received portions of the book, or a parts of couple different books, or something along those lines.  That is how disjointed and nonsensical this novel is.

There are several competing plot lines that on their own are difficult to follow, and they have no connection at this point.  There are seemingly many different narrators, though they are all the work of one author, who is the real narrator, which is difficult to understand even when stated here, never mind when tossed into the already dense, unclear and disconnected prose.  Doctorow offers no guidance or clarification as to what is happening, and most of what I know about the plot I read online or from Ryan’s original post.

There seems to be a promising examination of modern man’s relationship with God and religion in here somewhere, but it is totally lost under piles of nonsense and bad writing.  Doctorow offers no clues on who is talking, what is happened, and to what end we are working through his drivel.

Doctorow should be embarrassed, as should the publisher and everybody else involved, that this pile of verbose gibberish is being passed off as literature.  Amongst some books of supposed “literary merit” ambiguity and confusion are permitted to run rampant, masquerading as complex subtleties or questions for contemplation, and suffice to say that I am not a fan of it.  Good writing is clear writing, and that goes for literature as well as anything else.

I have struggled through 63 pages, and I could forgive a slow start, but this is too much.  After reading Jake’s review through 140, and seeing that Doctorow has still not produced anything concrete or understandable to that point, I am throwing in the towel on this one.  I am not one to give up on books; I have finished countless bad and marginal books just because I started them.  In that regard, Doctorow has performed quite a feat, writing a book that is bad enough that I refuse to go on.

I understand that Doctorow is quite old, and if not for that, I would very much like to punch him in the head.