Carl Hiaasen - Basket Case

Pros: Classic Hiaasen! The guy appreciates all the absurdities of life. Awesome piece of writing!
Cons: a tad predictable in places

I first read Carl Hiaasen about a year ago when an editor I work with raved about his stuff. (Don't worry, I don't work for Hiaasen's publisher!) I had told this editor friend that I'd been bass fishing quite a bit during the summer, and he told ...

Pros: Generally funny, typically wacky Hiaasen characters
Cons: Above mentioned characters

Many among us who read a large number of books, reviewers and non, tend to have that one embarrassing type of book or author we love to read, but is admittedly not the high-and-mighty "quality" fiction we want people to believe we spend our time reading....

Pros: Humorous writing that almost always hits the right note, vivid characters.
Cons: The mystery isn't much of a mystery.

How can you not love a book that revolves around a rocker named Jimmy Stoma and his band, The Slut Puppies? The most recent book by Florida novelist and newspaper columnist Carl Hiaasen (Striptease, Sick Puppy, Lucky You) is a cracking good novel...

Pros: Funny satire of the music industry, great characters.
Cons: Represents a departure from previous Hiaasen concerns.

Carl Hiaasen is a South Florida writer who has developed a pretty large following over the past 10 years or so. He has written 8 humorous novels and a short treatise on the Disney Corporation and how it's harming Florida as much as it's helping it. He...

Pros: The usual Hiassen satirical insight
Cons: The payoffs take longer than usual to arrive

Basket Case offers Carl Hiassen's usual satirical look at unlikely lowlifes. But unlike most of his other novels, it's a pretty long slog until you reach the funny stuff.

Unlike Hiassen's other fictions, Basket Case is told in...

Pros: Absolutely hilarious! Multiple interwoven plots that actually resolve in the end.
Cons: The humor may not be everyone's piece of cake.

When I heard of this novel, I believed that I had never read a previous book by Mr. Haisson. In fact, I didn't even think I'd heard of him until I saw Matt interview him on the Today Show. Then I found out he was a contributing writer to the book Naked...

Pros: Hiaasen fans will find this new novel consistent with his earlier writing style.
Cons: Not quite as funny as earlier novels.

I'm a Carl Hiaasen fan, so I eagerly snapped this new Hiassen novel up at Costco for $14.99. I read it cover to cover in a weekend, and did enjoy it, but didn't find it to be quite as funny as some of his earlier novels.

In Basket Case,...

Pros: Scathing look at pop music "culture" and celebrity
Cons: Sometimes way over the top

I picked up Basket Case after reading about it on Amazon.com and look forward to reading more of Carl Hiaasen's works. Basket Case combines the gritty world of rock and roll and the recording industry with a pinch of romance, whodunit ...

Pros: Hysterical, entertaining, well written
Cons: Some may not like the wordiness or the effort it takes to read it.

Other than "Team Rodent" I had never read a Hiaasen novel until this one. I had always heard good things and had listened to him compared to many of my favorite authors. Last night I read Basket Case (actually I finished it... I started it yesterday). ...