The Man Who Invented Florida (A Doc Ford Novel) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Randy Wayne White (Author) "Seen from a mile away, the sailboat was a solitary white husk suspended on space..." (more)
Key Phrases: filtering species, trailer park people, state park people, Tucker Gatrell, Sally Carmel, Chuck Fleet (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
In the third Doc Ford adventure, White again seamlessly splices an offbeat west coast of Florida locale with even more offbeat inhabitants. Principal among them is Doc Ford, who operates a small biological-supply business from a lab in his stilt-supported house. Lately, Doc has tried to control his telescope viewing of a tanned, red-haired woman who skinny-dips off an offshore sailboat and to limit his beer intake to four a day. While trying to be patient with his hippie pal Thomlinson, who drops by to expound on many topics, Doc reluctantly gets involved with his Uncle Tucker, who lives up the coast in Mango. Tuck has discovered a well of healing water on his land that he claims is responsible for his old gelded horse's newly grown testicles. Smuggled into a local rest home, the water has dramatically revived the moribund sex life of his Native American buddy Joseph Egret. Tuck's trouble is his somewhat uncertain ownership of the land. While he importunes Doc for help, the local news focuses on the disappearance into the mangrove swamps of two government investigators and a much loathed TV fisherman. Like fellow Floridian Carl Hiaasen, White ( The Heat Islands ) is adept at weaving ecological concerns into an oddball narrative with no loss of steam. The fate of the three missing men, even by bizarre Florida crime fiction standards, is inspired.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
Series veterans Marion "Doc" Ford and hippie friend Tomlinson ( Sanibel Flats , St. Martin's, 1990) become tangentially involved in the case of three men who go missing near Dinkin's Bay. The "victims" seem to have nothing in common except bad luck; their portion of a broader story melds with a mostly amusing plot dealing with the proposed government expansion of the Everglades National Park. White offers an eclectic vision of Florida with his laid-back prose but pays close attention to various "characters," especially Marion's braggart uncle. Upbeat, literate, fascinating, and clever: manna for deeper readers.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 294 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (March 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312953984
• ISBN-13: 978-0312953980
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #20,696 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 3 in The Doc Ford Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A different Doc Ford tale, February 14, 2004

By	Chris Callahan (Asheville, NC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

One reviewer posted that "even an average Doc Ford story is better than most". While that's certainly true, I'm not sure this is an "average" Doc Ford story--it's just different.

Because it's barely about Doc Ford. Oh sure he appears here and there and sort of rescues the situation at the end. But the story is really about Doc's uncle and his Indian friend/co hort.

Which by the way, does make this the funniest in the Doc Ford series.

Having read every one of the 10 Doc Ford books as of end of 2003, here's my list of how they all rate, (drum roll, please):

(5 stars)
Captiva
Twelve Mile Limit
Shark River
The Heat Islands
Ten Thousand Islands
Sanibal Flats (the first in the series)

The following are the 4 stars in the series--great stories, but I wouldn't recommend them as a first read of the author:

Everglades
The Man Who Invented Florida
North of Havana
The Mangrove Coast

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but don't over-expect..., November 28, 2001

By	Jack Dempsey (South Miami Beach, Florida) - See all my reviews

As has been said countless times here, this is a different type of Doc Ford book. Perhaps I did somewhat of a disservice to myself---I started my love of (fictional) Randy Wayne White with "The Ten Thousand Islands." I then worked my way backwards to "The Mangrove Coast," "Captiva," and "North of Havana." I have yet to pick up "Sanibel Flats," but I plan to very soon.

Each of those aforementioned books (with the exception of "Sanibel Flats" and the present review) is Doc Ford tales in the first person. This book is told from the third person. It is a somewhat difficult transition to make. The same is true for "Sanibel Flats"---I've discovered that from a cursory glance at it.

Doc Ford works so brilliantly in the first person, it's hard to accept anything else. Perhaps it sounds a bit odd, but it causes a little alienation to arise between the reader and the character that is Doc Ford. In other words, the reader does not feel as "inside" the character. Presumably this is intentional, but it is difficult coming from the more recent Ford tales to the earlier ones.

That aside, this isn't a typical Doc Ford novel either. It places a bigger spotlight on Tucker Gatrell (Ford's uncle) and his "friend" Joseph Egret. But it is a Ford adventure nonetheless, and it is a (...) good one at that. Randy Wayne White is an absolute master of this genre, and, as many reviewers state, is the definite heir apparent to the throne of John D. MacDonald/Travis McGee.

Definitely pick this one up at some point. Start from the beginning and work your way forward rather than vice-versa. And, definitely pick up his non-fictional works as well. They are absolutely amazing. I can't wait until his new non-fiction work is released in January.

Also, if you haven't already done so, look into anything by James Hall. I'll leave it up to you to find (come on, don't you want to find anything yourselves?!! j/k), but there is an absolutely fantastic Hall book that involves the very same subject matter of White's "Ten Thousand Islands." It is very good to read them back to back.

Enjoy!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Read It--But..., May 13, 2005

By	Blaine Parker (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Randy Wayne White rocks. Doc Ford does stand as a contemporary heir to John D. McDonald's Travis McGee. (Or maybe as a reinvention of McGee's sidekick, Meyer?) This book, however, is indeed different. Doc is much more incidental to the story. As another reviewer says, it really is an elegy for Florida past. It also reveals a lot of backstory for Doc Ford. And much of what happens here plants seeds for later stories. If you're new to Doc Ford, don't start with this book. If you're a Doc Ford fan, read it with the caveat that it wanders away from your expectations like the Kissimee River once meandered through South Florida.