Customer Reviews

Tourist Season

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(34)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I've been reading Carl Hiassen's work for years, having jumped in around the middle, with "Native Tongue," "Skin Tight" and "Striptease." I've more recently been working my way through the rest of his catalog, including "Stormy Weather" and "Double Whammy," with his two latest books in hardback waiting on my to-be-read shelf.

But years after the liner notes for a Jimmy Buffett song ("The Ballad of Skip Wiley and Skeet" off his "Barometer Soup" album) made me go look for this Hiassen's guy's works in a book store, I'm finally getting around to "Tourist Season," the first novel Hiassen wrote, featuring rogue newspaper columnist Skip Wiley.

It's said that you spend your entire life writing your first novel, as you inevitably put pretty much all the good stuff in that one. Whatever the state of your craft, it's where your ideas, your good bits, your passion all gets poured into. While I've enjoyed other Hiassen books more (notably "Native Tongue" and "Skin Tight"), this certainly seems to be true for "Tourist Season." While all of his books have an overt current of rage directed at developers, destructive big business and endemic corruption, he always makes sure to leaven that with humor, a little zaniness, and some sweetness. Not here.

Sure, there's some amusing bits, a lot of them, really, but Hiassen's subsequent work has never been this dark, his rage never so undiminished. While all of his books barrel towards their climax, this is the first one I've read in which it's hard to see how there could be a happy ending, where the bad guys aren't REALLY bad and where it doesn't all seem like cosmic justice on the last page. I won't spoil the ending, but by midway through the book, it's clear that with the heaping handfuls of moral ambiguity mixed in, it's hard to have anything better than a bittersweet ending.

In a nutshell, Miami newspaper columnist Skip Wiley has had enough. Enough of the influx of Yankees to Florida and the concomitant woes of greed, development and reckless destruction of the environment. Especially the latter. When Skip Wiley goes missing, and a new terrorist organization, the Nights of December, starts targeting the tourist industry in South Florida (starting by shoving a rubber alligator down a man's throat and then putting his dead body inside his luggage), Skip's editor calls a former reporter turned private investigator to track him down.

Hiassen almost certainly does not advocate terrorism, murder and kidnap, but the cause is clearly near and dear to him, and he argues the Nights' cause eloquently. That makes their extremism tragic, and the possible endings all troubling.

A solid novel, and one of Hiassen's best. While all of his novels will make you laugh, and keep you turning the pages, anxious to see what the next twist in the roller-coaster ride will be, "Tourist Season" will make you think, too.

Definitely recommended for any of his existent fans, as well as fans of Dave Barry or Elmore Leonard.

This was my first Carl Hiaasen experience. The counter lady at a used book store suggested it (thank you, thank you, thank you) and I've read everyone of Hiaasen's works since then AND I've paid full price so Mr. Hiaasen could be duly compensated for the (unfortunately) short but intense stretches of reading joy he's provided.

And as far as the laughing out loud reference in my review title, too many book jackets promise it but this one delivers! If you're new to Hiaasen I suggest you start here and read chronologically. First you'll see the talent grow and you'll get to know the serial characters as they're introduced.

If you want a good, fast, quirky, funny, sometimes hilarious read, where the bad guys get what's coming to them---sometimes in the most bizzare ways---then begin at the beginning and carry on through to the most recent Hiaasen offering, Sick Puppy (although you could skip Lucky You and not miss much).

Have fun!

Hiaasen is a GENIUS! Tourist Season was my first Hiassen book, and it was a beautiful start to my Hiassen reading rage. Since Tourist Season, I've read 3 more by C.H., and I'm not done yet.

Carl Hiaasen's style has always surprised me. Each one of his stories begins with what seems like many many separate, totally independent stories. Somehow, within a few hundred pages, each one of those stories become closely tied with every other one.

Tourist Season had me laughing hysterically, more than any other Hiaasen book I think. Being a South Floridian, I've also traveled to most of the places described in this and other books. I find his depiction of the South Florida ecosystems splendid. Tourist Season especially evokes a genuine concern for the loss of Florida's natural land, and the final scene in the book is simply heart-wrenching.

The perfect dose of humor coupled with a great look into natural Florida, away from Disney World and South Beach, I recommend Tourist Season to everyone, anywhere in the US. Definitely a good book to buy and keep forever.

The classic Carl Hiassen right here. You might not like the subject matter of this book if you're not a native Floridian, but it's a great work of fiction anyway. If you liked any of his other books, this one is for you!

Carl Hiaasen exposes the side of Miami that people don't usually hear about. His stories link the words "dark" and "funny" in the most peculiar ways, and this one adds "insanity" and "rebellion" to the mix.

Someone is killing the valuable tourists and citizens of Miami, and a group calling itself "Nights of December" is claiming responsibility. We get an inside view into this deadly but dysfunctional group of misfits, led by a brilliant but deranged tree-hugger type, and made up of a Seminole Indian millionaire, a washed up pro footballer with a drug habit, and a bumbling Cuban reject from another rebel group who likes blowing things up.

Mix this up with the bizarre death of a local political figure, a missing Shriner, and the sacred institutions of the Orange Bowl and Beauty Pageant, and you have the makings of a great dark thriller with humorous twists throughout.

Had I read this one first, I probably would have many more Hiaasen books under my belt, and I would heartily recommend starting your journey through his Miami here.

Amanda Richards, October 3, 2005

Although labled a "mystery novel," this book is anything but a "whodunit." Throughout this warped and hilarious novel, the readers know who is doing what to whom--the only mystery is who is going to get to do it first.

Brian Keyes, a deft combination of cynicism and innocence, is a journalist-turned-private investigator on the trail of a group of environmental terrorists (who include an inept Cuban bomber, a stoned ex-football player, and a mysterious Native American millionaire). While the antics of the terrorists, the politicos, the media, and the police force will keep you laughing, it is the relationship between Keyes and the charimatic leader of the terrorists (who calls himself El Fuego) that raise this book to another level.

And while the reader might wince at the thought of feeding tourists to a hungry crocodile, Hiaasen skillfully manages to pull sympathy towards El Fuego. His methods are sadistic, but Machiavellian--and what he does to these tourists is no less than what we have done to what was once the unspoiled wilderness of the everglades. It is this continuous alternation of allegiances between Keyes and El Fuego that propel this story towards its unusually poignant ending.

While "Tourist Season" is a satisfying read on its own, read it back to back with Hiaasen's "Native Tongue," --similar themes, but in "Native Tongue" the environmentalists take the role of protagonists, rather than antagonists.

Tourist Season is Carl Hiaasen's first novel, a very impressive debut. What really shines through is his bitter satire with a comic touch; very wicked indeed! One also has to be impressed with how the prose and (often crude) langauge flow so well - Tourist Season is an effortless read.

As for the plot, well here things are a bit messy. The story involves a hapless gang of 'revolutionaries' looking to chase out all tourists and snowbirds from south Florida because, well, south Florida was much nicer before all this development stuff started. Caught in action are sleazy Miami city officials, crazy newspaper writers, a beauty queen and, of course, a few tourists who fall victim to these revolutionaries. Actually, this 'mess' is a lot of fun but it does run out of steam towards the end ... by which time I felt tired of Hiaasen's "gee, I hate everyone who moved to south Florida after me!" attitude. Having said this, much of his sarcasm is very well focused.

Bottom line: a delightful, non-stop attack on Miami and the uglier side of Americans. While perhaps some of the humor is too American-centric for folks this side of the Atlantic, all others will find much to enjoy with Tourist Season. Recommended.

(PS - Hiaasen's later works, such as Strip Tease, is even better.)

Carl Hiaasen is the master of the comedic absurd, but here's the thing: if you know a bit about south Florida, where virtually all his inane and hilarious novels are set, you know it's all too possible for this stuff to really happen. I suspect he gets inspiration for the outrageous details in his books from the daily newspaper.
This one starts with a tourist Shriner who disappears while taking a little dip in the quiet ocean. Then a legless city official is found dead, stuffed in a suitcase with a rubber alligator stuck down his throat. More stiffs turn up, and there's a weird (no surprise to Hiaasen's regular readers) theme connecting them.
A fun and funny read, and it heralded the many others that followed this debut of sorts.

Tourist Season has a gripping plot and Carl Hiaasen has a wicked sense of humor, but this is his first novel and it shows.

Hiaasen's Sick Puppy was strongly recommended to me, but a copy of Tourist Season was at hand when I was looking for something to read, so this book became my first exposure to this author. Once I started reading, the plot kept me engaged, but I repeatedly found myself wishing I had waited to get hold of the other book.

My problem with this book was the prose. The plot and the humor kept me reading, but the words kept getting in the way. The dialog isn't bad, but the descriptions are awkward, and the corny names of the characters sound like something out of a 1940's B movie. Throughout the book, he refers to his characters by their full names. You can find the name Brian Keyes three or four times in a single page. This gets annoying after a while.

Despite the flaws, however, I recommend this book, but I would read something else by Carl Hiaasen first. Once you establish a relationship with the author, you will probably want to where young Carl got his start.

Las Noches de Diciembre, the Knights of December, have begun hunting season in Florida. Hunting tourists that is... As usual, Hiaasen sets his story against the back drop of a newsroom. Many of the central characters in the novel have ties to the newspaper, where Hiaasen's personal experience as a columnist shines through.

This is a witty and entertaining adventure. Hiaasen has assembled a wide variety of characters to breathe remarkable diversity into his novel, including a Seminole Indian, a misfit Cuban bomber, a former NFL running back, a upcoming columnist desperately trying to become a bonafide newsroom character and the Orange Bowl Queen...

Many of Hiaasen's familiar themes appear in 'Tourist Season'. We get a look at the perversion of the news and the politics of the daily newspaper. Hiaasen also takes jabs at the tourist industry in Florida and the effect on the environment. Its all cleverly disguised with a sheen of humor, usually in rants from the various members of Las Noches.

Hiaasen fans will love this novel. Those unfamiliar with his work would do well to start with this novel. Its an entertaining read that keeps you laughing and turning pages.