Naked Came the Manatee: Amazon.ca: Carl Hiaasen, Elmore Leonard, Dave Barry, James W. Hall, Edna Buchanan, Edna Standiford, Paul Levine, Brian Antoni, Tananarive Due, John Dufresne, Vicki Hendricks, Carolina Hospital, Evelyn Mayerson, Burt Reynolds: Books

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Dave Barry starts the madness in Naked Came the Manatee, introducing a 102-year-old environmentalist named Coconut Grove and a manatee saddled with one of Barry's favorite monikers, Booger. Carl Hiaasen closes down the party, and in between, 11 of Florida's literati, including Elmore Leonard, John Dufresne, and Edna Buchanan, make twisted offerings to the affair: three severed heads, all bearing a remarkable resemblance to Fidel Castro; four murders; some sex; some espionage; even an appearance by Jimmy Carter and one by Castro himself.

Originally published as a serial novel in the Miami Herald's Tropic magazine, Naked Came the Manatee resembles a literary game of telephone, with each writer contributing a chapter and passing it on to the next, who then makes the most of what he or she is given. The result is a novel with wildly fluctuating styles and more crazy plot curves than a daytime drama, but thanks to these 13 masters of the craft this roller coaster of a book is almost as much fun to read as it obviously was to write. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Aside from Hiaasen, this collective effort is authored by a host of South Florida writers?Dave Barry, Les Standiford, Paul Levine, Edna Buchanan, James W. Hall, Carolina Hospital, Evelyn Mayerson, Tananarive Due, Brian Antoni, Vicki Hendricks, John Dufresne, and Elmore Leonard?who joined forces a year ago to write a 13-week serial in the "Tropic" section of the Miami Herald. In Miami, John Deal, Britt Montero, and Jake Lassitor (stock characters of Standiford, Buchanan, and Levine, respectively) join forces to help a 102-year-old environmentalist and her granddaughter investigate a mysterious, hermetically sealed head-sized canister brought up from the depths by Booger, a saintly manatee who roams the coves off Coconut Grove and seems to have a calling to save imperiled creatures. Each chapter of this comic thriller is a gem that builds on the preceding one. Highlights include a parody of Moby Dick ("Call Me Booger...") and a guest appearance by Jimmy Carter in Dufresne's chapter. Many of these writers have a built-in readership, and all proceeds go to charity. Highly recommended.
-?Laurel Wilson, Alexandrian P.L., Mount Vernon, Ind.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Customer Reviews

37 Reviews

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Average Customer Review

3.3 out of 5 stars (37 customer reviews)

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2.0 out of 5 stars Started strong, lost interest half way through, May 28 2004

By

J. Muse (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Naked Came the Manatee (Paperback)

This book started really strong and started dying about half way through. The first half flowed pretty nicely, the authors all had very close styles of writing that made it really enjoyable. About half way through, one of the big characters just disappeared and became a minor one, the styles of writing changed, sex and violence suddenly were added in what seemed like a PG-rated book, and the flow of events suddenly changed and left you confused. At the end, things seemed to make some sense, but at the same time your thinking "What?" Started strong, ended badly. Too bad too, I really liked Booger.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Kind of a Mess, Jun 18 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Naked Came The Manatee (Hardcover)

"Naked Came the Manatee" is a group collaboration by 13 Florida authors (originally serialized in 'The Miami Herald Tropic'), where one writer produces a chapter, then passes it on to the next writer so s/he can do the same. Dave Barry starts it off with the first chapter (comically entitled "Booger"), then Les Standiford takes on the next one, followed by the 11 other mystery writers: Paul Levine, Edna Buchanan, James W. Hall, Carolina Hospital, Evelyn Mayerson, Tananarive Due, Brian Antoni, Vicki Hendricks, John Dufresne, Elmore Leonard, and Carl Hiaasen.

Basically, "Naked Came the Manatee" is about a decapitated head--Fidel Castro's, to be exact--that's found in a metal canister floating in the water. From there, about half a dozen main characters (though only two stick out in my mind a day later: a 102-year-old woman and a manatee named Booger) are either trying to solve the mystery or just trying to stay alive--or both.

I honestly didn't know what to expect from this book when I bought it, even though a librarian recommended it to me. The idea of collaborative writing didn't seem like a good idea, especially with so many writers battling for the helm of the story. I noticed a few authors even backtracked to cover up other author's plot holes or mistakes, even added a few unnecessary characters. The result is kind of a mess. It doesn't have very smooth chapter transitions, and felt more like a collage rather than a work of art. The Florida setting was descriptive, yet at the same time very unflattering (didn't make me want to visit, especially after reading Brian Antoni's chapter).

The one good thing about "Naked Came the Manatee," though, is that it's short (approximately 200 pages), which makes for light reading. Still, this isn't one I'd necessarily recommend, unless you're a fan of one or more of the authors mentioned above.

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2.0 out of 5 stars Mistake, Jan 11 2003

By

Maurice Williams "mauricewms" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Naked Came the Manatee (Paperback)

In desperate need of a light read and curious about the multi-author approach used with this novel, I dove into "Naked Came The Manatee" with anticipation of the fun and excitement typical of Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiassen writing. The story unravels the mystery behind two heads, both with a great similarity to Fidel Castro that are lost in transport from Florida to Cuba. Each of the thirteen authors writes a chapter of the novel, with Hiassen and Leonard attempting to pull the story together in the final chapters. The characters are odd and criminally inept as most characters in Hiassen's and Leonard's writing but the story is underdeveloped and lacks the immediacy of a great crime mystery. If you have nothing else to read and this book happens to be within reach give it a try. Don't expect much and you won't be disappointed.

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Almost great
This was a neat trick - get a bunch of authors to write a book together, each in his or her own style. It was an enjoyable read, but uneven. Read more

Published on Oct 19 2002 by Karlis Streips

4.0 out of 5 stars Florida Fun
Several years ago an editor for The Miami Herald's Tropic magazine came up with an interesting idea. Read more

Published on Aug 26 2002 by Angel L. Soto