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). Now that I have finally read a Hiaasen novel, I must say, I absolutely loved it. First, it takes place in my home state of Florida, which I miss immensely so it was nice to be back there, if only in my mind. Second, Hiaasen is an extremely intelligent writer, I have read many "Humorous" books that border on insulting in the implausibility department when it comes to straining for a laugh. Hiaasen never crosses that line. The story is first and foremost and the writing style is smart, witty, and simple to read. You never have to go back and re-read a line to figure out what he was saying, and you are also never insulted by the childishness. The characters are interesting, funny, charming, likeable, quirky and most of all, extremely human. I never doubted these people, heck I think I've met them before. The plot is interesting and plays out like a mystery... you find yourself really rooting for our leading man Jack Tagger. The book follows Jack, a once rising star in the newspaper world who shot off his mouth at the wrong time and was reassigned to the demeaning world of obituary writing. He now suffers from neurosis that come with the job... an obsession with death, mainly his own and how old he'll be when it happens. Up until now it has destroyed relationships and forced his career to dwindle to almost negligible. Then he covers the death of Jimmy Stoma, ex rocker and musical bad boy. Very quickly he decides that there is something strange about the death and the old reporter in him stirs.... And begins stirring up trouble. The rest of cast of characters includes: Emma, Jack's editor and possible love/hate interest Juan the Cuban Sportswriter and Jack's best friend Cleo - the dead rocker's wife and aspiring pop diva Janet - the dead rocker's singer and arch enemy of Cleo Carla - Jack's ex-girlfriend's daughter and club scene master The crew gets even larger and more interesting... Colonel Tom is by far my favorite scene in the book, but I won't go into detail, you just have to read that one for yourself. In the end the book is darkly funny, engaging, and fairly high speed entertainment toward the end when everything starts hitting the fan. I know Tim Dorsey is often compared with Hiaasen, but in reality there is no comparison other than the setting of their books. Dorsey is extremely over the top while Hiaasen is firmly grounded in reality... albeit a strange and demented reality, but a believable one none-the-less. I would compare him more with Vonnegut (minus the sci-fi aspect) than Dorsey, Pratchett or Gaimen
Basket Case is the first Carl Hiaasen that I've read and it was pretty good. What I liked: - Pacing - the story moves and doesn't lag at any point. It was so easy to read that I was finished before I knew it. - Humor (general) - it's meant to be funny and it was refreshing to read a mystery that was fairly light and without too much heavy emotion. - Details about the newspaper business. It doesn't sound like a lot of fun to me but I can see how someone with the right personality would love the deadlines, the pressure and the general nosiness required to get the next story.What didn't quite work for me: - Jack, the main character, is 46 years old but talks about himself as if he's ancient. As it's written, I would think the target audience for Basket Case would be people in their late thirties to fifties. As someone who fits in that category (don't ask for more specifics) I was kind of offended that the character, and I'm assuming the author, thinks I'm close to being over the hill. Trust me, you aren't old at 46. Far from it. - This is somewhat of a spoiler but you'll know it's going to happen pretty early on - Jack starts a relationship with his editor who is in her late 20's. Maybe I'm a prude or out of touch. Or both. What does a 46-year-old man talk about with a 20-something woman? I asked my husband this and he smirked and said, "They aren't talking." Touché. But, at some point, don't you want to talk to the person you are spending that much time with? And, having sex at the office? No thanks. Would I read another Hiaasen? Probably...but I might look a little closer at the synopsis on the back to make sure it didn't hit any of the wrong buttons for me. 3/5 stars.
What do You think about Basket Case (2005)?
I've only read about half of one other Carl Hiaasen book before (Nature Girl) but it convinced me to pick another at random from the library. Nature Girl's characters were crazy and Hiassen wound together their story lines easily and to hilarious effect.This book was a tremendous disappointment. Many times I almost gave up out of sheer boredom, but pushed through hoping things would get better. The humor in this just falls flat and the plot falls in that terrible gray area of unrealistic but not overblown to the point of exaggeration, more like the author doesn't quite know how real people act, instead of a conscious attempt at satire. Also inhabiting this area are most multi-cam sitcoms.Lowlights:-Hahaha guys there's a dude named Loréal! -How is Tagger's 17-year old-almost-stepdaughter living on her own and also a fixture in the club scene?-There is a cam-girl stripper and very little is done with this humor-wise beyond descriptions of her wearing fetish gear.-Janet and Jack did not become an item, depriving us of a delightful fetishy sex scene and a potentially more age appropriate pairing than Jack and Emma
—Emilia Robin
I haven't read any Carl Hiaasen books previously, I would have to admit that I had never even heard of the man. In all honesty I don't even recall where I picked up this title. Some bargain basket at "The Olde Bookshop" I suspect. In the context of the story that basket could have been a sad end for a wonderful story, but for the fact that reincarnation does apparently occur and it enjoyed new life as it amused and entertained me this past week. But what a find! Easy reading without being infantile and with a wit to it that was truly refreshing. The storyline is good, perhaps even very good at some points, but it is the quirkiness that appeals most. The dry humour, the bizarre interjections of frozen lizards, aged obit writers fishing off piers and the apparent obsession with hair colour and toe nail polish.Where many books have one chasing for the end, the grand finale if you will, I really just enjoyed the ride. A story where the middle was as much fun to read as the end, where the style and tempo were just so well balanced as to have each page just as good as the last. It was simply a joy to read, fun to read, a reaffirmation that, well done, the written word provides real pleasure. I can't wait for my girlfriend to call, I am going to steal a quote and tell her "To bring the whipped cream and the English saddle.. Mostly I am pretty sure that if you enjoy reading then you will enjoy reading this, what more can one say?
—Tim
If you need a device to gauge how much our world has technologically changed in 12 years, you need look no further than BASKET CASE by Carl Hiaasen. I love Hiaasen's body of work. NATIVE TONGUE and DOUBLE WHAMMY are among the books I would take with me if I were to be marooned on a tropical island. He is a clever wise-cracker with his pulse on the contemporary world, a master of absurdist humor, and a sucker for the noble underdog. That being said, reading BASKET CASE reminded me of watching one of those movies from a dozen years ago that seemed really hip and cool at the time they came out, but come off as embarrassingly dated when watched today. When originally published in 2002, there should have been a disclaimer attached to the cover of BASKET CASE which stated: Please read this book now because in a few years all the technology used within will be obsolete and all the contemporary popular references out of date. That grasp of the contemporary world is one of the strengths of Hiaasen. You are supposed to feel hip and cool and in the moment when you open the cover. Unfortunately, the reporter's use of phone booths, dial up modems, and lack of even a crappy cell phone came across as cool as an 80's musician with one of those guitar shaped synthesizers strapped around his neck attempting to rock out a lame solo. In fact, it is ironic to read the cool young person chiding the middle aged protagonist about referring to a recording as an "album." Haha. Yeah, albums are so yesterday. Man, it's all about CDs today. Uh... scratch that. Does anyone own CDs anymore? Anyway, if you want some good beach reading, with plenty of cleverness and punchlines and remarkably too stupid for their own good villains, Chez Hiaasen is always a great place to stop. But if you want the best he has to offer, you might want to avoid this particular time capsule.
—Titus Burley
