ISBN/ISSN 1402561938 :ISBN/ISSN C2342 Recorded BooksEditorial ReviewsFrom Publishers WeeklyWriting like an Edward Abbey of South Florida, Hiaasen ( Skin Tight ) sets his reluctant journalist hero after a morally corrupt real estate developer planning to build an 18-hole golf course on North Key Largo. Burned out as an investigative reporter for a Miami newspaper, Joe Winder now writes PR releases for the Amazing Kingom of Thrills, a sleazy theme park owned by Francis X. Kingsbury, who hopes to increase his fortune with a nearby golf resort. When Winder learns that the purportedly last living pair of blue-tongued mango voles, recently stolen centerpieces of the Rare Animal Pavilion, are not an endangered species as claimed, he joins the forces opposed to his boss. These include the Mothers of Wilderness, an organization of well-heeled blue-haired activists, and a semi-crazy recluse named Skink, a former Florida governor who has become a sort of Robin Hood of the Keys. Hiaasen keeps a broad cast of zany characters--Winder's girlfriend answers the phone for a call-in porn service; a steroid-crazed, weight-lifting ex-cop ingests hormones from a portable IV--moving at a breakneck clip. Murders (one accomplished by an amorous rogue dolphin), explosive revenge taken on land-moving machinery, the triumphs of love found and principles regained, and the singular environment of the Florida Keys are ingredients of this sometimes scattershot but always inventive entertainment. From Library JournalImagine you're driving a rented Chrysler LeBaron convertible to the perfect family vacation at the Amazing Kingdom of Thrills when a rat is tossed into your car by a passing pickup. The rodent in question is not a rat, but a rare blue-tongued mango vole just liberated from the Kingdom by the militant Wildlife Rescue Corps. Welcome to the world of Native Tongue , where dedicated (if somewhat demented) environmentalists battle sleazy real estate developers in the Florida Keys. Hiaasen reminds one of Harry Crews in his depiction of a South full of eccentric people involved in crazy schemes. It is a measure of the writer's talent that no matter how bizarre the situation, it is believable. Late in the book a character laments his predicament as "an irresistible convergence of violence, mayhem and mortality!" If he had added nonstop hilarity, he would have had a perfect description of this book. Highly recommended.
I've been reading a lot of cozy mysteries lately, and Hiaasen makes a great kind of 'palate cleanser' in the midst of that kind of feast. Hiaasen's characters are extreme, his language vivid and absorbing, and his plots seriously whacked. Very, very few other writers provide the kind of roller-coaster, living-on-the-edge feel that Hiaasen does. They also tend to be rather grim, full of characters who give meaning to the term "moral turpitude," or are operating way, way out at the far end of the "sane" spectrum (and sometimes noticeably past it). Rough justice and poetic justice are both much in evidence. In the midst of all this, a handful of characters are actually admirable (if usually flawed), thrashing their way through the polluted cultural (and literal) swamps of south Florida and hoping to emerge, if not unstained, then at least still aware of their own pollution. In this particular book, the characters include an ex-governor of Florida and his former head of security, now just another state patrolman (the governor is the main recurring character in Hiaasen's books); two professional burglars, one of whom shows some glimmerings of actual intelligence; a theme park owner who's in the Witness Protection Program; a former investigative reporter who's now a PR flack for the theme park; his girlfriend, who works for a phone sex line and does a lot of her own creative writing; a radical environmentalist octogenarian; an actress doing time in a critter suit for the theme park; and a corrupt ex-cop (or ex-corrupt-cop?) with a very unhealthy fixation on steroid-driven bodybuilding who is the park's head of security. And a randy dolphin. Mustn't forget the dolphin.Hiaasen makes most of the other books I read seem bland in comparison. But I couldn't read him all the time; an occasional dip into the murky waters of his world is good enough for me.
What do You think about Native Tongue (2005)?
I've now read just over half of Carl Hiaasen's novels. I've come to the conclusion that I prefer his more recent work and always his juvenile fiction. The cut off point seems to be about 2000, although I did enjoy most of Lucky You (1997).Native Tongue being one of the earliest of his novels (#4) has many of the same themes as his later ones: environmentalism, corruption, animal rights, and big business. The big business in this case is a mob run amusement park with a desire to be bigger than Disney no matter the cost.On the other side of the fence are a pair of thugs working for a crazy environmentalist. Her cause may be just but her methods aren't much better than head of the Amazing Kingdom.The book suffers from too large a cast of characters and too many side plots. I ended up skipping around to the characters who interested me the most.
—Sarah Sammis
Ex-reporter Joe Winder is now the PR writer for the Amazing Kingdom of Thrills theme park in Key Largo, Florida. Formerly an employee of the competition (Disney), Joe now writes real sweet press releases, you know, the sugar-coated kind. Things get a little interesting at the Rare Animal Pavilion. The rare, treasured and last two surviving specimens of the blue-tongued mango vole (similar to rats, I guess) are carelessly stolen and inevitably killed by two [bumbling] burglars hired by a 70-year-old member of the Wildlife Rescue Corps.Francis X. Kingsbury is a land developer, hiding from his past life in New York. He's the founder, president and chairman of the park. He's the big cheese. He's also developing Falcon Trace, a waterfront home site and golf club. The Wildlife Rescue Corps. is un-thrilled about this land development as well.Unlike Jack Tagger, the main character in Hiaasen's "Basket Case," Joe Winder, is dragged through the muck and mishaps at the park and into a mystery of multiple levels. His bosses have really pushed him into the investigative driver's seat. Jack Tagger of "Basket Case" takes it upon himself, out of curiosity, to get involved. A member of an old band he liked mysteriously drowns and he really wants to find the truth. Both main characters hold similar jobs, however, and get dragged into a PI position, checking out murders, suicides, looking for evidence and clues, basically sticking their noses where they don't belong and risking their lives for a lousy job.Native Tongue was too far-fetched for me. We've got a vole doctor killed by Orky the Wale, the scene set up like a suicide. A girlfriend who "talks dirty" for a living. (O-kay, that I believe.) And, Dickie the Dolphin has a helluva romp in his tank with a beautiful TV reporter. Far-fetched is fine, but this was really ridiculous. I had a few laughs, I admit, but I wouldn't recommend this one.
—Wendy
This book was awful.I've never read a Carl Hiaasen book, and never will again. I just have no respect for an author who kills a character off by having them 'f*#@ed to death by a dolphin'. Sorry Carl, there's just no forgiving that kind of thing.I was sad to see this book go so completely off the deep end. There actually were a few times when I chuckled, because it really was humorous at certain points. But Hiaasen clearly thinks he's hilarious, and hasn't grown out of the raunchy teenage boy st
—Shelby
