Rating: 
Summary: Surprisingly strong short story collection
Review: While I found "Where is Joe Merchant" to be trying too hard, the earlier "Tales from Margaritaville" is one of my favorite books by doing just the opposite: The stories here -- often little more than vignettes -- pour out as easily as Jimmy's songs, which isn't surprising, since many of them are expanded versions of songs off his album "Off to see the Lizard."Taken together, we get an extremely good vision of the Gulf Coast and the lives of the characters in Jimmy's musical world, where a big heart is worth more than a fancy car or the nicest clothes, and where good music and good food and good company are more important than who one is in the community or how successful they are. The book only falters when it leaves the more realistic settings behind for the more fantastic, something that threatens to swamp the novel he wrote as a follow-up to this work, "Where is Joe Merchant." No, this isn't brain surgery, and Jimmy didn't win the Pulitzer for fiction for this work, but it's more-than-pleasant summer reading and a worthy companion to his music.
Rating:
Summary: Buffetesque
Review: While not as good as Joe Merchant or A Pirate Looks at 50, this is still a good, easy read. Highly recommended reading that is very Buffett like. The stories are entertaining, I wish the book were longer, though, this seemed like such a quick read.
Rating:
Summary: Fun read if you don't expect too much.
Review: You can never forget his music if you're a fan. It's easy to jump in and sing along whenever the jukebox hits "Cheeseburger in Paradise" or the radio plays "Come Monday" on a sunny day. His stories are very similar to his music in that each one tells a colorful tale about interesting characters. This is an appealing first novel by Mr. Buffett that shows he puts as much humor and effort into his writing as he does in his songs and concerts. And like his music, even though you may know the words and endings, you'll still return to hear the tales again and again.
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