Rating: 
Summary: Too many cooks make a mess
Review: I bought this book based upon Hiaasen's name. Throw in some of the other authors and how could you go wrong? Well, it is a muddled, boring mess. Focus on other Hiaasen titles instead.
Rating: 
Summary: A fun introduction to many south Florida writers
Review: I bought this book because I am a big fan of James W. Hall (who does a chapter), and a growing fan of Carl Hiassen and Dave Barry. The book was a hoot, with the fun the writers were having evident on every page and with every plot twist. I was surprised at the relatively smooth style transitions given the variety of authors. I found it an excellent introduction to other very good south Florida writers who I was unfamiliar with. Enjo
Rating: 
Summary: Another comment
Review: I forgot to mention something in my previous review. The title of the earlier book back in the 60's was "Naked Came the Stranger." The book was actually a hoax written by 25 writers who couldn't get their serious work published, so they wrote something they thought would--a trashy, sex-filled novel. Hence the title of this book, "Naked Came the Manatee," an allusion to the original hoax.
Rating:
Summary: This is an awful book
Review: I had hopes for this book knowing that Carl Hiaasen and James W. Hall were involved. The experiment didn't work. The book is awful - a total waste of paper and your time. Read anything else by Carl Hiaasen or James W. Hall and pretend you've never heard of this mess
Rating:
Summary: Like a party game that got out of hand
Review: I like this idea. It amuses me greatly. It amuses me that Dave Barry got to start, and he named a manatee Booger, and then a whole bunch of other Floridian authors kept laying traps for each other. The best trap by far comes in chapter 3, Paul Levine's chapter. Until then, you think the book is just silly, and then you read his surprise, what he left for Edna Buchanan to get out from under, and things leave "silly" and start to turn seriously WACKY.
Rating: 
Summary: Borrow it
Review: I was looking forward to reading this book by many very good
authors, but was disappointed. The story line really didn't make much sense to me, too many mistakes. I'm glad I didn't buy.
Rating:
Summary: Doesn't measure up
Review: I was looking forward to this book as many of my favorites are here. All-in-all, though, it was just too cute. The attempt to link many of the familiar South Florida characters was often contrived and not believable. Chapter transitions were more like a kids game of "telephone" than a serious attempt to put a solid book together.
I've always been amazed when two people can write a book together. The real test of success, IMHO, is if the reader can't tell that there were multiple authors. In this regard, the book fails. The only solice I would get about this effort would be if these otherwise very talented writers took the profits and donated them to a "Save the Manatee" foundation.
Rating:
Summary: Nice try
Review: I'm sure writing this book was a lot of fun for those involved, coming up with ridiculous plot twists without any obligation to come up with a resolution-just hand it off to the next writer. But to the reader it comes off like exactly what it is-a story written by thirteen very different writers. If you have nothing else to read, go ahead and read it...it is moderately entertaining in parts, and it's mercifully short. But I think your time would be better spent reading anything wholly written by any one of the writers.
Rating:
Summary: Nice try
Review: I'm sure writing this book was a lot of fun for those involved, coming up with ridiculous plot twists without any obligation to come up with a resolution-just hand it off to the next writer. But to the reader it comes off like exactly what it is-a story written by thirteen very different writers. If you have nothing else to read, go ahead and read it...it is moderately entertaining in parts, and it's mercifully short. But I think your time would be better spent reading anything wholly written by any one of the writers.
Rating: 
Summary: If you don't take it too seriously, it is a lot of fun.
Review: If you are expecting to read a great novel you will be disappointed. What you will find is a group of authors who were just having fun, which makes it an enjoyable read. Have fun with it, pretend you are one of the authors. What would you do with your chapter? What would you do with someone else's characters? How would you add to the plot? Thinking about those questions after each chapter, then seeing what someone else decided to do, made it much more interesting to read
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