Naked Came the Manatee

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Summary: Fidel Castro causes mayhem in southern Florida
Review: NAKED CAME THE MANATEE Hicassin et al. Putnam, Jan 1997, $22.95, 224 pp. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title

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Summary: This book was funny, interesting, but somewhat confusing.
Review: Naked Came the Manatee had some very funny lines,and an original and interesting plot. Some parts were random, but they were usually amusing. The whole thing takes place in South Florida, where everyone wants proof of Fidel Castro being dead. I would have enjoyed it more if wasn't so confusing. Pretty much everything the Cubans said was over my head, but sometimes things were tied together later. The manatee was named Booger, and was a very strange character. I wasn't sure about his morals, but he was amusing.

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Summary: The closest you can get to team sports in writing
Review: OK, thirteen of Miami's favorite writers are sitting around a campfire (this isn't a joke). Dave Barry kicks off a story involving a couple hit men, a manatee, a 102-year-old woman and a box containing the head of Fidel Castro, and passes it to the writer to the left. The next eleven writers circle the story around the campfire in an attempt to blend this motley cast of characters (and heads) into the literary equivalent of a refreshing Miami Beach smoothee.

Throwing in monkey wrenches, stranger characters and even more heads-in-boxes in the process, they mostly succeed in creating a wholly unbelievable, extremely offbeat and wildly entertaining mystery. Poor Carl Hiassen (of Striptease fame) is challenged with tying up all the loose ends without playing the Demi Moore card, and succeeds in delivering an ending as strange as a manatee is large.

Above all an interesting experiment, Naked Came the Manatee is also an entertaining quick read.

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Summary: A complete mess, but amusing for awhile
Review: Plenty of other reviewers have mentioned the mess that passes for the plot and writing; ultimately this is a parody of a hoax and so good for a laugh in places but offers little to sustain interest. By far the best part of the whole experience comes from the audiotape edition: hearing Burt Reynolds pause each time before pronouncing "Booger" with great relish is an absolute treat.

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Summary: Florida Fun
Review: Several years ago an editor for The Miami Herald's Tropic magazine came up with an interesting idea. He contacted several well-known and respected Floridian writers to participate in an unusual project. Each one involved would provide a part of a novel written chapter by chapter by a different author. Columnist Dave Barry began the novel by introducing us to a manatee named Booger, and then another author would continue the story. Carl Hiaasen had the daunting task of taking all the loose ends provided by all the participants and creating a plausible conclusion to the story. This project has not been seen in several decades since Agatha Christie and other mystery writers worked on a similar type of storytelling.

During the last few years groups of authors have worked on similar projects like this and given their profits to charities. The problem is that some of these writers are not interested in writing a good story but finding a way to trip up the writer that is supposed to continue the plot. The only thing those authors share in common is the genre that they write. NAKED CAME THE MANATEE is better by the connection this particular group of people shares.

Most of the authors who worked on this book have lived in Florida for a long time. They know the area, its people and its customs and implement them in the story line. Some of the authors, such as Elmore Leonard, Dave Barry, and Carl Hiaasen, are funny in their own right that is perfect for this story. These authors know how to write a funny story and they can get away with it in this book. As a special treat for some of the book's readers is that some of the writers include their series characters in this novel. Among those making an appearance are Lee Standisford's John Deal and Edna Buchanan's Britt Montero.

Overall this novel is about a manatee that gets involved in a plot to discredit Fidel Castro. It is not Booger's fault. He just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time just like some of the other characters in this story. NAKED CAME THE MANATEE is not meant to be taken seriously so just sit down and enjoy the ride.

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Summary: Gives you a taste of several good mystery authors
Review: Sometimes funny, always strange - it manages to hold it's shape although 13 different authors contribute. The best chapters are from Dave Barry and Carl Hiaasen (1st and last). Read a complete Hiaasen instead.

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Summary: A fun read
Review: The concept of passing chapters between these great authors is imaginative and enjoyable. My only problem was the short span in which to adjust to the diverse writing styles. I have to say that I have gone back to the store and purchased books by a few of the authors contributing to this novel.

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Summary: If only the manatee had more MEAT!
Review: Thirteen different authors? A plot involving Fidel Castro? One of the hottest cities in the world, Miami, as its setting? And one of my favorites of all the world's creatures, a manatee, being one of the focal points of the story line?

Well, all the above, unfortunately did not do it for me. Perhaps, "too many cooks in the kitchen" produced a soufflé with varying degrees of success. I suppose the distinctive styles of the different writers appealed to some, but I found it a wee bit disconcerting. There were some "hits" but more "misses" in this slightly amusing tale.

Honestly, I read this book based solely on the fact that I enjoy the writing of Tananarive Due. While her contribution is as evenly important as the other twelve writers, I don't think this is a good example of the strengths that draw me to her in her singular compositions.

In contrast, Evelyn Mayerson's contribution (Chapter 7: The Lock and Key) is wonderfully sarcastic and very amusing. With references to Jimmy Carter ("Senor Peanut"), O.J. lawyer Barry Scheck and an inference that actress Kim Nova had a mustache, thus indicating her likely Cuban "roots", the author adds more absurdity to the already strange happenings of previous (and subsequent) chapters.

I will, most definitely, be seeking out titles authored by her.

If only she had done the entire book, I could've rated it higher.

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Summary: A complete waste of time.
Review: This book is a total mess. It's obvious that collaborations seldom work well and this one doesn't at all. Booger (the manatee) evolves from having no intelligence to an IQ equal to the publishers of this book and devolves to the level of people who actually pay money for this trash and like it. If you're intrigued by the authors, they all have done much, MUCH better work in other formats. Read those.

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Summary: Started strong, lost interest half way through
Review: 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.