Naked Came the Manatee: A Novel

Rating:
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.

Rating:
Summary: Almost great
Review: This was a neat trick - get a bunch of authors to write a book together, each in his or her own style. It was an enjoyable read, but uneven. After all, you can't possibly put Elmore Leonard's dialogue and Carl Hiaasen's sense of the ridiculous into two succeeding chapters and expect there to be a smooth transition. There isn't. The story is fun, though, and a key point to the book is a fairly detailed index of the authors, which tells us that the characters who are presented in the book can be found in other novels by the many different authors. That's a treat, and I'm sure I'll be picking up some of the novels in which these people first appear. The plot in "Naked" is a bit thin on the ground, but you can't really expect this enormously talented group of authors to come up with anything less than a very enjoyable afternoon of reading.

Rating:
Summary: Don't take this too seriously.
Review: Very humorous. Each author provides wit and creativity, and the format of authoring the novel only adds to the suprise and wackyness. Don't purchase the book looking for serious literature, however. DO purchase the book for a quick and delightful summer read.