Hey! Carl Hiaasen Fans! Guess What!

[Boomer]

Finally!

Carl Hiaasen has a new book coming out on Tuesday, July 27. I just found out about this. And I am, of course, thrilled beyond all measure.

The title is Star Island and it is the first adult fiction that he has written since 2005. He has been doing kids' books and also that one about golf that mentions TV. But there has been no real Hiaasen for a long time. I hope this one is as good as my favorites Stormy Weather and Skin Tight, both, early Hiaasen.

I have been known to go on and on about the wonders of Carl Hiaasen. There is an old thread here somewhere that turned into a really good discussion of Florida fiction with lots of TOTVers giving great suggestions for authors.

I am too lazy right now to tell you much about what I have found out about Carl's new book. But I have to tell you that Skink is in it. What a great character -- Skink -- now crazy and living in the swamp but once the governor of Florida.

Anyway, this time I will spare you from all my declarations and confessions of shameless love for Carl. (I like to call him Carl.) There is something about a man who can turn a phrase.......

He is going to be on the Today Show on Tuesday so I must set the DVR before I forget.......

And why do I keep thinking about that song that probably nobody else has ever heard of....There really was a song called "I Made A Fool of Myself Over John Foster Dulles" and I know how she felt..... But I digress....

I am just going to link you to Carl's website now. I must go splash some cool, cool water in my own face.....

http://www.carlhiaasen.com/index.shtml

Boomer

[l2ridehd]

Thanks Boomer. I love his books and have read them all. He does such a great job of building characters and vivid descriptions of things. Looking forward to this new one, but want it on my Kindle.

[uujudy]

Thanks for the good news, Boomer! I'm so excited! :pepper2:
I'll try to get up early for the Today Show.

[Taltarzac]

...from Justin Cronin's The Passage. :sigh:

[Boomer]

I am writing this at 9:35 AM. Carl will be appearing soon on the Today Show. They just announced it. So I am announcing it here in case anybody wants to stalk.....er, I mean watch -- yeah that's it, I mean watch him with me.

Then I am going to go to the bookstore.

And after that I am going to meet an old English teacher friend for lunch. (I think she wants to go to a bar.)

Boomer

[Irish Rover]

Boomer - I'm a Hiaasen fan too and look forward to his books but this one got a ho hum review from the local paper. Give us your opinion after reading it, Thanks IR

[Boomer]

Boomer - I'm a Hiaasen fan too and look forward to his books but this one got a ho hum review from the local paper. Give us your opinion after reading it, Thanks IR

Hi Irish,

I will.

I started it tonight and at first I thought I would not get hooked like I usually do with Carl. I think that was probably because I harbor such disgust for those stupid starlets who booze, pill-pop, puke, and melt down their way into the headlines. (I finally ditched MSN as my opening page because somebody who works there decided that's the kind of stuff that needed to be front and center every day because I, the reader, must surely be a moron.) But I digress....back to the book now.....

The first chapter was like what we see paraded every day in reality. Those bimbos are walking-talking-breathing satires on themselves so when Carl introduces the character who is one, I guess it might not have been easy for him to pick up that edge that makes perfect satire.

But I understood and I forgave Carl and read on.

And I soon found that Carl deserved my forgiveness because Skink shows up early in the book.

Here's Skink.......

"The stranger had to be well into his sixties, with crinkled skin as brown as cured leather. He had one gleaming eye and a cracked fake that sat somewhat at odds with the form of its socket. On his bald pate he wore a flimsy diaphanous shower cap from which protruded two silvery braids, each strung with red and green shotgun shells"........

All us Carl fans know Skink. The ex-governor of Florida who lives in the swamp and eats roadkill. And has a way of making some things....well....making some things right.

So anyway, I am ready to start Chapter 6 now.

Boomer

[uujudy]

Boomer, I saw Carl (may I also call him Carl?) on the Today Show. I was surprised that he was sooooo much cuter on television than he is on the book jacket. Don't think I ever saw him on TV before. I'm sure I would have remembered if I had. :0000000000luvmyhors

[Boomer]

Hi uuj,

Of course, you may call him Carl. I agree that he is much cuter on television than in his picture on the cover. Even though he is old enough to live in The Villages, my daughter Boomette has a thing for him, too.

This time Al Roker got the interview, but Boomette told me that she has seen interviews of him done by women. I think it was.Katie Couric, a few years back, who Boomette said was reduced to sideways smiles, actual giggles, and that giveaway of all giveaways, the hair flip. So in person, Carl must have quite the effect to make those seasoned interviewers act like they are in high school and the cute guy in class asks if he can borrow a pencil.

And, btw, the interview is in that link I put here in the first post. The link is updating. There was one on Morning Joe that showed up on the site, too. I watched it there and it sure sounds to me like the woman in on the interview started talking with an extra little lilt in her voice.

Hey, maybe we should be talking about this in the Girl Talk thread.

Boomer

[uujudy]

Yes, Boomer. We should definitely move the discussion about Cutie Carl over to the Girl Talk thread. I can understand why they chose Al Roker to do the interview. He's also a published author (do cookbooks count?) and probably impervious to Carl's charms. Why, I almost did a hair flip in my own living room just watching the interview. Girl Talk. Definitely.

[BritParrothead]

Fantastic!! Will have to order from Amazon, as I dont think U.K. bookshops will have it for a while, and even if they do get it, it will cost a fortune, compared to US prices :(

[Taltarzac]

Fantastic!! Will have to order from Amazon, as I dont think U.K. bookshops will have it for a while, and even if they do get it, it will cost a fortune, compared to US prices :(

I have got several books from the Book Depository in the U.K. These were books that are rather hard to find in the U.S. The Book Depository offers free shipping to many countries. It looks like they will have Carl Hiaasen's latest and it has a small discount (11% off) when bought from the U.K. Quite a deeper discount (39 % off) when bought from the U.S. though.

[Boomer]

I'm still reading. Still liking it. I really want to sit down and just finish it, but can't right now.

Skink has already administered some of that justice he is known for. Skink's friend Jim shows up on his Harley to sweep up, as usual. Jim is there to pick up Ann who has just spent a little time with Skink. (Ann is a character we like and who is getting past having helped Skink get even with somebody who deserved it.)

Jim gives Ann a phone number to use if ever she really needs help. Ann says that Skink is a lunatic and she never wants to see him again.

Jim tells Ann, "He's got a bad temper and a long memory, but he's completely sane." He then says, "My advice, don't use that phone number unless you're absolutely out of options." (If I were an English major, I would say that is an example of the writer using foreshadowing.) When Skink appeared so early in the book, I thought maybe he was there just for those few pages. But now, I think it looks like he will be back. Well.....if I know foreshadowing when I see it.

:pepper2:

Boomer

(Judy, when I read that line here about how you almost did the hair flip right in your own living room, I laughed out loud. I completely understood.)

[uujudy]

I'm still reading. Still liking it. I really want to sit down and just finish it, but can't right now.. . . Well.....if I know foreshadowing when I see it.

:pepper2:

Boomer

(Judy, when I read that line here about how you almost did the hair flip right in your own living room, I laughed out loud. I completely understood.)

the interview is in that link I put here in the first post. The link is updating. There was one on Morning Joe that showed up on the site, too. I watched it there and it sure sounds to me like the woman in on the interview started talking with an extra little lilt in her voice.

Hey, maybe we should be talking about this in the Girl Talk thread.

Boomer

OMG! LOL! I went back to your link and watched the Morning Joe video. It was hilarious. The interviewer didn't, exactly, do the hair flip, but she certainly dominated the interview. It was as if she and Carl were the only people in the room. Lilting voice and giggles galore! I'm secretly embarrassed to say that I would have done the same thing...

[Boomer]

I finished Star Island.

Carl still has his touch with dialogue. He can whammy punch with dialogue and dialogue is what moves a story along for me.

I must say that I thought the book had some slow spots. It’s a little thick in the middle. (But hey, so am I these days.) Bottom line though - - I liked it. I am glad to see Carl back to adult fiction.

As far as I know, only two of Carl’s books have been made into movies. One kids’ book, Hoot. And one of his early books for adults, Strip Tease.

As I was reading Star Island, I could picture it as a movie. But although the book is a satire on the present day, pathetic obsession with empty celebrities, a certain percentage of the audience might not consider a movie version to be a satire. They might call it a documentary.

Boomer

[Boomer]

Boomer, I saw Carl (may I also call him Carl?) on the Today Show. I was surprised that he was sooooo much cuter on television than he is on the book jacket. Don't think I ever saw him on TV before. I'm sure I would have remembered if I had. :0000000000luvmyhors

Judy! Judy! Judy! -- Carl Alert! Carl Alert! Carl Alert!

Oh Judy, this morning, when I sat down at my desk to drink coffee and get sidetracked by my computer, I noticed my copy of Star Island in a stack where I abandoned it after I finished it. As I was trying to decide whether I should treasure it on my bookshelf or selflessly donate it to the Friends of the Library book sale, I decided to dig out this thread and have a look at the link I put in the first post, in case there was anything new there.

Ohhhhhhh, is there ever......Judy! Carl is coming soon to a bookstore near you! Well, sort of near you. Nearer to thee than to me anyway.

I was pointing and clicking my way around that link just now, and when I opened the part that says, "See Carl in person!" -- there it was! Carl will be in Orlando at the Winter Park Borders on September 1.

Yeah. I know. I know. Winter Park is not that close to TV, but hey it is closer than it is to Cincinnati.

Alas and (sigh) and (sigh) again, I will not be Florida in time to see Carl at the bookstore in Orlando. I will be around later, but he will be long gone and back in the mangroves by then. (In his FAQ interview about the book, he says that's where he would rather be, like Skink.)

It is probably just as well that I will not be back in town by September 1. I would try to find you and take you along with me so we could swoon together over Carl and his way with words. But I guess it is for the best that I cannot do that. We could get arrested.

Oh my, I can see it now. A slow news day in Orlando might cause a headline.....

Bookstore Cashier Heroically Intervenes When Two Middle-Aged Women Escape The Villages and Fling Themselves at Carl in Orlando

(Hey! No comments out there from the Peanut Gallery. I am middle-aged. Planning to live well past 100. And don't ask me how I know about the Peanut Gallery.) But I digress....back to Judy now.....

So anyway, I just wanted to let you know.....in case you want to go. (sigh)

Boomer

[tony]

When I get my book done anybody who wishes may swoon.

[sandybill2]

My husband and I just finished reading Star Island and both enjoyed it. We are Hiaasen fans as well and thanks to this "thread"--I reserved the book as soon as it arrived -through the Village Library System- and got it within a week. Love Skink---also think this would make a good movie ---trying to envision who could play him---Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones and, of course, Billy Bob Thornton come to mind. (I did keep glancing at the picture of Carl on the cover as I read it---very easy on the eyes--)

[Irish Rover]

Boomer, thanks for the review. You made it sound worthwhile. I'll pick it up this week. I'm just finishing the "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" series. Three good books in case you are interested.
Irish

[uujudy]

Judy! Judy! Judy! -- Carl Alert! Carl Alert! Carl Alert!

... "See Carl in person!" -- there it was! Carl will be in Orlando at the Winter Park Borders on September 1.


Bookstore Cashier Heroically Intervenes When Two Middle-Aged Women Escape The Villages and Fling Themselves at Carl in Orlando

. . . So anyway, I just wanted to let you know.....in case you want to go. (sigh)

Boomer

Oh Boomer! :mademyday:
I do so want to go! I have other things lined up, so it will take some shuffling, and I still might not be able to go, but I will definitely be there if I possibly can! Thanks so much for letting me know about this!

And the part about the cashier? Don't you think she would be right there in the middle, flinging with us? ( I wanted to use fracas or melee, but the spell check doesn't work with totv on this computer, and I wasn't sure how they were spelled)

Carl. In person. Think about it.
(Where is the 'swoon' icon, Tony?)

[Boomer]

Oh Boomer! :mademyday:
I do so want to go! I have other things lined up, so it will take some shuffling, and I still might not be able to go, but I will definitely be there if I possibly can! Thanks so much for letting me know about this!

And the part about the cashier? Don't you think she would be right there in the middle, flinging with us? ( I wanted to use fracas or melee, but the spell check doesn't work with totv on this computer, and I wasn't sure how they were spelled)

Carl. In person. Think about it.
(Where is the 'swoon' icon, Tony?)

Judy,

Oh I know. I am thinking about it. Oh my!

And if you go, I will be thrilled for you and I will try so hard not to be jealous and to accept my geographic fate and try to be happy with living vicariously.

But I do so hope that you will give us a full report, once you get out of jail, of course. In fact, because I started this whole thing, I am offering to post bail. But you have to let me know when you need it. You can just post the info right here. I think there is something in the law that says if you are arrested for inciting chaos in a bookstore, you are allowed to make one post on TOTV before they take away the laptop and lock you up.
- - - - - - - -

Hi sandybill2,

I really like all of your possibilities to play Skink if there is ever a movie version. I keep coming back to your idea of Billy Bob Thornton. Skink has to come off as so crazy and yet so completely charming at the same time. The actor would have to be able to walk that line perfectly.

And it is nice to know that this thread helped you to get on the library list early and that you liked the book.

- - - - - - - -

Hi Irish,

Mr. Boomer is sitting in his recliner at this very moment reading the third book in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" trilogy. He has been knocking them out fast. In fact, today when he finished the second one, I asked him if he wanted me to bring him back "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" when I went to the store. He said yes and so I did. He has been reading it all evening, can't put it down, just like with the first two.

I hope you like "Star Island" when you get it.

- - - - -

And Mr. Tony,

So finish the book already.

Boomer

[uujudy]

Isn't this place the best?! Where else (in the whole world!) would you find somebody (unrelated) willing to post bail for you?
Unfortunately, I'm number 29 on the hold list for Star Island at the library. I could just stroll over to Barnes and Noble, but if I can manage to go see Carl in person I could buy the book there and have him autograph it for me! :MOJE_whot:
And I will have Boomer to thank. :boom:

[Taltarzac]

Isn't this place the best?! Where else (in the whole world!) would you find somebody (unrelated) willing to post bail for you?
Unfortunately, I'm number 29 on the hold list for Star Island at the library. I could just stroll over to Barnes and Noble, but if I can manage to go see Carl in person I could buy the book there and have him autograph it for me! :MOJE_whot:
And I will have Boomer to thank. :boom:

Which library system, uujudy?

The Lake County Library System often has a lot of copies of the books which are in high demand and also puts these on a week loan. Makes it hard to read the book when you eventually get it. You do not have to wait that long though. They will make concessions on the longer books.

[uujudy]

Thanks for the info, Tal. I use The Villages Library. I searched the Lake County Library system, but I couldn't find any adult listings for any of Carl's books -- only books for the accelerated readers' program at Gray Middle School. Thanks for the information, though. :read:

[Taltarzac]

Thanks for the info, Tal. I use The Villages Library. I searched the Lake County Library system, but I couldn't find any adult listings for any of Carl's books -- only books for the accelerated readers' program at Gray Middle School. Thanks for the information, though. :read:

I seldom use the Villages Library so I am not aware of how long the Hot New Releases take on waiting lists. I have had to wait though a number of months for high demand DVDs like Avatar, Young Victoria, Up in the Air, etc.

There are several copies of most of the Carl Hiaasen books in the Lake County Library System I checked.

[uujudy]

. . .
There are several copies of most of the Carl Hiaasen books in the Lake County Library System I checked.

I couldn't find them, Tal. Maybe I have to be a member and log on to see them?

[tony]

I noticed nobody asked me to send the beginnings of my manuscript. That's O.K. though, because it would be an embarrassment if you are Carl's fans. He sets the bar pretty high.

[bkcunningham1]

I couldn't find them, Tal. Maybe I have to be a member and log on to see them?


http://catalog.lcplin.org/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=1W8276W821540.1957&menu=search&aspect=basic&npp=20&ipp=20&spp=15&profile=aru&ri=&term=Carl+Hiaasen&index=.GW&aspect=basic&sort=#focus

[angelbaby.47]

Hate to burst your bubble but gotta' tell ya I wasn't thrilled with this one. I have enjoyed most Hiaasen novels but this one just didn't keep me interested. Oh well, you can't win 'em all......

[Taltarzac]

I couldn't find them, Tal. Maybe I have to be a member and log on to see them?

I did not have to log on with my account number to see this:

"Twenty-two-year-old pop star Cherry Pye is attempting a comeback from her latest drug and alcohol disaster. Ann DeLusia is Cherry's "undercover stunt double," portraying Cherry whenever the singer is too wasted to go out in public. But, one night, Ann-as-Cherry is mistakenly kidnapped from a South Beach hotel by an obsessed paparazzo named Ban ... (to read more see "A Look Inside") "

"HoldingsHoldings Cooper Memorial Library Copies Material Location
Fic Hiaasen C. 1 Books Adult Fiction
Helen Lehmann Memorial Library Copies Material Location
FL Fic Hiaasen C. 1 Books Checked out
Leesburg Public Library Copies Material Location
FL F Hia 1 Books Checked out
W. T. Bland Public Library Copies Material Location
MCN FIC HIAA 1 Books Being transferred between libraries
Minneola Schoolhouse Library Copies Material Location
Fic Hiaasen C 1 Books Checked out
Tavares Public Library Copies Material Location
F Hiaasen 2 Books Checked out
Umatilla Public Library Copies Material Location
F Hiaasen C. 1 One-week Item Being cataloged"

[Boomer]

I did not have to log on with my account number to see this:

"Twenty-two-year-old pop star Cherry Pye is attempting a comeback from her latest drug and alcohol disaster. Ann DeLusia is Cherry's "undercover stunt double," portraying Cherry whenever the singer is too wasted to go out in public. But, one night, Ann-as-Cherry is mistakenly kidnapped from a South Beach hotel by an obsessed paparazzo named Ban ... (to read more see "A Look Inside") "

"HoldingsHoldings Cooper Memorial Library Copies Material Location
Fic Hiaasen C. 1 Books Adult Fiction
Helen Lehmann Memorial Library Copies Material Location
FL Fic Hiaasen C. 1 Books Checked out
Leesburg Public Library Copies Material Location
FL F Hia 1 Books Checked out
W. T. Bland Public Library Copies Material Location
MCN FIC HIAA 1 Books Being transferred between libraries
Minneola Schoolhouse Library Copies Material Location
Fic Hiaasen C 1 Books Checked out
Tavares Public Library Copies Material Location
F Hiaasen 2 Books Checked out
Umatilla Public Library Copies Material Location
F Hiaasen C. 1 One.......week Item Being cataloged"


Oh my goodness, I see here in Tal's post that almost every copy of Star Island in the county library system is checked out. How wonderful for Carl.

But wait!

Uh Oh.....

I see that there is one copy listed as "being cataloged." Well! We just can't have that now can we. That copy must be hurried along. Carl's public awaits. This is Carl we are talking about here. Priorities please.

Ohdearohdearohdearohdearohdear.....Whatever shall I do???

Librarians are busy. Lots of things to do to keep those libraries running. I know! I will help them......


Star Island/ by Carl Hiaasen -- 1st ed.
ISBN 978-0-307-27258-4
1. Women singers--Fiction. 2. Paparazzi--Fiction.
3. Florida--Fiction. I. Title.
ps3558.1217573 2010
813'.54--dc22 20100022484


OK. There it is. All cataloged and ready to be checked out. Anything for Carl, you know......

Marian Boomer

[uujudy]

Thanks for the link BK and Tal. I was at a completely different website: http://www.mylakelibrary.org/

And I'm sure the librarians are grateful to have Marian Boomer catalog the book for them.

And I'm looking forward to the day Tony posts his manuscript.

:read: :read: :read: :read:

[Boomer]

Here we are on the morning of September 2. Carl appeared last night at a book signing at Borders in Orlando. Judy said earlier in this thread that there was a small possibility that she might be able to rearrange her calender so that she could stalk.....er, I mean see Carl there. (Anybody who has read this thread knows how Judy and I react to Carl.)

My plan was to attend vicariously from a distance. (Cincinnati) Carl never comes to Cincinnati. (sigh) Well.....I guess he could show up in Cincinnati.....Yeah, right......maybe in 20 years.

Mark Twain supposedly said, "If the world is coming to an end, I want to be in Cincinnati because Cincinnati is always 20 years behind the times."

And besides, in 20 years, there probably will be no such thing as a book signing. We will have to have book chips implanted into our brains. (I hope we get to pick which books.) There might even be a Chip of the Month Club. So Carl will have no reason to come to Cincinnati, not even in 20 years. (I digress.) But.........

Why couldn't Carl, at least, have waited for my return to Florida? So near and yet so far.

Now, here I am, still in Cincinnati, the morning after, at my computer, eating Cheerios with walnuts on them, drinking coffee, and wondering if Judy got there, to Orlando last night. Did Judy get to see Carl in person? Do I need to arrange for bail?

Boomer

[uujudy]

Boomer,
No need to arrange bail :( Wish it were so.
I wasn't able to go see Carl in person.
So sorry I missed him. :cry: :( :cry:
Sad Judy

[Boomer]

Boomer,
No need to arrange bail :( Wish it were so.
I wasn't able to go see Carl in person.
So sorry I missed him. :cry: :( :cry:
Sad Judy

Oh well, Sad Judy,

It is probably for the best. Who knows where it could have led.

(sigh)

Boomer

[uujudy]

Oh well, Sad Judy,

It is probably for the best. Who knows where it could have led.

(sigh)

Boomer

Yes, it probably was for the best.
But not really. sigh. :ohdear:

[Boomer]

Last July I started this thread when I was thrilled into a tizzy because Carl Hiaasen had published his newest book, Star Island. I have loved Carl since I took up with him long ago when I read Stormy Weather. And this thread is not the first time I have gone on and on about him here on TOTV. (blush)

We were in TV fairly recently and could have been there still, but we had to return to the dreary northern climes sooner than planned. (sigh) And besides all that, I just learned that once again I am missing the chance to see Carl in person, just like I missed him last fall when he was in the general area of TV, but I was not there yet. (sigh again)

But anyway, enough about me -- now about Carl -- more news......

Carl Hiaasen is going to be in Ocala on April 16. And I thought maybe some of his fans in The Villages might want to know about it.

According to the link I am including here, he will make two appearances. The afternoon is for students and is free. He has written 3 books for kids. Hoot and Flush and Scat.

That evening there will be a ticketed event for adults.

The Friends of the Ocala Public Library and the Marion County Public Library System are sponsoring having Carl Hiaasen in Ocala. Here is a link to the details..........

http://www.friendsoftheocalalibrary.org/

And, btw, try not to get too wild when you are celebrating National Library Week which is April 10-16.

Love your libraries.

Boomer :read: