Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Sick Puppy
Book Review: Quirky, hilarious, and not far from the truth when it comes to political sick puppies!
Summary: 4 Stars
This isn't usually a book I would read, but am so glad I did. An hilarious tale that snowballed from the simple and mindless act of throwing a wrapper from a car window. The wrapper kept on rolling, picking up every trashy element of society with it. Rich, bursting at the seams characters are weaved seamlessly into juicy entwined story lines. I only wish book alike this were ready for iPad.Book Review: Read these themes before, in much more textured and novel form...
Summary: 3 Stars
One part distilled Floridian weirdness, one part Kurt Vonnegut simplicity and wit, and one part John Irving fringe sexuality, the story gains speed but never takes off, trapped in a house of literary echoes done much better elsewhere. A hitman who loves 911 calls put to classical music? A land developer without a conscience? A painfully ideological twentysomething in search of love via an older woman? These are familiar extremists without extreme texture, and none of them benefit from bumping into the others. The strokes are too broad for any real humanity; only those with a Florida address could find earnestness in this lukewarm survey of the state's primary players.Book Review: Same-Old-Same-Old
Summary: 1 Stars
Florida's a big state -- about 16 million people and you can't mention them all in a 300-page book. So why not mention their hometowns?
That's what Hiassen is up to in Sick Puppy, and it reminds me of nothing so much as a church newsletter that tries to get the congregation's attention by shoe-horning everybody's name into it. Like "personalized" junk mail, such as from Publisher's Clearing House.
Sure, this is a story with a lot of motoring in it and naturally the characters have to stop for gas and stay somewhere at night, and, true, one town name is as good as another, so why not use real town names? Right. But then how come it sounds so much like he's trying to drum up business? Making sure, no matter what happens, at least the book will sell in Florida -- at least to the imbeciles that will buy it because their town's name is mentioned.
Maybe all of this stuff is like this. Maybe all of those creepy New England towns Stephen King writes into his stuff really exist.
Really, this Hiassen stuff is the same-old-same-old. Every character is a "character", not one of them the slightest bit believable, and, naturally, each of them either good or evil. I don't know about you, but I've long, long been weary of the my-kooky-family-ha-ha-ha threads of James Thurber and John Irving.
And what's strangest of all -- for a reasonable and even-tempered person like me -- Twilly's homicidal environmentalism is treated with sympathy. I'm not sure if this is a ham-fisted attempt at moral ambiguity or I'm just so hopelessly square that I just don't get it -- that nothing, absolutely nothing, is more important than the "environment" (and I say "environment", but I mean "the whims of the idle and stupid: the Eco-kooks"). Maybe even noting that Twilly blew up a bank or killed a trash-dumper is nitpicking. This spoiled crackpot is one of the most revolting figures I've read about in fiction, and I'm hard to alienate.
Book Review: Sharp commentary and comedy
Summary: 4 Stars
What a gift Hiaasen has given us...Florida and all the beauty of nature and corruption of man presented in a VERY funny book revolving about the real estate development of Toad Island. As others have said, the cast of characters are way over the top and the action starts when an eccentric eco-defender sees a self-centered lobbyist litter out of his car. His fury turns into stalking, dog-napping and a romance with the wife. The lobbyist is working hard on getting a bridge funded to expedite the development of the island, but, wait...not if our eco-hero, Twilly Spree has anything to do with it. The plot twists back and forth, who will win in the end, and how. Well, justice prevails, but not as expected. This is no real happy ending book, and several bad guys get their just desserts. That was a bit of a downer, since no one seemed to be redeemed. So, if you are looking for funny social commentary and like to know more about the political process and eco-system of Florida, set right up and read this one.Book Review: Sick, Repetitive Story
Summary: 2 Stars
Well I think I have reached my limit with Carl Hiaasen. This novel was definitely over-the-top ridiculous. It was about 200 pages too long to begin with and the antics were something out of an old Laurel & Hardy film. The basic premise starts out quite amusing as millionaire/ dropout, Twilly Spree (26 year old spoiled kid with too much time on his hands) follows behind a litterbug, ego maniac lobbyist's car, one Palmer Stoat, watching him discard his lunch bag, papers and several other items without any thought at all to the disgusting, lazy human being he actually is. Now I know there are plenty of people who think they are too high and mighty to use trash cans (I ride the train with them every day). A trash bag could be right under their nose and they throw the stuff on the floor. This is extremely irritating and I could fully appreciate Twilly's mission. However, the story got out of control about a quarter of the way into the plot and had a domino effect of ridiculous antics from the rhino horns and the hunts to the 911 calls being a form of entertainment, the Barbie-doll twin fetish of one Robert Clapely, developer for Toad Island, Desire Stoat, wife of lobbyist/litterbug, and her desire to beg to be kidnapped by a crazy "kid" along w/her dog, Boodle/McGuinn. This story was just too "out there" as Hiaasen seemed to repeatedly stress the obnoxious behavior of politicians (we got the idea soon enough after the opening scene and the "rhinoceros hunt"). Frankly, I don't understand how so many previous reviewers thought this was such a great read. By the time I arrived at the conclusion, I was more than done with this story. The finale was just as ludicrous; leaving the reader basically at a point right where he/she started from. My advice; don't bother with this one. After three novels by this author, "Skinny Dip" was my favorite and I believe I should have stopped right there.