Nature Girl

Fun from front to back!

This was the first Hiaasen book I've red and he's captured my interest for sure. His writing style is so much fun and at the same time mood and meaning are injected into each word choice. It was a crazy plot with wildly concocted characters and just a good time to the very last page. Even with the lightness of the writing, there was still food for thought. Grab a book by this guy if you get the chance.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

HIAASEN HAS NO PEERS

What's not to like about a book by Carl Hiaasen? His prose is tough yet tender, his satire bites then provokes smiles, he's totally original, his offbeat characters are over the top, and, thanks to him, the State of Florida is revealed in all its steamy, seamy splendor. He won me with 'Skinny Dip' and I haven't looked back since. With 'Nature Girl' we meet Boyd Shreave who is employed by Relentless, Inc. where he makes his living as a telemarketer. His mistress, Eugenie Fonda 'who claimed a murky connection to the famous acting family' is in the cubicle next to him, a script is in front of him, and he has an assumed name for calling purposes - Boyd Eisenhower. He'll rue the day that he ever dialed Honey Santana's number. Honey is a woman on a mission fueled by a rabid desire to rid the world of many adversities that have visited her, one of them being dinnertime sales calls. Her 12-year-old son, Fry, alternates between believing her to be tetched or the most wonderful Mom in the world. Her brother, Richard, is well aware that his sister 'sometimes reacted to ordinary situations in unique ways.' Nonetheless, he locates Boyd for her. Her plan? To sell him something he can't afford. Sure enough, Boyd takes the bait and soon Honey is escorting the telemarketer and his reluctant mistress on a kayak tour through the wilds of Ten Thousand Islands. She just intends to teach them a lesson or three. What she hadn't counted on is Piejack, her boss at the fish market, following her. Piejack is the kind of guy who thinks sexual harassment in the workplace is acceptable, and the object of his attention is Honey. Now, read carefully (this is Hiaasen) - Piejack is being followed by Honey's ex, Perry, and Fry. Dismal Key is a landing place for this parade, and it's there they find Sammy Tigertail, a half-white, half-Seminole former alligator wrestler who tried his hand at doing airboat tours. But, when his first customer died on board, he told his uncle 'he wasn't spiritually equipped to deal with tourists.' Precisely what he is equipped for is subject for conjecture. Hiaasen's cast of crazy characters garner laughs aplenty. His meandering plot is a playful perplexity, and every page is a reminder that this author has no peers. Long may he scribe! - Gail Cooke

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

An amusing slap stick thriller

In Florida, the tourist Jeter Wilson died of a heart attack following a snake bite leaving Everglades airboat owner Sammy Tigertail stuck with disposing the body, which he does in one of the swamps. At about the same time that Sammy struggles with the corpse, Honey Santana is irate with telemarketing realtor pitchman Boyd Shreave, who made ugly obscene sexual comments when she rejected his pitch.---------------- Honey decides to get even with Shreave as only she can. She begins a scheme to hurt him in the shorts enlisting her former husband Perry Skinner and her preadolescent son Fry and getting Boyd to come to Dismal Bay in the Everglades. He does with his girlfriend Eugenie Fonda at the same time private investigator Theodore Dealey working for Shreave¿s wife hopes to catch him with his shorts down. As she implements her plan, Sammy is caught in the middle still trying to get rid of Jeter¿s pesky spirit. Before anyone can blink all hell has come to the Everglades as these and others run amuck.----------- Less biting satire and more a zany face, Carl Hiaasen provides an amusing slap stick thriller that paints a wild picture of the Everglades in which the two legged animals are the beasts. The story line loosely contains a plot of revenge at it core though myriad of subplots converge because everyone is at the wrong place at the wrong time. The cast is classic comedy with people tripping over one another all because Honey goes berserk when Shreave interrupts her dinner with obscenities from there it is all down hill as everyone wants to sell but not buy swampland.------------- Harriet Klausner

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Nature's Belly Flop

This was a book that was painful to read the first couple of chapters. Far-fetched, spacey, and annoying to say the least. I purchased the book for it was a bargain and had an attractive cover. However, do not judge the book by it's cover in being good. It was brutally tough to get the idea behind what the intent of the words were relaying and any sort of message to keep any intelligent being interested.

Boring

Like others I could not get into this book. Right away the character names annoyed me (Honey, Fry, Eugenie?!). And the plot was so far fetched, I mean come on, she gets rialed over a telemarketer calling during dinner time. I kept reading hoping something would improve, but it never did. This was the first book I read by this author and I definitely won't be reading any more.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Fun dialoge

First book I've read from this author. Overall, it was an interesting read.

Fun, but not Hiaasen's best

The plot is just who is going to do what to whom before we get where we all know we are going long before we get there.

Great book for "light reading."

This is the second book I've read by Carl Hiaasen. I would recommend this book for anyone looking for something light and funny to ready. It is fairly funny until at the end I thought it was absolutely hilarious in parts. I wish it had been that funny all the way through. I am hooked on his books now and I read them in between more serious books or in addition to more serious books. I plan on reading all of his books. He definitely has a quirky sense of humor.

$19.27???!!!

Why can I buy the paperback for this non new release book for less than $9 and this e-book is almost $20, are you kidding me?!

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

VERY FUNNY!!!!!!

HIAASEN WILL TAKE YOU ON A RIDE OF CRAZY AND FUNNY.

Chase away the winter doldrums

If you can't go to Florida this winter, try reading about it in one on Carl Hiassen's adult comedies. This one is risqué and full of not-to-love characters, but the plot gave me plenty of good laughs. Hiaasen also gets in some commentary about the state of our 21 C. society and the dismal record of our country in regards to the treatment of native Americans. Really, he is a good writer. Comedy is not easy to do, and the mix of brutally true observations with the foibles of human nature is well done by Hiaasen.

Get Back to Nature

The strength of a Carl Hiaasen story is always his unusual and quirky characters. Nature Girl is no different with a host of new and very interesting people involved this time. This is really more of a short story that drags out longer than it should, but his writing style and humor make it an enjoyable ride. Suspend disbelief and have some fun with it.

I quit reading this book

I could not get into this book. I did not enjoy the characters or plot so after 75 or so pages I questioned why I was torturing myself and stopped reading the book. I usually pass along my books to a friend, but not this one. Too bad they don't have a zero stars rating because this would get it.

I haven't read this author before and am not inclined to go looking for other books by him.

Offbeat and Fun

This was the second Carl Hiaasen book for me. His books are extremely unique with very unusual characters and plots. This one is set in the Florida Keys which Mr. Hiaasen writes about with wonderful descriptive clarity.
I don't know if I would ever want to know his characters, but they are quirky and fun. Well, some are fun, some are annoying and some are just out there! I'm sure I will read more of his books since they are extremely different!

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

On the downhill slide....

I have enjoyed his earlier works, but this one is so formulaic that it's nearly unreadble: pedictable, slow, and dull. And $14 to boot for a paperback!!! His lighthearted sense of humor has all but disappeared... what a shame.

Diverting

This book is not the best, but it is not the worst either. It was diverting enough but I doubt that it will linger in my brain for long. Before it ended I was anxious to get on to something else.

Not what I was hoping for

I'm a huge fan of his previous work. I've read every book Carl has written, thoroughly enjoyed almost all of them... until Nature Girl. He clearly mailed this effort in. Mr. Hiaasen must've had a contractual deadline to meet so the quality was secondary to just getting something on paper. With all the problems, politics, coruption, etc., in Florida today he had to import a hapless telemarketer from Texas to be the antagonist? Ms. Santana is not a character to root for, she is the one operating outside of the law and she is the one that needs to be knocked down a notch, or two, much more than Mr. Schreve. Carl's dislike of certain vocations he considers less than honorable comes shining through, yet again. I generally fly though his books in a week, max, this one was a grind, three months to get it done! If you're going to be reading your first Hiaasen novel don't pick this one first.

One Flew Over the Everglades Nest

Nature Girl titters out of the block slowly at a tortoise pace. However, it manages to keep your interest by introducing you to a group of the wackiest and most bizarre characters ever assembled. Imagine the cast of 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' being dumped into the Everglades. Everybody has got issues. If you can be patient and get through the slow start, you're in for a great ride. Two thumps up!

My first Hiaasen Read

I loved this book and am glad I read it before reading some of the negative reviews. I enjoyed it so much that I am now reading all of his books. After reading some of his older novels, I can see a change that might be upsetting to some fans. I like variety. I love his humor, vocablulary, sarcasm, and the bizzarre....

A reviewer

Honey Santana is an unforgettable heroine, and Lee Adams's narration of Honey's exploits is equally memorable. She imbues Honey and Hiaasen's other over the top characters with all their grit, determination, bravado, zest, and intensity. With 'Nature Girl' we again enjoy this author's trademark tough yet tender prose, biting satire, and total originality. Plus, thanks to him, the State of Florida is revealed in all its steamy, seamy splendor. He won me with 'Skinny Dip' and I haven't looked back since. We meet Boyd Shreave who is employed by Relentless, Inc. where he makes his living as a telemarketer. His mistress, Eugenie Fonda 'who claimed a murky connection to the famous acting family' is in the cubicle next to him, a script is in front of him, and he has an assumed name for calling purposes - Boyd Eisenhower. He'll rue the day that he ever dialed Honey Santana's number. Honey is a woman on a mission fueled by a rabid desire to rid the world of many adversities that have visited her, one of them being dinnertime sales calls. Her 12-year-old son, Fry, alternates between believing her to be tetched or the most wonderful Mom in the world. Her brother, Richard, is well aware that his sister 'sometimes reacted to ordinary situations in unique ways.' Nonetheless, he locates Boyd for her. Her plan? To sell him something he can't afford. Sure enough, Boyd takes the bait and soon Honey is escorting the telemarketer and his reluctant mistress on a kayak tour through the wilds of Ten Thousand Islands. She just intends to teach them a lesson or three. What she hadn't counted on is Piejack, her boss at the fish market, following her. Piejack is the kind of guy who thinks sexual harassment in the workplace is acceptable, and the object of his attention is Honey. Now, listen carefully (this is Hiaasen) - Piejack is being followed by Honey's ex, Perry, and Fry. Dismal Key is a landing place for this parade, and it's there they find Sammy Tigertail, a half-white, half-Seminole former alligator wrestler who tried his hand at doing airboat tours. But, when his first customer died on board, he told his uncle 'he wasn't spiritually equipped to deal with tourists.' Precisely what he is equipped for is subject for conjecture. Hiaasen's cast of crazy characters garner laughs aplenty. His meandering plot is a playful perplexity, and Lee Adams doesn't miss a nuance. Enjoy!