Basket Case - Hardcover

Hiaasen, Carl

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0375411070 ISBN 13: 9780375411076

Publisher: Alfred a Knopf Inc, 2002

Synopsis

Former investigative reporter Jack Tagger gets his chance to escape the doldrums of obituary writing as he investigates the supicious "accidental" death of rock star Jimmy Stoma, the infamous leader of Jimmy and the Slut Puppies, if he can escape his ambitious young editor, the star's widow, a brutish bodyguard, and the profit-hungry owner of his newpaper. 300,000 first printing.

About this title

Review:

Carl Hiaasen has long been at the forefront of satire and outrageous comedy in crime writing but his last few books had lacked the righteous anger of his earlier efforts. Basket Case proves a welcome and thoroughly enjoyable return to corrosive form for the crusading Miami Herald journalist it's better not to cross. Instead of his customary and by now predictable targets of venal developers and corporate greed, Hiaasen here skewers the rock & roll business and its attendant denizens and hangers-on with wilful glee and a mischievous use of insider information (the title of the book is also that of a song from the forthcoming album by Warren Zevon, an iconoclastic singer with whom Hiaasen has collaborated before). A flamboyant rock singer dies in a suspicious diving accident off the Bahamas coast and disgraced and bolshie reporter Jack Tagger assigned to his obituary uncovers a nest of puzzles. Did his Courtney Love look-alike younger wife kill him to appropriate the tapes of his comeback album? Will Jack best his venal proprietors and redeem his journalistic integrity? Why does his young and nubile editor wear sexy nail polish on her toes? The jokes and witty observations come fast and furious, and it's a pleasing ride through more Florida craziness and a scintillating gallery of characters gleaned from headlines including a parade of musical crazies straight from Spinal Tap, ex-girlfriends with obligatory jailbait daughters and journalists you would never think of trusting your life to. --Maxim Jakubowski

Review:

[A] rollickingly comic and suspenseful adventure.
Los Angeles Times
Fresh and juicy. . . A sunny delight.
Entertainment Weekly
As delicious as ever. . . [Hiaasen is] a master of the comic crime novel.
People
Hiaasen delivers a culpable caper that s a pleasurable hit.
USA Today

A riot. . . It s one thing to be twisted and funny. It s quite another to manage twisted, funny, and serious. . . . Hiaasen consistently juggles the heavy with the light.
Detroit News
Frisky. . . . The real music here is Mr. Hiaasen s self-assured banter.
The New York Times

Riled, righteous, and rip-roaring funny. . . Hiaasen s novels ought to bear the warning label: may be hazardous to your sides. They may split.
New York Newsday

[Hiaasen] is head and shoulders above the rest. . . . Straight crime fiction with a biting, satiric edge, and it proves what his hardcore fans have known for a long time he is, at heart, simply a great storyteller and a better writer.
Charleston Post and Courier

Great good fun. . . Basket Case is typical Hiaasen. In other words, it s wildly hyperbolic, with lots of digs at South Florida's zany lifestyle and (in this case) a total smearing of corporate journalism.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch"

"[A] rollickingly comic and suspenseful adventure."
--Los Angeles Times

"Fresh and juicy. . . A sunny delight."
--Entertainment Weekly

"As delicious as ever. . . [Hiaasen is] a master of the comic crime novel."
--People

"Hiaasen delivers a culpable caper that's a pleasurable hit."
--USA Today

"A riot. . . It's one thing to be twisted and funny. It's quite another to manage twisted, funny, and serious. . . . Hiaasen consistently juggles the heavy with the light."
--Detroit News

"Frisky. . . . The real music here is Mr. Hiaasen's self-assured banter."
--The New York Times

"Riled, righteous, and rip-roaring funny. . . Hiaasen's novels ought to bear the warning label: may be hazardous to your sides. They may split."
--New York Newsday

"[Hiaasen] is head and shoulders above the rest. . . . Straight crime fiction with a biting, satiric edge, and it proves what his hardcore fans have known for a long time--he is, at heart, simply a great storyteller and a better writer."
--Charleston Post and Courier

"Great good fun. . . Basket Case is typical Hiaasen. In other words, it's wildly hyperbolic, with lots of digs at South Florida's zany lifestyle and (in this case) a total smearing of corporate journalism."
--St. Louis Post-Dispatch

About this edition

• Publisher: Alfred a Knopf Inc
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0375411070
• ISBN 13: 9780375411076
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 317