As another reviewer noted: South Florida-centric. Humor is there. witty? yes. But it just didn't keep me connected. ( )

Truth is stranger than fiction! If Carl Hiaasen, a syndicated columnist for the Miami Herald, had used some of the material from this book for a novel, critics would have panned the story line as being unbelievable.

And that is what the columns reprinted in this book are: unbelievable. A selection from 1985 to 2000, the year of the famous hanging chad, Hiaasen writes of southern Florida politics including the stories of convicted felons running and winning public offices, the tobacco lobby, the NRA, why you want the mob instead of non-professional drug dealers, how 2 + 12 = 25 is perfectly good math, how a poacher was named to the state’s Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission, and so on. He doesn’t stop at Southern Florida but takes on the foibles of Tallahassee and Washington. And he is an equal opportunity columnist – Democrats and Republicans are both well represented. You will learn why there is overdevelopment and the appearance of no zoning in Southern Florida, especially how every South Florida citizen has his very own strip mall.

Hiaasen writes in an easy and engaging style and the columns are short so this is a great book to read whenever you only have time for just a few pages. Just pick it up and start anywhere. ( )

Hiaasen is a great read, his characters are quircky & outrageous. enjoyed ( )