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123rd out of 1,871 books
—
3,702 voters
Native Tongue
by
Carl Hiaasen
Now reissued--one of the most beloved novels by the "New York Times" bestselling author in which dedicated, if somewhat demented, environmentalists battle sleazy real estate developers in the Florida Keys.
Trade Paperback, 437 pages
Published
May 2005
by Warner Books
(first published 1991)
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By page 320 I was quite ready to put Carl Hiaasen's Native Tongue down. As cleverly drawn as Hiaasen's characters are, it seems he was quite unwilling to let them go, and hence 100 pages after I was done reading, the book ended.
The story follows former investigative reporter turned PR man Joe Winder as his job and the events around it at the Amazing Kingdom theme park on North Key Largo turn from bad to worse. Following the daytime kidnapping of two endangered mango voles, the park goes into pa...more
The story follows former investigative reporter turned PR man Joe Winder as his job and the events around it at the Amazing Kingdom theme park on North Key Largo turn from bad to worse. Following the daytime kidnapping of two endangered mango voles, the park goes into pa...more
I've now read just over half of Carl Hiaasen's novels. I've come to the conclusion that I prefer his more recent work and always his juvenile fiction. The cut off point seems to be about 2000, although I did enjoy most of Lucky You (1997).
Native Tongue being one of the earliest of his novels (#4) has many of the same themes as his later ones: environmentalism, corruption, animal rights, and big business. The big business in this case is a mob run amusement park with a desire to be bigger than D...more
Native Tongue being one of the earliest of his novels (#4) has many of the same themes as his later ones: environmentalism, corruption, animal rights, and big business. The big business in this case is a mob run amusement park with a desire to be bigger than D...more
Apr 12, 2007
Wendy
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone with a good sense of humor
Shelves:
fiction
If you haven't read anything by Carl Hiaasen, come see what all the fuss is about. I'm a huge devotee, and "Native Tongue" is part of the reason.
The story takes place at an animal theme park in Florida. As in all Hiaasen books, characters include thugs, ecoterrorists and all-round good guys. Hiaasen is a master of crafting a seemingly lighthearted tale with a strong message underneath. Read a Hiaasen book once a year--it's good for what ails you. And you might even be able to stop taking anti-d...more
The story takes place at an animal theme park in Florida. As in all Hiaasen books, characters include thugs, ecoterrorists and all-round good guys. Hiaasen is a master of crafting a seemingly lighthearted tale with a strong message underneath. Read a Hiaasen book once a year--it's good for what ails you. And you might even be able to stop taking anti-d...more
The sad news is that I only have two more Hiaasen's that I haven't read. I sure hope he's busy with the next one. Native Tongue has all the black humor of the rest of his books and maybe a little more. I heard the other day that Hiaasen says his characters and situations are built from true life. I sure hope my life never meets his except in his books! Native Tongue centers on a Disney World wannabe - it's destruction of Florida's natural resources and the punishment for same. It's GREAT. (revie...more
I've been reading a lot of cozy mysteries lately, and Hiaasen makes a great kind of 'palate cleanser' in the midst of that kind of feast. Hiaasen's characters are extreme, his language vivid and absorbing, and his plots seriously whacked. Very, very few other writers provide the kind of roller-coaster, living-on-the-edge feel that Hiaasen does.
They also tend to be rather grim, full of characters who give meaning to the term "moral turpitude," or are operating way, way out at the far end of the...more
They also tend to be rather grim, full of characters who give meaning to the term "moral turpitude," or are operating way, way out at the far end of the...more
I can’t get enough of Hiaasen! This was another of his hilarious satires - full of wacky characters that inhabit South Florida. I think this is about the 7th Hiaasen I have read and I would rank this with his best. (Others I have read include Tourist Season, Double Whammy, Strip Tease, Lucky You, Skin Tight, Nature Girl). This novel is one of his most direct assaults on developers wrecking havoc on the Florida environment. The targets include the amusement parks such as Sea World and Disney but...more
Rating: what? I was too busy laughing to hear you
Blue-tongued mango voles. If you've read the book, you've now collapsed on the floor howling in remembered glee. If you haven't read the book before, well, it's time now.
Mix Hiaasen's trademark hapless idiot criminals, burnt-out losers, small-minded grifters, and slimy real estate developers, add a cut-rate theme park, shake with a dose of environmentalist headline-grabbing, and *poof* you have the kind of book that makes summer beach reading so m...more
Blue-tongued mango voles. If you've read the book, you've now collapsed on the floor howling in remembered glee. If you haven't read the book before, well, it's time now.
Mix Hiaasen's trademark hapless idiot criminals, burnt-out losers, small-minded grifters, and slimy real estate developers, add a cut-rate theme park, shake with a dose of environmentalist headline-grabbing, and *poof* you have the kind of book that makes summer beach reading so m...more
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Ex-reporter Joe Winder is now the PR writer for the Amazing Kingdom of Thrills theme park in Key Largo, Florida. Formerly an employee of the competition (Disney), Joe now writes real sweet press releases, you know, the sugar-coated kind. Things get a little interesting at the Rare Animal Pavilion. The rare, treasured and last two surviving specimens of the blue-tongued mango vole (similar to rats, I guess) are carelessly stolen and inevitably killed by two [bumbling] burglars hired by a 70-year-...more
Notes for myself: Characters include Joe the burn-out ex-newspaper man turned PR hack for a rip-off amusement park, that was founded by a mob guy in the witness protection program, Frankie. Frankie's obsessed with competing with Disney. The smarmy Charles Chelsea is the head of PR, Joe's boss. Joe's girlfriend Nina who dumps him works the sex-talk phone lines. Pedro, the steroid-popping head of security, is the precursor to another character in another of his books...Tool. Also, there's Molly th...more
A new favorite Hiaasen. To lend credit to my review, some of his books I've enjoyed less than others: Sick Puppy and Basket Case were so-so. Native Tongue 'NT' was awesome - right up there with Nature Girl, Skinny Dip and Strip Tease.
Some of the other reviews complain about the large cast of characters and side tangents. Umm... have they read any of his other books? Native Tongue was pretty much straightforward Hiaasen. I thought there was more sex in NT than some of his more recent novels - no...more
Some of the other reviews complain about the large cast of characters and side tangents. Umm... have they read any of his other books? Native Tongue was pretty much straightforward Hiaasen. I thought there was more sex in NT than some of his more recent novels - no...more
Jan 06, 2012
Lance Charnes
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Carl Hiaasen completeists
Shelves:
fiction-mystery-intrigue
Fairly standard-issue Hiaasen (which is better than a number of writers at the top of their game), a pleasant-enough way to spend an afternoon. If you've read any of his other Florida-based sagas, you'll see all the regular characters: the burned-out, washed-up ex-journalist hero (check); the hot babe who unaccountably sleeps with the ex-journalist hero (check; wonder how Mrs. Hiaasen feels about this character?); the stupid cracker criminals (check); the rapacious zillionaire developer bent on...more
Oct 27, 2010
Bill
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Humor lovers, mystery fans
Recommended to Bill by:
The Today Show
Hiassen is a long-time favorite. His writing style is predictible, thematic but his stories are just plain fun. Virtually all his stories take place in south Florida. Each of them involve a variety of characters - and most of these characters are, well, looney-tunes. Oddballs and dingbats, some harmless, some toxic and murderous. Even the baddest of the bad manage to make foolish choices - and that's what makes Hiassen such a great read.
Native Tongue features a couple of inept thieves who steal...more
Native Tongue features a couple of inept thieves who steal...more
Nov 06, 2011
Shelby
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Nobody, ever.
Shelves:
audio-books,
book-club
This book was awful.
I've never read a Carl Hiaasen book, and never will again. I just have no respect for an author who kills a character off by having them 'f*#@ed to death by a dolphin'. Sorry Carl, there's just no forgiving that kind of thing.
I was sad to see this book go so completely off the deep end. There actually were a few times when I chuckled, because it really was humorous at certain points. But Hiaasen clearly thinks he's hilarious, and hasn't grown out of the raunchy teenage boy st...more
I've never read a Carl Hiaasen book, and never will again. I just have no respect for an author who kills a character off by having them 'f*#@ed to death by a dolphin'. Sorry Carl, there's just no forgiving that kind of thing.
I was sad to see this book go so completely off the deep end. There actually were a few times when I chuckled, because it really was humorous at certain points. But Hiaasen clearly thinks he's hilarious, and hasn't grown out of the raunchy teenage boy st...more
Carl Hiaasen does what he does, and he does it well. That's basically it.
You know when you pick up a book by Hiaasen that you're going to get:
a) Sleazy Florida land developers
b) A protagonist who's a little person fighting a losing battle, but doing it with style.
c) A romantic subplot, usually involving a remarkably competent woman
d) Theme: 'Don't tear up the everglades / gulf coast'
e) A number of laugh-out-loud moments
f) An over the top bad guy, probably addicted to something bizarre. In this c...more
You know when you pick up a book by Hiaasen that you're going to get:
a) Sleazy Florida land developers
b) A protagonist who's a little person fighting a losing battle, but doing it with style.
c) A romantic subplot, usually involving a remarkably competent woman
d) Theme: 'Don't tear up the everglades / gulf coast'
e) A number of laugh-out-loud moments
f) An over the top bad guy, probably addicted to something bizarre. In this c...more
I recommended this book to a large crowd of people in an airport one time because I was laughing so hard, snot was coming out of my nose and one lady finally said "WHAT are you reading?!?!". Approximately half of the crowd standing there wrote down the title and author... hope they had the same snot-laughing-experience I had! :)
Carl Hiaasen's works are usually very funny, intelligent, witty, creative, with a happy ending. What could you want more from an entertaining lite read? The imaginative characters, the adventure, the great use of irony and sarcasm, he keeps you guessing how things could possibly all work out for the best, and they do in his books which I like. I always find good qualities to admire in his heros, and can easily despise the villians, cheering when they meet their demise...in whatever creative fash...more
It's trashy but smart. It's trashy smart. Smart trash. Like, Playboy with a PhD in the swamps of Florida. The story is fun, moves like lightning and has an environmental conscience. It's the story of a journalist who has ended up working in the publicity department at a second-rate amusement park and gets caught in the crossfire of his corrupt bosses and the environmentalists trying to save the land. Also, his girlfriend is a phone sex worker, so we get regular doses of her trade whenever he cal...more
At first, I was very excited to read this book. I'd heard great things about the author, and the description on the back of the book made it sound like a kick-in-the-pants.
I needed a funny kick-in-the-pants kind of book to distract me and make me laugh.
Well, it worked ... for about the first fifteen pages. Halarious.
But, then it simply became ridiculous. Too ridiculous. The kind of ridiculous where I want to shake the author and ask, "Do you think I'm that stupid? Come on!"
So, I decided to stop...more
I needed a funny kick-in-the-pants kind of book to distract me and make me laugh.
Well, it worked ... for about the first fifteen pages. Halarious.
But, then it simply became ridiculous. Too ridiculous. The kind of ridiculous where I want to shake the author and ask, "Do you think I'm that stupid? Come on!"
So, I decided to stop...more
Another guilty pleasure read this vacation. However, this one wasn't as good as the other three or was it four I read. Still an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon lollng on the beach.
Another guilty pleasure summer read, but this one wasn't as good as the other three or four I read this summer. Still, an enjoyable way to spend a summer afternoon lolling at the beach or pool.
This time, Hiassen combines amusement park developers, a mobster in witness protection, a pair of good-hearted robbers, a j...more
Another guilty pleasure summer read, but this one wasn't as good as the other three or four I read this summer. Still, an enjoyable way to spend a summer afternoon lolling at the beach or pool.
This time, Hiassen combines amusement park developers, a mobster in witness protection, a pair of good-hearted robbers, a j...more
My husband bought me this book some time ago. I don't know why, but the jacket didn't really grab my attention, and I left it until I ran out of things to read. I was very surprised how much I liked it!! It was pretty action packed, with a complicated plot and a LOT of characters. But the characters are memorable, and he writes so well that the story flows well and you aren't struggling to remember who is who as in many books with a large cast. In addition to the action, there was a LOT of comed...more
Familiar with _Hoot_ and other titles by this author via librarianship work with children, I only discovered that Hiaasen wrote books for grown ups when I heard him on NPR a couple of weeks ago. This book was a delight, the whole thing seems to be kind of tongue in cheek. In the middle of my own cold Midwestern winter, reading about escapades in south Florida was a delightful escape, and if one has participated in, and/or been boggled by the consumerism that is the Disney empire, the digs agains...more
What an amazing and outrageous book! Carl Hiaasen at his best. Expertly written as only a newspaper reporter can. Characters richly drawn and the kind that would only appear in a Hiaasen novel. This time its an all out battle against over development of the Florida coast - just how many golf resorts do people need! Its hard to focus on who the heroes and the villains are - so amazing and complex are the characters. The book will make you question your own standards on development versus open nat...more
Haaisen all the way. He always makes me laugh out loud, and yet I also always learn something....
From the Publisher
When the precious clue-tongued mango voles at the Amazing Kingdom of Thrills on North Key Largo are stolen by heartless, ruthless thugs, Joe Winder wants to uncover why, and find the voles. Joe is lately a PR man for the Amazing Kingdom theme park, but now that the voles are gone, Winder is dragged along in their wake through a series of weird and lethal events that begin with the...more
From the Publisher
When the precious clue-tongued mango voles at the Amazing Kingdom of Thrills on North Key Largo are stolen by heartless, ruthless thugs, Joe Winder wants to uncover why, and find the voles. Joe is lately a PR man for the Amazing Kingdom theme park, but now that the voles are gone, Winder is dragged along in their wake through a series of weird and lethal events that begin with the...more
Another satisfying read from Hiaasen. The characters are colorful and nuts and Florida is the crazy lady who always makes you shake your head.
And he delivers by making the bad guys pay big and good(ish) guys end up alright in totally unexpected and cool ways.
It is another book that depicts the true nature of wild animals and gives them license to wreck havoc on humans who dare attempt to subjugate them.
One star docked for TYPOS, really Mr. Award-Winning Newspaper Columnist? No excuse!
One star do...more
And he delivers by making the bad guys pay big and good(ish) guys end up alright in totally unexpected and cool ways.
It is another book that depicts the true nature of wild animals and gives them license to wreck havoc on humans who dare attempt to subjugate them.
One star docked for TYPOS, really Mr. Award-Winning Newspaper Columnist? No excuse!
One star do...more
I had a hard time getting into this book. I have read allmost all of Carl Haasen's books and enjoyed them. However, I could tell this was one of his earlier books. The writing wasn't as polished as his more recent books, and had a huge cast of characters to keep track of.
I am glad that I stuck the book out as it introduced the characters of Skink and State Trooper Jim Tile. I first encountered these two in the more recent Star Island and really enjoyed the relationship they share. So it was good...more
I am glad that I stuck the book out as it introduced the characters of Skink and State Trooper Jim Tile. I first encountered these two in the more recent Star Island and really enjoyed the relationship they share. So it was good...more
Helter skelter farce combining greed, corruption, mafiosi and people in racoon costumes. Geriatric environmentalists clash with Florida developers. Th egood guys are faced with corruption and a steroid-addicted ex-cop who's developing rabies. Hiaasen's wonderful ex-Governor Tyree pops in to hang the odd thug and all rattles along at a great pace. Highly recommended.
Longer review and annotations at Carl Hiaasen: Native Tongue review
Longer review and annotations at Carl Hiaasen: Native Tongue review
Yes, yes, we all know that high art it ain't, but Hiaasen never fails to entertain. The characters are, as always, beautifully sketched. My particular favourite in this book was Pedro, the psychopathic security man with the (inevitable) checkered past and a predilection for taking his anabolic steroids either intravenously, or, as the fancy takes him, by sucking on the end of the intravenous tubing. When his Hispanic sidekick warned him that this would give him 'zits on his cholders' , I almost...more
Moje první setkání s Hiaasenem a nepříliš šťastné. Pořád jsem měl dojem, jako bych četl pokus o Dortmundera, ale Westlake to umí líp. Na detektivku to bylo málo napínavé a na humoristickou knihu málo legrační. (view spoiler)
Poslední jedovaté odprsknutí se týká překladu - jak může překládat někdo bez znalostí reálií, že neví, že Coors je pivo (takže sixpack se snad nepřeloží jako balíček), že Alamos jsou auta z půjčovny Alamo a že...more
Poslední jedovaté odprsknutí se týká překladu - jak může překládat někdo bez znalostí reálií, že neví, že Coors je pivo (takže sixpack se snad nepřeloží jako balíček), že Alamos jsou auta z půjčovny Alamo a že...more
This book is a solid "meh." Though I love Hiassen's novels, this one didn't do it for me. One of the first problems I became aware of was the head hopping. We start a paragraph in one person's POV and by the end of the page, we might have been through three or four more POVs. It was difficult to settle into the story when that problem kept cropping up. It was also about 100 pages too long.
Like all of his books, this one has an environmentalist theme. I am not an environmentalist but love his boo...more
Like all of his books, this one has an environmentalist theme. I am not an environmentalist but love his boo...more
Take a merry romp through a cut-rate amusement park in South Florida and join 2 hapless burglers as they kidnap the exotic blue-tongue mango volves for fun and profit. This is classic Hiassen. From the sleazy owner (Francis X. Kingsberry) to the steroid-abusing head of security Pedro Luz, this is one funny book. Hiassen's hero, Joe Winder, is on the case, uncovering crooked deals and mayhem to the delicate Florida enviornment. I listened to it on audio, read by the always excellent George Wilseo...more
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Carl Hiaasen was born and raised in Florida, where he still lives with his family. After graduating from the University of Florida, he began writing for the Miami Herald. As a journalist and author, Carl has spend most of his life advocating the protection of the Florida Everglades. He and his family still live southern Florida.
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