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24th out of 56 books
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Tales from Margaritaville
Margaritaville may not appear on a map, but it does exist--at least in the brilliantly creative, sometimes slightly skewed imagination of Jimmy Buffett. Tales from Margaritaville is a collection of short stories (some purely fiction, some based in truth) so vividly packed with restless dreamers, wild wanderers, and pure gypsy souls that just reading it is a wild adventure....more
Paperback, 264 pages
Published
June 3rd 2002
by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
(first published 1989)
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If you are a fan of Buffett's, you'll enjoy this book for about all it gives you. I found myself rolling my eyes whenever he pulled out a line or phrase from one of his books, and found some of the stories more interesting than others. They aren't consistent--it's like he decided he needed a love story here, a sports story there...I liked that he repeated characters we would meet in one story and write about them, so you got to know people, but some of the stories were trite and almost like he w...more
Found this book at a garage sale in the summer of 2009, then read it on the airplane ride to Key West, Florida in January 2010. I enjoyed it, especially because of the anticipation of exploring the key. Our first night, we met a young man playing guitar on a street corner. We gave him a dollar and he sang us a song. It was called "Jimmy Buffett Don't Live Here No More."
This book of fiction takes you on a glorious ride on the land and on the sea. The rag-tag group of cowboy, sailor, and rebel musician keeps you on your toes and guessing as to what and where it is happening next.If your speed is not full speed ahead you will get lost in the salty musical dust. It is a great ride that you might just find yourself reading over again.
For any parrothead (jimmy Buffett fans) or lover of Jimmy's songs, this book is a fun read that includes many memorable lines from Buffett's songs.
An eclectic collection of short-stories, heavy on tropical escapism and island spices, it's an enjoyable beach read perfect for anyone looking for a fun vacation book and is a must-read for hardcore Buffett PHans.
An eclectic collection of short-stories, heavy on tropical escapism and island spices, it's an enjoyable beach read perfect for anyone looking for a fun vacation book and is a must-read for hardcore Buffett PHans.
Mighty
added it
1st half of the book is pretty weak!!!! Jimmy put down the pen and pick up the guitar. Your forte is telling stories but somehow these fictional representations fall short... but wait!!!
2nd half of the book is true stories of Jimmy's mis-spent youth and is great!!! It makes me want to be there... the good and the bad... wonderful stories!
2nd half of the book is true stories of Jimmy's mis-spent youth and is great!!! It makes me want to be there... the good and the bad... wonderful stories!
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A collection of short stores. The premise of most of the stories is ship sailing or life in the Florida keys. A fictional Snake Bite Key plays a large role. The book is very enjoyable for those of us who've spent extended time in the keys. The feelings of the characters and the oddity of key life is well discussed. Easy read.
For a southern boy raised on the gulf coast this book re-inforced all the values passed down to me by my grandfater. And the most important thing, it makes me smile. If you can read this book with out cracking a smile or sheding a tear your soul has truly turned to the dark side.
If you're a Parrothead, you'll like this eccentric collection of short stories from the witty modern-day pirate-wanna-be Jimmy Buffett. His stories and music take me on mind-vacations as oft as needed.
I love Jimmy Buffet music so I had to give Jimmy Buffet the author a chance. I enjoyed the short stories. They are stories to read in one reading. I noticed I enjoyed them more that way vs. read a page and do something and come back later. The stories make you want to sail away to Margaritaville and enjoy the sunshine and fishing. Not all of the short stories are winners. My favorites were: Take another road and Boomerang Love in the Heat Wave Chronicles and Are you Ready for Freddy? in the Marg...more
I'm not sure what to say about this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it, although there were a few stories that I didn't like so much. Mostly, this book made me dream, and I am grateful to it for that.
after reading some pretty intense and downright depressing books of late, i was really happy to escape and read this collection of light and fun stories....the lizard story is by far the best....
I love Jimmy's books, they are soo full of crazy characters and wild stories. This book was no exception, however, it wasn't my favorite of his, but well worth reading and enjoying.
Love quirky Jimmy Buffett! He is such a colorful, entertaining storyteller. First half is better than the second half...that said, I could read his stories for days on end!
The characters in this book were just that, characters. They are colorful and interesting. I would recomend this book for light hearted reading.
I hope to one day find my Margaritaville. I hope you will join me.
I hope to one day find my Margaritaville. I hope you will join me.
This was a fun read. The adventures of a cowboy and his horse Mark Twain and many other short stories. It would be fun for relaxing. I definately recomned it.
Reissued in 2002, I found this on the paperback table at the bookstore in Kihei, desparate for more reading material as the two books I took to Maui were quickly devoured. Buffett wrote these stories before his novels. The quintessential beach read. It's about the beach, the sea, sailing, drinking, and carousing. Great short stories. I especially enjoyed the upbeat nature of the book. The stories were about people realizing their dreams, and just that. No morality tale of being careful for what ...more
Another great read by Buffett. I don't think a lot of people realize he is a wonderful author on top of a singer and songwriter.
Read it during exam week, it was the perfect escape, plus the stories made it easy to put down and pick back up again.
even at the time, my love of all things buffett was no match for my incomprehension of the purpose of the short story
I have read this book once or twice before but every time I read it I'm ready to go walkabout. It is a fun read.
you don't need me to tell you about this book. look who wrote it, and never grew up, even if he got older.
Jimmy Buffet is a great story teller. I can't believe it took me this long to discover that.
Mark Fearing
is currently reading it
Good read so far; it picks up where "A Salty Piece of Land," Buffet's previous book leaves off.
Interesting to see the roots of some of his songs embedded in these short stories.
It's a fun book to take with you to the beach. Makes me want to move to an island.
just a re-read of a perennial favourite - Jimmy provides tempting lifestyle choices.
ahh...one of my favorites! Easy read..takes you quickly away to paradise.
This is the best of Buffett's foray's into the world of literature. It's a collection of short stories based around Buffett's slacker world, with a variety interesting characters. He doesn't take himself too seriously. This is a fun read, with Buffett's characteristic tongue-in-cheek humor and wit. It's about time I went back and read it again. The short form of writing fits Buffett's talents much better than the longer novels like Where's Joe Merchant? and A Salty Piece of Land.
I got bored with this one. So, good stories some bad.
I like Jimmy Buffett. His books are hit or miss however, I liked this one and now I'm encouraging my kid to give it a try.
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James William "Jimmy" Buffett (born December 25, 1946) is a singer, songwriter, author, businessman, and recently a movie producer best known for his "island escapism" lifestyle and music including hits such as "Margaritaville" (No. 234 on RIAA's list of "Songs of the Century"), and "Come Monday". He has a devoted base of fans known as "Parrot...more
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“1. Never forget--"they" are always the enemy.
2. Just remember, assholes are born that way, and they usually don't change.
3. You don't want to go to jail.
4. When you start to take this job seriously, you're in trouble.
5. It takes no more time to see the good side of life than it takes to see the bad.
6. If you decide to run the ball, just count on fumbling and getting the shit knocked out of you a lot, but never forget how much fun it is just to be able to run the ball!”
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28 people liked it
2. Just remember, assholes are born that way, and they usually don't change.
3. You don't want to go to jail.
4. When you start to take this job seriously, you're in trouble.
5. It takes no more time to see the good side of life than it takes to see the bad.
6. If you decide to run the ball, just count on fumbling and getting the shit knocked out of you a lot, but never forget how much fun it is just to be able to run the ball!”
“The right combination of guilt and machismo has sent many a fool out into the jungle when he should have stayed home.”
—
10 people liked it
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