A Salty Piece of Land

Rating:
Summary: Very entertaining escapism
Review: Ernest Hemmingway he is not, but nontheless the mayor of Margaritaville takes us literally under his seaplane wing as we co-travel once again on a first class laid back tour of the blue and green waters of the Caribbean.

The characters in the story are a delightful mix of people the author has obviously met at one time or another during his adventures and he treats the reader to all their eccentricities.

A product of the drug culture of the 1970s, Jimmy can't resist the occasional mention of a joint, and perhaps he feels it necessary to validate himself as a novelist with sexual forays that weren't mentioned nearly as often in his previous work. However he still weaves a charming tale of adventure and spins great yarn.

A must read for the Parrothead legions who over the years have come to expect a seasonal escape to the lower lattitudes, and yet another reason for you poor big city souls to say good bye to ugly black snowdrifts of the north and hello to the palm tree laden sundrenched skies of the really DEEP south.

Rating:
Summary: An Inexpensive Trip To Paradise
Review: I got the book for Christmas, and once I started to read it I couldn't put it down. There's a great cast of characters, including Tully Mars, who all have interesting backgrounds. How they all intertwine, and how they come into, out of and back into Tully's life through out the story, made me keep reading to see what will happen next. I love "Where Is Joe Merchant", and this book is right up there with it. If you want to get away metally for a while, this is an inexpensive trip to paradise.

Rating:
Summary: A Journey of The Carribean and Wildly Diverting Tangents
Review: I have to agree with Mr. Bob Crandle on this one. Jimmy Buffett's A Salty Piece of Land is all over the Carribean and it journeys without focus. Yes, there are some interesting moments here and there most notably describing 102 year old Cleopatra, the wild party with Noelle Christmas and Dawn and Tully's eventual meeting with Sophie and Montana. These detailed character descriptions do work well.

However, a good novel has a story with rising action, a plot, and a final conclusion. A Salty Piece of Land is quite lacking in these critical areas. Buffett overloads his audience with never ending subplots and side stories that makes this piece of work uncomprehensible in way too many spots.

Never has the saying less is more rang true. Jimmy Buffett writes about so many light hearted tales with some focus in his many musical recordings. Its a shame he could not stick more to that formula in writing this novel. Parrot Heads you need to realize that this book is truly for the birds.

Rating:
Summary: A good read if you're in the proper frame of mind...
Review: I just finished Jimmy Buffett's meandering latest work, A Salty Piece of Land. I liked it, but I can see how others might be somewhat bored by it all.

The main character, Tully Mars, is on an adventure trying to escape from an unfortunate incident in his past (along with bounty hunters and trumped up charges). For a cowboy, he has a strange affinity for the sea, and soon he and his horse end up on a slow boat to a Caribbean island. He starts off working as a fishing guide for a new retreat there, but soon ends up on board a masted sailing ship commanded by a 100+ year old lady. Her life goal is to restore a certain lighthouse to its former glory, and to do so she needs to track down a rare type of lens for the lighting mechanism. This becomes Tully's goal too, and the two set out to meet people, share experiences, and track down the elusive lens. Along the way, Tully has to watch out for the bounty hunters as well as figure out where his life is really going.

The book is 462 pages, and I was being descriptive when I called it meandering. The plot line is extremely loose, and there's not any sense of build-up or pacing. It's one of those stories that could have been told in 200 pages (or less), but then it wouldn't have the flavor that it has. I think you have to be in a laid-back mood to read it, and just enjoy the characters and the twists of life for what they are. If you're looking for a tight, well-crafted story, this isn't it. Conversely, if you're looking to escape into the oceans, islands, and the off-beat characters found there, this could be what you're looking for. There's definitely plenty of Buffett to be found in the book, and I have no doubt that many of the scenes and incidents could be based on things that really happened to him.

So, go in with an open mind and the right attitude, and just let things flow. It's probably the best way to enjoy this one...

Rating:
Summary: Painfully boring
Review: I really liked 'Joe Merchant', but I had to stop reading this about 150 pages in becuase it was simply TOO BORING. Nothing ever really happened, and I got the feeling it never would.

Rating:
Summary: TOO BAD I READ THIS ONE FIRST!
Review: I was intrigued by the title and the jacket description of this story. The first chapter sucked me in, but by about chapter 10, I was wondering where in the world this story was going. If Mr. "B" had just stuck to the original premise and discarded about 200 pages in the middle of the book, it would have been a much more enjoyable read. I was bored and a bit disgusted with some of the "raunchy" parts that had no apparent connection to the actual storyline. Guess he must have slipped off the wagon during those parts and sobered up some where around chapter 36 or so. I would have enjoyed much more the story of Cleopatra and the lighthouse to have been the focal point of the book. Sounds like, from other reviews, that maybe Joe Merchant would be much more interesting and a better value for my money spent. Think I'll just stick to his music!

Rating:
Summary: Changes in latitudes...
Review: If this book doesn't make you want to hop a schooner to some southerly latitude, then you don't have a parrothead bone in your body! Jimmy Buffett's latest salt water novel is a tapestry of wonderfully told stories all coming together in the life of our man Tully Mars. Tully's adventures take him all over the Carribean as a fugitive, cowboy, adventurer, shrimp boat crewman, fishing guide, lover, lighthouse tender and unlikely participant in a spring break foam party! What a ride! Fire up the blender!!

Rating:
Summary: Dripping with atmosphere.
Review: Jimmy Buffett, through his expatriate protagonist Tully Mars, paints word pictures worthy of Charles Dickens that vividly evoke the sights, smells, and sounds of exotic locales while a parade of wonderfully exaggerated characters with Dickensian names like Ix-Nay, Cleopatra Highbourne, Sammy Raye Coconuts, and Noel-Christmas come and go throughout the pages in the fashion of a theatrical farce. It's really too bad JB didn't name one of his characters Boz.

But not unlike a connoisseur's Margarita, there's some underlying complexity here. You'll learn a little something about Mayan history and culture; fly fishing; flying boats; and lighthouses among other things, and you might just discover, as I did, some clues worth pursuing to valuable treasures like Carlos Gardel, The King of Tango or the rare and sublime vintage Romanee Trache 1985 or the enthralling film The Man Who Would be King. For us disreputable types, there's a mildly titillating gratuitous sex scene and some occasions involving drug use. And if you pay close attention, there's even a social comment or two and some unexpectedly mature reflection on a meaningful life.

I guess you could say this book resembles the Sunday buffet (pun intended) at The Ritz-Carlton Cancun: delightfully varied, deliciously decadent, and enjoyed in a tropical setting. Jimmy Buffett's ability to relate to those with a sultry soul and a joie de vivre has never been better. Bon appetit, mon!


Rating:
Summary: Better left unread
Review: The Buffett money machine keeps on printing......A Salty Piece of Land should have remained a short story. Tully Mars was a fun character for a chapter or two yet every occurrence leads to one tangental story or more. The book moves sideways more than it moves forward. If your looking to read this as an escape your better off closing your eyes and listening to his music

Rating:
Summary: 92 in the Shade
Review: Wow, "Ninety Two in the Shade" meets "Sundog". OK, so it's no McGuane or Harrison. Get it because you're a Parrothead and you need a Buffett fix. A cheap ticket to the tropics!