Naked Came the Manatee

Rating:
Summary: Kind of a Mess
Review: "Naked Came the Manatee" is a group collaboration by 13 Florida authors (originally serialized in 'The Miami Herald Tropic'), where one writer produces a chapter, then passes it on to the next writer so s/he can do the same. Dave Barry starts it off with the first chapter (comically entitled "Booger"), then Les Standiford takes on the next one, followed by the 11 other mystery writers: Paul Levine, Edna Buchanan, James W. Hall, Carolina Hospital, Evelyn Mayerson, Tananarive Due, Brian Antoni, Vicki Hendricks, John Dufresne, Elmore Leonard, and Carl Hiaasen.

Basically, "Naked Came the Manatee" is about a decapitated head--Fidel Castro's, to be exact--that's found in a metal canister floating in the water. From there, about half a dozen main characters (though only two stick out in my mind a day later: a 102-year-old woman and a manatee named Booger) are either trying to solve the mystery or just trying to stay alive--or both.

I honestly didn't know what to expect from this book when I bought it, even though a librarian recommended it to me. The idea of collaborative writing didn't seem like a good idea, especially with so many writers battling for the helm of the story. I noticed a few authors even backtracked to cover up other author's plot holes or mistakes, even added a few unnecessary characters. The result is kind of a mess. It doesn't have very smooth chapter transitions, and felt more like a collage rather than a work of art. The Florida setting was descriptive, yet at the same time very unflattering (didn't make me want to visit, especially after reading Brian Antoni's chapter).

The one good thing about "Naked Came the Manatee," though, is that it's short (approximately 200 pages), which makes for light reading. Still, this isn't one I'd necessarily recommend, unless you're a fan of one or more of the authors mentioned above.

Rating:
Summary: Mistake
Review: In desperate need of a light read and curious about the multi-author approach used with this novel, I dove into "Naked Came The Manatee" with anticipation of the fun and excitement typical of Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiassen writing. The story unravels the mystery behind two heads, both with a great similarity to Fidel Castro that are lost in transport from Florida to Cuba. Each of the thirteen authors writes a chapter of the novel, with Hiassen and Leonard attempting to pull the story together in the final chapters. The characters are odd and criminally inept as most characters in Hiassen's and Leonard's writing but the story is underdeveloped and lacks the immediacy of a great crime mystery. If you have nothing else to read and this book happens to be within reach give it a try. Don't expect much and you won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: A Wacky Look at a Wacky City
Review: It was bound to happen. Only in Miami (well, maybe in Los Angeles also) could a group of writers take turns doing a nutty story and have it sound like events you'd read in the Miami Herald. Dave Barry, Carl Hiaasen, Elmore Leonard and ten other south Florida authors each contribute a chapter to a story of theft, kidnaping, and murder in a plot to overthrow Fidel Castro, and Castro's moves to thwart it. Tourists, gangsters, environmentalists, reporters, and lawyers populate the story, but weaving through it all is a huge, affectionate manatee named Booger. The story comes back to Booger again and again, and when Booger is finally happy, we know the story has reached its fitting end. The book is whimsical and tremendously funny. It's well worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: One Funny Baker's Dozen
Review: Last time I laughed this hard about a booger, I was six. Naked Came the Manatee centers around a human-like manatee named Booger. Throw in thirteen accomplished authors, and you have a mystery-thriller like no other.

Dave Barry wrote the first chapter, and then each author continued with a respective one, making for a fairly interesting storyline. Each author added his or her own characters, but still managed to fit in the ones from the previous chapters.

Yes, there are some holes, and yes, I'm sure it was extremely difficult to follow the previous author's lead, but the book still had a fairly nice flow to it. The wacky plot, coupled with the Florida setting makes the well-written book a real pleasure to read.

Rating:
Summary: If only the manatee had more MEAT!
Review: Thirteen different authors? A plot involving Fidel Castro? One of the hottest cities in the world, Miami, as its setting? And one of my favorites of all the world's creatures, a manatee, being one of the focal points of the story line?

Well, all the above, unfortunately did not do it for me. Perhaps, "too many cooks in the kitchen" produced a soufflé with varying degrees of success. I suppose the distinctive styles of the different writers appealed to some, but I found it a wee bit disconcerting. There were some "hits" but more "misses" in this slightly amusing tale.

Honestly, I read this book based solely on the fact that I enjoy the writing of Tananarive Due. While her contribution is as evenly important as the other twelve writers, I don't think this is a good example of the strengths that draw me to her in her singular compositions.

In contrast, Evelyn Mayerson's contribution (Chapter 7: The Lock and Key) is wonderfully sarcastic and very amusing. With references to Jimmy Carter ("Senor Peanut"), O.J. lawyer Barry Scheck and an inference that actress Kim Nova had a mustache, thus indicating her likely Cuban "roots", the author adds more absurdity to the already strange happenings of previous (and subsequent) chapters.

I will, most definitely, be seeking out titles authored by her.

If only she had done the entire book, I could've rated it higher.

Rating:
Summary: Started strong, lost interest half way through
Review: This book started really strong and started dying about half way through. The first half flowed pretty nicely, the authors all had very close styles of writing that made it really enjoyable. About half way through, one of the big characters just disappeared and became a minor one, the styles of writing changed, sex and violence suddenly were added in what seemed like a PG-rated book, and the flow of events suddenly changed and left you confused. At the end, things seemed to make some sense, but at the same time your thinking "What?" Started strong, ended badly. Too bad too, I really liked Booger.