Rating: 
Summary: Obituaries, rock bands, scuba diving and a dead lizard......
Review: Carl Hiaasen has crafted another wonderfully crazy story centering on Jimmy Stoma who was a musician, his young widow , a 46 year old obituary writer, a dead lizard and a man who names himself after a shampoo. Okay, there are a lot of other amazing characters, the Slut Puppies(the dead musician's band), a delightful former journalist in his 90's, an interesting young female editor and a charming sports writer who made his way from Mariel, Cuba in a small boat.
How does a down on his luck obituary writer Jack Tagger hope to find out the facts in the death of Jimmy Stoma, the leader of the Slut Puppies, an 80's rock band. The death of the musician is deemed an accident, but is it really? His widow may have had her reason but did she have the ability? What about Stoma's sister, between her online live cam entertainment sessions can she help discover the facts? How can a dead lizard save someones life? Why are the Slut Puppies being attacked and killed? These are just some of the questions that are pondered as Tagger investigates.
Hiaasen has created an entertaining mystery, filled with humor that never slows down it's pace.
As an aside,you are regaled with the ages of famous individuals when they died, an obituary writers obsession that warps his personal life (Joe DiMaggio 84,Jack London 40,Elvis Presley 46,George Orwell 46, Jim Morrison 27, F. Scott Fitzgerald 44, Jacques-Yves Cousteau 87, Oscar Wilde 46,Jimi Hendrix 27, Janis Joplin 27, Jack Kerouac 47, Frank Sinatra 82, Deng Xiaoping 92, Claudette Colbert 92,Alger Hiss 92).
Carl Hiaasen has written another brilliant novel!
Rating: 
Summary: A basket to carry water
Review: In other words - it's not very effective. Sure all the usual ingredients are here. Oddball characters, a zany plot and Hiaasen's biting satirical wit. Jack Tagger a middle-aged investigative journalist has been dumped at the obituary desk, which in the pecking order of newspaper business we are told, is definitely bottom-feeding territory. How did an experienced journalist end up here? By criticizing the profit drive and all-else-be-damned approach of the Maggard-Feist corporation - the new owners of Tagger's paper. Tagger's instincts tell him there's something up with the reported death of 39 year old James Bradley Stomarti or Jimmy Stoma as he was better known by friends and fans of his former band - Jimmy and the Slut Puppies. Tagger isn't impressed by the story of Jimmy's death nor by the less-than-grief-stricken widow Cleo Rio. This is the set-up for the investigation and for Hiaasen to explore his topics of interest and develop the two themes of this novel. Tagger believes in professional journalism and Hiaasen contrasts this with the sell-out style that he sees practiced by large chain newspapers owned by corporations. The other topic is the world of rock music. Here Hiaasen has fun with names such as the bands album "Painful Burning Sensation" and hit singles such as "All Humped Out". Lyrics from a more recent hit give us the title for the book and hint at where it went wrong. "My baby is a BASKET CASE. A bi-polar mama in leather and lace." Here Hiaasen stretches the humor beyond being ludicrous until its parody and just plain silly. Where the basket proves that it can't hold water is that over the length of the book the humor becomes more wry smiles and even embarassed grimaces rather than the side-splitting, laugh-out-loud type that we are used to.
Rating: 
Summary: A great read!
Review: This is my second work of Hiaasen's, and I enjoyed it even more than Sick Puppy. I read it just prior to taking a trip to Florida, the setting of his book. The characters are fully developed, always quirky, yet they pull you into the story and have you rooting for them. A definite quick read, thoroughly enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: Sex, Death, Rock n Roll......and Journalism?
Review: This was my first trek into a Hiaasen novel so other than previously perused reviews, I didn't know what to expect. After completing the book, I can say quite simply, Hiaasen lives up to his hype. However, he appears to be one of those authors that you either really like or really don't like. Check out the reviews on virtually any of his previous offerings. You'll see what I mean. BASKET CASE introduces Jack Tagger, a former hotshot reporter whose maverick bravado (read: BIG mouth) land him in the most ostracized, deplorable position on any newspaper staff: the new star reporter for the obituaries. Jack's current descent was a direct result of his disdain for the current CEO of the public syndicate ("Wall Street Whorehoppers" as Jack calls them) owning the Union-Register. This disdain exhibited itself in the form of an expletive-laced rant at a shareholder's meeting, thus Jack's departure to Siberia. Jack finds himself under the thumb of a woefully inexperienced editor, Emma Cole. Jack and Emma have a vituperative relationship at best. He toils daily at two meaningful tasks: finding the next story that will vault him back to where he belongs (on page ONE) and mentally pistol-whipping anyone in authority, currently Emma. Hiaasen provides a bit of dark color to Jack's character manifested in a strange neurosis whereby Jack compares his own age with that of famous people who have died at the same age. At the beginning of BASKET CASE, Jack is 46 years old. Naturally then (if you're an obit writer), he obsesses over the untimely deaths of JFK, Jack London, The King (Elvis), and George Orwell who all died at age 46. His distributes this neurotic peculiarity daily to his family and friends who rightfully believe that writing the obits has ruefully invaded and is tormenting Jack's soul. To the storyline....Jack believes he may be on to the "Big One" when he becomes intrigued with the death notice of one James Bradley Stomarti. A quick bit of investigation leads Jack to the fact that Stomarti is really burnt-out sleaze rocker Jimmy Stoma, the 39-year-old lead singer for Jimmy and the Slut Puppies. Stoma's accidental drowning in the Bahamas strikes Jack as newsworthy and suspicious, and his widow, wannabe rock star Cleo Rio (a/k/a Cynthia Jane Zigler), can't convince Jack that Jimmy's death was accidental. These peculiarities offer Jack a way out of his neurotic job-related fixation and his increasingly lusty feelings for his schoolmarm editor, Emma. As Jack throws himself into the investigation, his claims of foul play appear supportable when he discovers there are no stitches in Stoma's body despite an autopsy. Meanwhile, the remaining members of the Slut Puppies begin to die at an inordinately rapid pace. In describing these untimely demises and other scrapes, Hiaasen throws the reader a bit of violent color...a sampling: one head crushed by a garbage truck, a bullet for each buttock for the former SP bassist, and a severe but not fatal beating with a 26-pound frozen Savannah monitor lizard (aptly named "Colonel Tom"). In his quest for the truth, Jack enlists Emma, who has now found a place in his heart initially, by the variety of colors she sports on her toenails. Jack's investigative crew also includes Juan, a sportswriter colleague, Carla, a club-savvy teenager who is also the daughter of Jack's ex-girlfriend, and a 12-year-old maniacal hacker who helps crack the lyrical bytes on a garbled hard drive. Hiaasen is known for his biting humor and BASKET CASE is full of examples. Describing a wannabe producer, "he couldn't get into the Grammys with an AK-47;" and, during a verbal showdown with CEO Race Maggad, III, "When you were little, did they call you MASTER Race Maggad?" or, when Jack's sportswriter friend, Juan, remarks, "the Dolphins just signed a running back with no felony record and no drug habit," adding, "That's big news." There are dozens of Hiaasen-isms that are quite simply, hilarious. My only criticisms of BASKET CASE revolve around a couple of unexplained inconsistencies in the storyline. One in particular deals with a scheme hatched by the former owner (MacArthur Polk) of the Union-Register that would have Jack playing spoiler to "MASTER Race Maggad" in a fun-but-dark con game. The scheme was all predicated upon Jack's authorship of Polk's obituary when the fateful moment arrived. Although Jack didn't pen the obit, he DID become Polk's partner in collusion. This inconsistency was never explained. Regardless, this does not detract from the overall storyline or theme. BASKET CASE is pure journalism, death, sex, and rock 'n' roll. A great combination and a fun read.
Rating:
Summary: An average book, but I couldn't put it down!
Review: This book was okay -- I think I only appreciated it because I'm a newspaper reporter and I liked hearing Jack's take on the biz; otherwise I probably would have given it 2 stars. For the record, Jack writes a very accurate portrayal of the newspaper business. I'm not sure about his portrayal of the music business, because I'm not a music guy, but it seemed legitimate enough for me. I think this murder mystery could have been a lot better had any of us cared about the murdered rock star, Jimmy Stoma. We learn about him through Jack looking at his life, but since we never met the guy, it makes me not really care if we find out what happened to him or not. Yes, solving the mystery may give Jack some good Page 1 stories, but that's not a compelling enough reason for me to really like the story. And yet, I found myself turning page after page, oddly unable to put the book down. I suppose that's a testament to the author's whimsical writing style -- even though the plot is rather humdrum and uncomplicated, I enjoyed reading Jack's musings. It was almost as though I was reading a series of columns, penned by the author (a columnist himself) and published in Jack's thoughts.
Rating: 
Summary: unconvincing music business mystery
Review: Hiaasen is convincing when he covers the newsroom, but his music business setting and ersatz rock lyrics ring untrue -- a real outsider's look. And my feminist hackles were set off by the triple cradle-robbing of the 39-year-old rock star and his 22-year-old bride, the 83-year-old newspaper mogul and his 36-year-old wife, and worse yet, the 46-year-old obituary writer and his 27-year-old hotshot editor? A perfect book for readers who like hoary old plots and horny old men. You'll see the plot twists driving down A1A.
Rating:
Summary: Uneven
Review: As a fan of Hiaasen's books, I was especially looking forward to reading his latest. In "Basket Case" the Hiaasen we know and love from "Strip Tease", "Lucky You", and "Stormy Weather" is hampered by clumsy (and unrealistic) rock-n-roll references. This is intended to lend an air of credibility to the book and its characters, but IMHO it was like a VH1-watching Hootie & the Blowfish fan trying to write about the Strokes or the Breeders or the Replacements- not believable. And when the dead rock star's posthumous anthem is described as "early Buffet" - please! Jimmy Buffett is NOT rock-n-roll!
Rating:
Summary: Sorry, Carl
Review: Oh, Carl, you have so disappointed me. "Basketcase"
was read just after Bill Fitzhugh's "Fenderbenders". Both
had to do with singers, both a big disappointment. Maybe
the rock/country singer mystery genre is not my bag.
I guess I'm more into the "Pest Control", "Lucky You" kind
of humor. Oh, well, maybe next time. Will still stay a
devoted fan.
Rating: 
Summary: He mailed it in
Review: I'm working on the assumption that Hiassen is on contract and he "painted by the numbers" and then mailed it in to get his check. It took me a month to read this pap -- couldn't put up with it for more than a 1/2 chapter at a time -- the irony is that he trashes the work of popular thriller novelist in this book. The only reason I finished it was that I paid full price at a bookstore chain and I had to justify the expense. It is really to bad because I could not put his earlier books down -- especially Stormy Weather and Skin Tight. Hope I have better luck with Hall's new book. If I could be so presumptuous as to give Mr. Hiaasen some advise it would be to take a year off and bring the Governor back!
Rating:
Summary: A well-written (and funny) suspense novel
Review: Perhaps not his best; still, Hiaasen is always worthwhile. I found this book to be more serious-minded than his earlier books. It's the only Hiaasen (that I've read, anyway) written in the first person. He seems more interested in his death-obsessed middle-aged narrator's inner life than in the outlandish plot devices that propel his other books (though the hero beating an intruder with a frozen lizard is up there on the outlandishness scale). On the debit side, the story is a bit thin (though there's a cool twist at the very end) and the Big Media bashing ham-handed. Still, Hiaasen is that rare writer who can create suspense novels that don't insult your intelligence.
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