Dewey asked what qualified as Hiaasenesque-ness and I had to think about it, but I think I've got some things that are featured in many of his books:
- they're very funny - satirical, bizarre and darkly humourous
- they're set in Florida and are usually filled with the oddness of that state (which I haven't experienced first-hand but have heard many people - authors and regular folks alike - allude to)
- there's often a conservation theme such as saving an endangered species or the destruction of the Everglades
- the central problem of the novel usually happens to a tough, quirky female character and she's soon joined in her journey to solve it by a tough, quirky guy that she's just met (often, sometimes she already knows him) - they end up together in the end
- the villain is usually a slick con-man type who deserves what's coming to him
- the secondary villains are either his accomplices or part of a subplot and they're completely, hilariously brain-dead rednecks - they've often lost everything (including limbs) and are deranged and covered in filth by the end
Other Hiaasen fans - feel free to include anything I've missed!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
That was a really interesting post!
The loss of body parts and replaced by wacky items. For example, he has a sub-villain lose an arm and replace it with a weed-whacker. Another SV loses his hand to a gator and replaces it with something equally inane. I'm strickly talking adult fiction not his much later YA reads. :)
The funny part and the conservation part sound just right to me! I'll have to give him a try. Thanks for your explanation.
Dewey - right, I couldn't remember all the replacement parts, but I knew lots of limbs were lost.
Dewey - I think you'll enjoy him. I always recommend him when patrons ask for a funny book.
Post a Comment