Circle of Life

[threemonkeys]

Comebacks happen. In artistic endeavour it might not happen quite as often as on the sports field but they are pretty common. For an author of a once vibrant popular series of books time, ennui and publisher pressure may mean that at some point the term "pot boiler" gets applied. The audience starts to drift away. But as elsewhere, the author can shake themselves off and regain that earlier spark. The only problem is that it may be too late - your audience may have gone.

I had resolved to stop buying Carl Hiaasen books. The last 2 or 3 I read had become very formulaic with little of the humour of earlier work. However I did get Nature Girl. It was in a pile of trade size remaindered titles where there was a 5 for the price of 4 deal. It was the 5th book I chose and therefore effectively the "free" one. That is how much I thought of it. So I am happy to report that it actually a good return to form - not quite back to peak but getting up there. Its a subtle thing - if you look at the story, then it has all the usual Hiaasen elements - Florida, wildlife, dysfunctional idiot bad guys, a wild swamp man and other assorted losers. Yet somehow it is funnier and more engrossing than the predecessors - it is all in the telling. Welcome back Carl.

Comments

[catsparx.livejournal.com]

still, I remember heaps of detail from Sick Puppy. I wish I could say that about heaps of other quality books I've read in the past...

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

Did it have a dog in it? ;-)

[catsparx.livejournal.com]

a lot of roadkill