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]

Ooh! I adore Hiaasen. I don't care how same same he is. I love it all.

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

Damn - I meant to mention the hard core fans that never leave.

Thing is, with Hiaasen its hard to point out why he seemed to go downhill for a bit there. I mean none of the key story elements went away so if they are what you really enjoy in the books then all is fine. Yet judging by the speed his last couple of books got to the remainder bins, I wasn't the only one who was losing interest. Odd.

[catsparx.livejournal.com]

Sick Puppy was the last one I read. I did feel it wasn't as funny as his earlier work. But I still loved it. Hiassen's one of those authors I read purely for pleasure. Kinda a holiday thing.

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

Sick Puppy was one of the ones that didn't work for me, so it could well be the humour element. Especially since I used to use Hiassen for mood elevation. "Feeling bored? Read a Hiassen Book."

[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