STRIP TEASE-It Made Me Laugh Hysterically!

Carl Hiaasen has an eye for detail and a sense of the ridiculous that is second to none. A writer for the MIAMI HERALD, STRIP TEASE is Hiaasen's fifth book. As is his habit, he takes a poke at many targets that really deserve to be criticized. A native South Floridian, he uses humor and irony to speak out against the 'rape' of the beautiful, one of a kind environment that every day is assaulted a little more by 'progress'! The Florida Everglades is a unique habitat supporting many endangered flora and fauna but every day, developers are chipping away, inch by inch, filling in and building on an area that, once it is gone, there will never be another environment like it.

The main villains in STRIP TEASE are the sugar barons who are damming up the Everglades (this causes dry conditions all the way to Florida Bay and messes up the ecological balance-the Everglades is called 'River of Grass' for a reason!) in order to use the rich, fertile soil to grow sugar, and with the help of politicians in Washington, are making an absolute fortune. Hiaasen thinly veils these people's names, calling them the Rojos, so Floridians in the know get who he is referring to loud and clear. A daft congressman named David Dillbeck, who, for the right price, will be anyone's champion in Washington is the Rojos main man. He makes sure they don't run into any legal problems!

The trouble starts when the congressman, an avowed womanizer, spots Erin Grant dancing in the strip bar, 'The Eager Beaver', and falls instantly in 'love'. He attacks another patron who is giving Erin too much attention and smashes a bottle over the unfortunate man's head. Someone gets a photo of this melee and the twists and turns begin.

You see Erin is not an ordinary stripper, she's an ex-FBI secretary trying to make enough money to pay her lawyer. She needs a lawyer because she is trying to keep her sociopathic ex-husband, Darell Grant, from taking their daughter in a nasty divorce. Erin lost her job at the FBI because Darell keeps getting into trouble with the law. But because he is a drug informer, the judge is swayed Darell's way. Darell steals wheelchairs for a living. He and his sister are hilarious, he's hard core drug addict and 'trashy' to boot. His sister raises wolves and is just plain nuts. Darell gave me the best laughs of all with his doped up exploits.

Meanwhile, back at the 'Eager Beaver' there is much activity going on, with vividly painted strippers (one is named Urbana Sprawl), the bouncer Shad and another man Jerry Killian, who is infatuated with Erin. He tries to blackmail the congressman, to help Erin get custody of her daughter and gets himself murdered.

In comes Al Garcia, Miami detective, to sort out this jumbled mess. I'll stop there to leave some mystery to the story and believe me, there is much more mayhem to add to that!

What I really like about Hiaasen's writing IS the detail in puts into his descriptions. You can see it in your mind and it is VERY funny. It helps that the setting is familiar to me, but I think everyone can enjoy the crazy antics Hiaasen depicts.

THE priceless quote from STRIP TEASE describes life in South Florida perfectly.

"...the nine iron got in the way of Darrell's driving. He had to hang it out the window of the car, as if permanently signaling for a left turn. SINCE IT WAS DADE COUNTY, NO ONE PAID THE SLIGHTEST ATTENTION."

I recommend reading this hilarious book, get it used on Half.com and have fun witnessing life in the subtropics!

STRIP TEASE is one of my favorite books and one of Hiaasen's best. But don't judge it by the movie! It doesn't translate well!

THANKS!