Native Tongue by Carl Hiaasen

 

So I knew this was probably an older Hiaasen, but I didn't realize until I sat down with it this evening that it was from the early 1990s (copyright 1991)--so this is from Hiaasen's early wacky-gonzo phase, before his somewhat more serious one, which has given way to his current more satirical one. I mean, there are elements of this novel that are Florida (at least, Florida of the time) writ large and exaggerated to absurdity, but here the point is mostly humor, there isn't any larger point being made, there are no real-world personages being specifically targeted. That said, the pacing of the novel is mercury-quick and slippery and the dialogue and characterizations are spot-on. There are some things that are at least a little but implausible, but they work in the novel, mostly by dint of sheer authorial will in some cases. A very good novel to sort of pluck out of the past and read, to start my reading year.