Basket Case
by Carl Hiaasen
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Book Summary Information
Author: Carl HiaasenEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-02-01
ISBN: 0446695645
Number of pages: 400
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Book Reviews of Basket Case
Book Review: "Bring whipped cream and an English saddle."
Summary: 4 Stars
Forty-six-year-old Jack Tagger has been consigned to writing the obituary column for the past six years after publicly challenging the qualifications of Race Maggad, the new owner of the South Florida newspaper where he works. When he discovers that a former favorite singer, Jimmy Stoma of the Slut Puppies, has died in a diving accident, he decides to investigate--secretly--to keep the Metro department from stealing his potential story. The wild ride that follows takes the reader into the realm of pop music, where Jimmy's less-than-mournful widow Cleo Rio plans her own second CD, aided by an assortment of sleazy characters. As Jimmy's former bandmates also begin to die, Jack Tagger searches for a motive and focuses on Cleo and her producers.
As the resourceful Jack is investigating Jimmy Stoma's death, he is also being pressured to write an early obituary of the former owner of the newspaper--Old Man Polk, who is perennially close to death. Polk, during a hospital interview with Jimmy, confesses that he, too, is appalled by the direction in which Race Maggad has taken the paper, and he has a plan of action to keep things from getting worse. If all this "excitement" were not enough, Jack falls in lust, is victimized by a break-in, gets beaten more than once, and discovers that two women involved with the case have disappeared. His use of a frozen lizard as a weapon reminds the Hiassen fan of Mick Stranahan's use of a stuffed marlin for similar purposes in Skin Tight, and his unbridled libido keeps the action high on more than one level.
Told in the first person, the story gets some life as the reader empathizes with Jack and his self-created predicaments, but the story line follows a traditional mystery story line. Not as tight as some of Hiaasen's earlier stories, the plot wanders and the humor is not as mordant. Well before the end of the story, the reader knows what the outcome is and who the murderer is, but many pages elapse after that in which the author ties up loose ends, explains what happens later, brings closure to a number of issues that have been raised throughout the story, and gives an epilogue to "conclude" a story which could have been concluded at several earlier points in the novel.
Though the novel is fun to read, as are all Hiaasen novels, it is not so off-the-wall, edgy, and sometimes bizarre as the novels which made Hiaasen's reputation. The humor here is more traditional--not so quirky, unexpected, and sexy as some other Hiaasen offerings--and Jack himself, while an iconoclast, is not the free spirit we have come to expect of Hiaasen's heroes. Several years after challenging Race Maggad, he has continued to work for the same paper--writing obituaries--with no apparent plans to assert himself. Filled with pointed satire of the newspaper business, the result, obviously, of Hiaasen's own experience in that business in South Florida, this enjoyable Hiaasen "lite" offering, while not on the "best list," is still great fun to read. Mary Whipple
Skin Tight
Tourist Season
Native Tongue
Summary of Basket Case
Once a hotshot investigative reporter, Jack Tagger now bangs out obituaries for a South Florida daily, "plotting to resurrect my career by yoking my byline to some famous stiff." Jimmy Stoma, the infamous front man of Jimmy and the Slut Puppies, dead in a fishy-smelling scuba "accident" may be just the stiff Jack needs-if only he can figure out what happened. Standing in the way are [among others] an editor who wants Jack to "break her cherry," Stoma's ambitious pop-singer widow, and the soulless, profit-hungry newspaper owner Jack once publicly humiliated. As clues from Stoma's music give Jack Tagger the chance to trade obits for a story that could hit the front page, murder gives his career a new lease on life.Take one dead rock & roll star, his Courtney Love-type widow, the mysterious deaths of his former bandmates, and the lost tracks of a comeback album. Stir in Jack Tagger, a middle-aged investigative reporter obsessed with death since his banishment to the obit desk; a fetching young editor with a yen for our hero; and a boss looking for a reason to fire him. Put them in the hands of a master like Carl Hiaasen, who adds his trademark flourishes (who else would use a frozen lizard as a weapon?) to a creaky plot like this one, and the result is a winner. Florida is full of caper writers with journalistic credentials, and plenty of them have a deft hand with quirky characters, but no one in the genre is better than Hiaasen. --Jane Adams
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