Product Description

From a butter-fingered burglary through a plague of snakes to total conflagration, this is a thriller by the author of "Tourists Season", "Double Whammy" and "Skin Tight". This book won the Crime Writers' Association "Last Laugh" Award in 1992.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #281884 in Books
• Published on: 1999-05-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Customer Reviews

Eco-Terrorism Humorously Takes on Environmental Looters
Does it make you sad to see beautiful trees and lively animals bulldozed out of their natural habitats? Well, it makes many characters in Native Tongue explode with rage . . . and they take commando actions to stop the rampant development in fragile surroundings. It's all done with waggish tongue-in-cheek humor that also lambastes tourists; organized crime; water, theme and animal parks; golf courses; property development; body builders; the Federal witness protection program; the FBI; public relations flacks; reporters; telephone sex; security guards; and of course, the environmentalists themselves.

This story develops in many unexpected ways. You will enjoy the book more if you experience all of the surprises. I suggest that you avoid reading reviews that reveal anything about the plot and characters, other than the themes.

The title of the book itself turns out to be a hilarious play on three different and unexpected aspects of the story. I don't remember a novel whose title was so appropriate for its story, yet gave so little hint about the context in the beginning.

This book came close to being a perfect satire. My only objection was I found that Mr. Hiaasen had overdone the Pedro Luz character in a way that destroyed the good humor I was enjoying while reading the book.

Do something to help nature today!

Quite a superb read.
Carl Hiassen is continually dogged by those miscellaneous authors such as Elmore Leonard, Ben Elton, Robert Llewellyn, et cetera, who wish to depict a highly esoteric and warped view of the modern world. Hiassen has, though, been coveted as the "master" of the genre--the South Floridean Whackos Genre, that is--and in "Native Tongue" he provides full circle of encompassing wit, slapstick and darkly 'smirk-able' satire. Up until now I had never read a Hiassen novel, albiet the good reviews abounding on his work--saying that along with Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams and Kurt Vonnegut Jr. he is one of the highest purchased novelists issuing books in the US of A. And, seemingly, this is an accurate suggestion. He is akin to Dave Barry, another South Floridean columnist turn novelist who won a Pulitzer Prize fundamentally for discussing booger and exploding cows. But where Barry fails flaccidly, Hiassen sharply and smoothly wins the reading audience--he is able to make one laugh. It isn't that Barry is otherwise than funny; he's quite humorous, but it is a variety of humour which is cartoonish and not lasting, whilst Hiassen's wit is irrepressible and although Farrelley-like, still raucously laughable. "Native Tongue" is an indelicately biting novel featuring the recurring Hiassen character of Skink (who makes a revival in the novel "Sick Puppy") as well as a full supporting cast of whackos, submoronic amputees addicted to anebolic steroids, psychopathically nature-fervent geriatrics toting guns, wickedly eccentric yet appealing public relations men and more. It is a witty, ironic and satirical read of a place steeped in underworld apocrypha and rains of mudsnakes. Recommended.

Carl Hiaasen - read one...you'll want to read them all!
Serious crime fiction buffs shouldn't rebuke Hiaasan for injecting a bit of wit and irony into his books. Native Tongue flies the flag for a group of nature conservationists in Florida. They do battle with a crooked property developer who owns one of the areas most flawed theme parks. A down-on-his-luck newspaper reporter, a one eyed ostracised congressman, two common thieves and a steriod swilling security guard, are amongst the characters that make this book one of the best works of crime fiction you're ever likely to read. YOU WILL LOVE IT.