Paradise Screwed Paradise Screwed Carl Hiaasen Diane Stevenson by Carl Hiaasen & Diane Stevenson 9780399147913, 0399147918 instant download after payment.

"Takes readers on a head-shaking romp through a south Florida that they won't find in any tourist brochure. . . . Hiaasen's writing is fearless and the targets endless: politicians, municipal employees, judges, lobbyists, zoning boards, evangelists, athletic franchises, environmental scofflaws, Disney, the NRA, Big Tobacco. . . . Pulls no punches and keeps his sense of humor and outrage firmly intact."--Publishers Weekly

"These sharp, amusing pieces confirm Hiaasen’s status as a bird so rare--the humorous popular novelist with an acutely critical social perspective--that he’s practically an endangered species."--Kirkus Reviews
"Along with Kick Ass, this is one of the best collections of occasional journalism published in recent years."--Booklist (starred review)

Bestselling author Carl Hiaasen has written Tourist Season, Strip Tease, Sick Puppy, Skinny Dip, and many other novels that have helped define Florida noir. He is also the author of three popular books for young readers, Hoot, Flush, and most recently, Scat. His nonfiction includes Team Rodent: How Disney Devours the World and Downhill Lie: A Hacker's Return to a Ruinous Sport. A Florida native and lifelong resident, Hiaasen still writes regularly for the Miami Herald, where he has worked for 33 years and where these columns first appeared. Diane Stevenson teaches research writing in the psychology department at the University of Florida.

The Florida Chamber of Commerce undoubtedly has a dart-pocked photograph of syndicated Miami Herald columnist Hiaasen tacked to the wall. For his second anthology of 200 columns, spanning 15 years, he takes readers on a head-shaking romp through a south Florida that they won't find in any tourist brochure. A true Florida patriot, Hiaasen exposes corruption, money-grubbing and rampant development. The volume picks up where its predecessor Kick Ass: Selected Columns of Carl Hiaasen left off. Stevenson, associate director of writing programs at the University of Florida, again edits. Hiaasen's writing is fearless and the targets endless: politicians, municipal employees, judges, lobbyists, zoning boards, evangelists, athletic franchises, environmental scofflaws, Disney, the NRA, Big Tobacco. In many cases, Hiaasen took these entities to task before it became fashionable. A bestselling novelist to boot, Hiaasen is cut from that same bolt of cloth as Jimmy Breslin and Pete Hamill he's an acerbic, old-school columnist who can't stomach greed or hypocrisy, pulls no punches and keeps his sense of humor and outrage firmly intact. He tackles with unbridled vigor the Elian Gonzalez affair and voting irregularities in the recent presidential election. While many columns resonate beyond south Florida state vs. local control, urban sprawl, the commerce of politics some feel too localized to sink in. But if you're crooked or play loose with the public trust, watch out. Not even alligator skin is thick enough to deflect the sting of this writer's pen.

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Starred Review For fans of Hiaasen's wonderful Kick Ass (1999), here is another collection of essays from the Florida writer's twiceweekly Miami Herald column. There are more than 200 essays in this volume, and every single one of them is a gem. It makes no difference if the people, places, and events being discussed are unfamiliar to most non-Floridians. Hiaasen gives them universality with his style and point of view. As readers of his many best-selling novels will tell you, Hiaasen is a playful writer, always looking for the fresh phrase, the eye-catching image. He is also--and this is essential for a writer of an opinion column--outspoken and (apparently) entirely unafraid of offending the people about whom he writes. Here, as in Kick Ass, he writes about politics and politicians, crime and criminals, ordinary people and extraordinary people, and a lot of justplain south Florida weirdness (such as a museum commemorating the deadly Hurricane Andrew). Many of the essays are tantalizing, offering up glimpses of a bigger story (like "Zucchini Could Lose Supermarket Citizenship," which hints at a bizarre language war being waged in Florida grocery stores). Others tell the whole story in a nutshell. Along with Kick Ass, this is one of the best collections of occasional journalism published in recent years. David Pitt
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