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| Nature Girl | 
| Manufacturer: Knopf
Category: EBooks
List Price: $9.95
Buy New: $7.96
You Save: $1.99 (20%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  142 reviews
Sales Rank: 2125
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
ASIN: B000MAH7OU
Publication Date: November 14, 2006
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 Rip roaring fun! June 2, 2008
Carl Hiaasen is one very entertaining guy!! I really enjoyed "Nature Girl" though I personally don't think it is as strong as some of his other books. However, the characters and situations are absolutely hilarious and it is a well worth reading if you enjoy his berserk sense of humour, which I do!
Honey Santana may or may not be a complete psychotic, however she is a woman on a mission - to teach obnoxious telemarketer Boyd Shreave a lesson in life and manners he will never forget. Honey tricks the lacklustre Boyd and his mistress, Eugenie, into accompanying her on a kayak/camping trip to the island of Dismal Key in the 10,000 Islands region of the Florida Everglades. Unbeknownst to them, Seminole Indian half-breed Sammy Tigertail and his blabbermouth college student hostage, Gillian, are holed up on the island, and Honey's obsessed stalker, Louis Piejack and PI Dealey also wind up there (don't ask!!). High jinks by the bucketload ensue, involving guns, mismatched fingers, ferocious fire ant bites, duct tape, video cameras, Mark Knopfler's Gibson guitar and an Apocalyptic Christian religious order. Hiaasen weaves all this into a hilarious tale that is as entertaining as all get out! Highly recommended!
Hijinks and Heroism May 26, 2008
Carl Hiaasen is a one-of-a-kind mystery writer. He has several contemporaries such as Douglas Adams and Tim Dorsey, but Carl is a stand-out in his league.
In Nature Girl, Honey Santana has a wrestling with several issues in her life, one of which is a mental disorder that skews her sense of reality. She has an ex-con ex-husband who she never got over, a boss who sexually harasses her and telemarketers calling every evening at dinner.
She divises a half-baked plan to take care of the telemarketer, Boyd Shreave, who insulted her. What ensues is the detailed story of Nature Girl. Several troubled characters whose insane lives collide on Dismal Key to create a stew of madness, jealousy, betrayal and settling scores.
Nature Girl is sewed together with threads of magical prose exclusive to Hiaasen. His word choice is splendiferous and often curious.
Nature Girl is a two thumbs up carousel of hijinks and heroism recommended by a reader who "gets it".
Pretty Good April 23, 2008
I have to say that I loved "Sick Puppy" as an all time best book ever, and I've read a couple more, and it kind of seems to me like he's writing the same book over and over.
It's not that it's not good, it totally is, I just wish it would surprised me more.
But if you like this writer you'll probably like it. I'm a fan, I'm just looking for something to surprise me, that's all.
 Too bad there's not a 1/2 star rating... April 17, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Gawdawful! The worst, most contrived and cliched prose I've read in many a moon. Every cardboard-cutout character in the book is boring and totally predictable. I'm 90% of the way through the book, and have no good excuse for sticking with it this long. Satire? Of what? Maybe of himself trying to emulate Thomas McGuane or Tom Robbins. Humor? Where?
This is such a sloppy, slapdash effort that on virtually every page there's a glaring, jarring narrative contradiction, often from one sentence to the next. Hiaasen must think he's so good that he doesn't need a competent editor. Or an engaging plot. Or believable characters.
The only plus of this one is that it proves that you too can be published - if only you write badly enough. Don't waste time or cash on this one!
 Good author on a bad day? April 10, 2008
I've heard so many good things about Carl Hiaasen. Just my luck to have randomly picked out the book his regular readers seem to rate as his worst. I found the characters quite amusing early on in the piece - Boyd Shreave especially, and the way his wife toys with him. There's something satisfying in seeing a slimeball like that get what he deserves. But that alone wasn't strong enough to carry the novel. None of the other characters really pulled their weight in the story ... Honey was okay as a supporting act, but her plans probably too ridiculous to be believed. Her kid I'm supposed to feel sorry for - not possible when you can't take her seriously as a character. Her husband was pretty nondescript, the stalker was momentarily amusing, the private investigator nondescript (why was he referred to so much as "the private investigator"?? He has a name, call him Dealey, jeez.) Plot? Well there kind of was one, pretty flimsy though. I guess in summary there's indications of a funny, talented writer there who decided to have an easy day at the office maybe?
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