- Hardcover: 416 pages
- Publisher: Sphere (10 Mar 2011)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1847443346
- ISBN-13: 978-1847443342
- Product Dimensions: 16.4 x 4 x 24.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 154,410 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Star Island
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
Always sharp and deliciously funny, Hiaasen is at his satirical best in this incisive look at celebrity culture (69 Degrees )
Exhilarating return to form for the satirical Florida crime writer (The Times )
His investigative journalist's eye for detail and his merciless, only-just exaggerated satire are a killer combination...wickedly funny (Sunday Times )
Hiaasen is on top form here, bitingly witty (Daily Express )
Exhilarating return to form for the satirical Florida crime writer (The Times )
His investigative journalist's eye for detail and his merciless, only-just exaggerated satire are a killer combination...wickedly funny (Sunday Times )
Hiaasen is on top form here, bitingly witty (Daily Express )
Book Description
A hilarious look at our celebrity-obsessed world
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Absence makes the heart grow fonder, they say. I've missed Hiaasen; I tried other authors who purport to do a similar thing, only to find them wanting. Nice to be able to return to the master himself.
Fans of Hiaasen will not be disappointed. The governor makes a welcome return, as does the gem of Chemo, the enforcer with a weed strimmer instead of an arm. Marvellous. Also present are a feisty female lead, and a collection of gruesome and amoral idiots for you to loathe and laugh at.
Few authors combine a zippy plot with so many laughs. It's not easy - it just seems that way because Hiaasen is so good at it. He's dropping little bits into the narrative, he doesn't leave chunks of plot hanging about. His characters are grotesque, but they work. It all fits together and it all flows together.
A welcome return.
Fans of Hiaasen will not be disappointed. The governor makes a welcome return, as does the gem of Chemo, the enforcer with a weed strimmer instead of an arm. Marvellous. Also present are a feisty female lead, and a collection of gruesome and amoral idiots for you to loathe and laugh at.
Few authors combine a zippy plot with so many laughs. It's not easy - it just seems that way because Hiaasen is so good at it. He's dropping little bits into the narrative, he doesn't leave chunks of plot hanging about. His characters are grotesque, but they work. It all fits together and it all flows together.
A welcome return.
22 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Cheryl Pie, an drug addicted actress has a 'stunt double' who is kidnapped and the book follows the story to try and rescue her back without the media finding out. I read this on holiday last year in Florida - of all places - and I hadn't read a Carl Hiaasen novel before. I laughed from start to finish and simply adored it. I immediately went out and bought another 5 Hiaasen novels and read them in days. If you are a fan, this is a must buy. If you are new to Hiaasen' then this is a fantastic start.
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Cherry Pye is a hugely popular (and talentless) recording and touring artist. Her frequent bouts of `gastritis' (actually the result of drug and drugs-fuelled binges) require frequent periods of short-term recuperation and/or medical attention. To divert the paparazzi, and hence protect her earning potential, it's necessary for actress Ann DeLucia to act as her `stunt double' on these occasions.
Unfortunately one paparazzo - the reprehensible Claude `Bang' Abbott - kidnaps Ann for an exclusive photo shoot in the mistaken belief that she is the real thing. This action triggers a series of uproarious events, with sub-plots aplenty amid all the malarkey.
`Star Island' is full of Hiaasen's usual weirdoes, whack-jobs, damaged goons and chancers, with their madcap schemes and utterly selfish and greedy motivations. Almost everyone is out for what they can get and few have any redeeming qualities.
`Bang' Abbott, the overweight paparazzo with personal hygiene issues, is a particularly amusing character, as is the appalling `Chemo' - the huge, facially scarred individual hired as Cherry's bodyguard. He has a prosthetic arm consisting of a yard trimmer (or weed whacker) following partial limb removal by a marlin, and he wields this as an effective tool of persuasion.
Regular Hiaasen character Skink, the militant, unhinged, ecoteur (aka Clinton Tyree - a former governor of Florida) is back in his biggest ever role. Blessed with a beautiful set of gleaming teeth, a bald pate - with two ludicrous pseudo-dreads - and an unerring moral compass, he's still living off roadkill, and after encountering the lovely Ann he comes to a touching and sympathetic understanding with her. These two are also, not coincidentally, the only characters in the book with decent old-fashioned values.
The author highlights the hypocrisy of the entertainment industry and the cult of celebrity - with its reliance on pure spin in lieu of actual talent. And once again he exposes and deals with the crooked politicians and land developers who have despoiled the Florida Keys and Everglades, killing off wildlife by destroying their habitation. Through his regular newspaper columns and books, Carl Hiaasen has become the de facto environmental spokesperson for his beloved home state, and, as always, serious ecological concerns lie at the beating heart of this novel. But fear not, he's never preachy, and he wraps everything up beautifully to present us with an hilarious and entertaining package.
Hiaasen wrote the blueprint for the modern, satirical, comic crime novel and he hits his targets with the practiced eye of a seasoned sniper, never laying it on too thick, merely allowing the absurd characters and situations to make his points for him. His regular readers can therefore rest assured that it's very much business as usual here, with the author presenting his customary mix of satire and sardonic observation. It's because so much familiar ground is covered that I've not given it the full five stars. However, if you've never read him before, try reading John McCrorie's review elsewhere on this page, where he indicates that this novel turned him into an instant fan of the great man's work.
Unfortunately one paparazzo - the reprehensible Claude `Bang' Abbott - kidnaps Ann for an exclusive photo shoot in the mistaken belief that she is the real thing. This action triggers a series of uproarious events, with sub-plots aplenty amid all the malarkey.
`Star Island' is full of Hiaasen's usual weirdoes, whack-jobs, damaged goons and chancers, with their madcap schemes and utterly selfish and greedy motivations. Almost everyone is out for what they can get and few have any redeeming qualities.
`Bang' Abbott, the overweight paparazzo with personal hygiene issues, is a particularly amusing character, as is the appalling `Chemo' - the huge, facially scarred individual hired as Cherry's bodyguard. He has a prosthetic arm consisting of a yard trimmer (or weed whacker) following partial limb removal by a marlin, and he wields this as an effective tool of persuasion.
Regular Hiaasen character Skink, the militant, unhinged, ecoteur (aka Clinton Tyree - a former governor of Florida) is back in his biggest ever role. Blessed with a beautiful set of gleaming teeth, a bald pate - with two ludicrous pseudo-dreads - and an unerring moral compass, he's still living off roadkill, and after encountering the lovely Ann he comes to a touching and sympathetic understanding with her. These two are also, not coincidentally, the only characters in the book with decent old-fashioned values.
The author highlights the hypocrisy of the entertainment industry and the cult of celebrity - with its reliance on pure spin in lieu of actual talent. And once again he exposes and deals with the crooked politicians and land developers who have despoiled the Florida Keys and Everglades, killing off wildlife by destroying their habitation. Through his regular newspaper columns and books, Carl Hiaasen has become the de facto environmental spokesperson for his beloved home state, and, as always, serious ecological concerns lie at the beating heart of this novel. But fear not, he's never preachy, and he wraps everything up beautifully to present us with an hilarious and entertaining package.
Hiaasen wrote the blueprint for the modern, satirical, comic crime novel and he hits his targets with the practiced eye of a seasoned sniper, never laying it on too thick, merely allowing the absurd characters and situations to make his points for him. His regular readers can therefore rest assured that it's very much business as usual here, with the author presenting his customary mix of satire and sardonic observation. It's because so much familiar ground is covered that I've not given it the full five stars. However, if you've never read him before, try reading John McCrorie's review elsewhere on this page, where he indicates that this novel turned him into an instant fan of the great man's work.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
slightly surreal satire on celebrity culture
Star Island is the latest comic crime caper novel from Hiassen. Like the books preceding it, the story is populated by larger than life characters acting out a slightly surreal... Read more
Published 23 days ago by Rob Kitchin
The Dogs....
When it comes to mixing satire with crime, Carl Hiassen is the best out there. He is hilarious. The characters he creates and the situations in which they wind up are mind blowing. Read more
Published 25 days ago by James C
Still weak
Some earlier reviewers had suggested Hiaasen was back on form with Star Island. Regrettably, this is not so. Read more
Published 26 days ago by Sheen
Back to his best
Hiaasen is back in deliciously satirical form with his latest offering.
If,like me,you despise everything about modern celebrity culture,this book will resonate. Read more
If,like me,you despise everything about modern celebrity culture,this book will resonate. Read more
Published 27 days ago by MancScott
Star Island
Carl Hiaasen is back to his best with this modern morality story of a feckless, talentless pop star and the seedy members of her management group and family who are determined to... Read more
Published 28 days ago by CoolMack
Toasted pop tart
Another very funny satire by Carl Hiaasen. "Star Island" has a few loose ends here and there, but basically it's a sharply observant and hilarious poke at the emptiness of pop fame... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Blue in Washington
Sunshine satire... eerily accurate
There's not much to like about most of the characters in Star Island, in which Hiaasen - with his usual wicked flourish - lampoons the world of celebrity and big business in... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Tom Doyle
Star Island Fails To Shine
Although a very believable and honest story about the modern day celebrity lifestyle, it failed to excite or stimulate my imagination. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Miss H. B. Cassidy
Hiaasen - Star Island
Carl Hiaasen doing what he does best - a romp through southern Florida by a motley cast of characters, some criminal, some just stupid plus The Captain who sorts them all out by... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Algorta
He's done better
Not one of Hiaasen's best but nevertheless entertaining and a good read. If you are new to this author, start with the oldest and work forwards chronologically to appreciate the... Read more
Published 11 months ago by gurneyslade
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