Critical Mick

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Stormy Weather It keeps on raining al the time! .mp3 (2.93 MB)
Carl Hiaasen
Knopf, 1995

Damn Thee, Demi!

I finished Stormy Weather yonks ago. Before I even started this whole Critical Mick thing, actually. But Hiaasen's novel has remained vivid even months later. It's well overdue for a featured shout.

        Currently in the running for Best Book Read in 2005:

        1. Stormy Weather

        2. Niagara Falls All Over Again by Elizabeth McCracken

        3. Motherless Brooklyn by Mr. Jonathan Lethem

        4. McCarthy's Bar by Pete McCarthy

When living in Florida I was vaguely aware of Carl Hiaasen. Wasn't he one of those guys that hangs out with Dave Barry? Then came the 1996 film Striptease. Ving Rhames' yoghurt-tampering depiction of George Bush was cool, and a ditzy stripper of startling dimensions exposed her talents. Man! Did she! Oh and the film revealed that politicians are corrupt and the Sugar Industry is evil. Good stuff all.

But then there was also Demi Moore. I don't care if she is the only element of the film Ghost that has aged well. I don't care if she can shave all he hair off in one take. Demi Moore was rubbish in Striptease. Not a good spokesperson for the Miami-based novelist that friends raved about.

Damn thee, Demi! Or damn myself for allowing a some oddball negative association to put me off Hiaasen's works for a decade. I have wasted precious time when I could have been lauding the man as a genius.

Fine, ignore anything I say. Sixty Minutes have even done a piece on how acute, accurate and funny Hiaasen is. Top that.

Stormy Weather's setting: Miami after the bomb blast of 1992's Hurricane Andrew. The sane, wholesome, honest people have evacuated. All sorts of lunatics rush in.

Plot-o-matic: combine conmen, brave women, missing asshole husbands, state troopers, a toad-licking eco-nut who was once Governor, and of course escaped monkeys. Swirl at hurricane speeds.

The funny thing is that it's so true. President George Bush the First's cameo, perfect example. God! The world is mad! Stormy Weather levels illusions otherwise with hurricane force.

As mentioned when slamming Dermot Bolger's The Valparaiso Voyage, Hiaasen has a way with characters. Bonnie, Snapper, Augustus, Skink... Eight months after closing the covers, these suckers are still fresh as NASA ice cream, except in a non-toxic way. Utterly magnificent!

Critical Mick says: Nothing! For once! He shuts his big fat speechless mouth and bows five times to Carl Hiaasen.

To conclude on a hopeful note: ten years after the Striptease debacle, Carl Hiaasen will return to the big screen. This time: Hoot. Star Luke Wilson has been a solid and respectable actor since Bottle Rocket. He did not pocket $12 million and run in that movie, so I can't see him doing that to Carl Hiaasen now. Keep an ear out!

Is it in poor taste for Critical Mick to rave about Stormy Weather in the wake of another, lethal, hurricane? I dunno. Curse me if you want, but remember that Hiaasen is absolutely brilliant.

Yo! This review and all content on the DFA Guide site are copyright 2005 Mick Halpin. All links to other sites and documents are copyright to whatever source wrote something cool enough for Mick to give it a referral. Try to claim them as your own work and bad karma will catch up with you, baby. Believe it.

Irate, huh? Managed to piss off another one? Direct your hatemail to mick @ mickhalpin dot com.

This Page Was Last Updated On 13 November, 2005.