Books: Native Tongue By Carl Hiaasen (1991)

“When the precious blue-tongued mango voles at the Amazing Kingdom of Thrills on North Key Largo are stolen by heartless, ruthless thugs, Joe Winder wants to uncover why, and find the voles. Joe is lately a PR man for the Amazing Kingdom theme park, but now that the voles are gone, Winder is dragged along in their wake through a series of weird and lethal events that begin with the sleazy real-estate agent/villain Francis X. Kingsbury and can end only one way.”

 

Native Tongue is another one of Carl Hiaasen's mix of hapless idiot criminals (who reminded me a lot of Donald E. Westlake’s Dortmunder gang), burnt-out losers, small-minded grifters, and slimy real estate developers –which appears to be one of the author’s biggest issues. As someone born and raised there, who works for the local newspapers, he’s seen a fair share of folks who see profit in destroying Florida’s natural environmental beauty. Sadly, like many coastal communities, there are always unscrupulous land developers who get in bed with crooked politicians who are out to screw nature for massive profits. Hiaasen also uses the book to poke fun at Walt Disney World, who attempted, and was much-lauded for (though ultimately unsuccessful) attempt to repopulate the now-extinct dusky seaside sparrow.

 

Joe Winder appears to be somewhat a Hiaasen stand-in, a good guy reporter out to save the state. I can see why folks of a certain political color probably hate the idea that Hiaasen casts himself as the hero, but the writer has been doing this for decades, long before he became a best-selling author of humorous fiction. The book also features the reappearance of former governor “Skink”, otherwise known as Clinton Tyree. After giving up faith in the political system he now lives in the Everglades, where he always wears a shower cap and an electronic tracking device he found on a wild panther. Also back is Deputy Jim Tile, Skink’s dear friend and the man keeping him alive and out of jail. Both appeared in Double Whammy.

 

The book is funny, despite the seriousness of Florida’s difficult association with migrant workers and the exploitation of Native Americans and their lands. It holds together fairly well.