"Naked Came The Manatee"

"Naked Came The Manatee" is a novel written by thirteen Florida writers who have penned best sellers, hit movies, top-rated TV shows, and won Pulitzer Prizes.  This novel is unique in that each of them wrote one of its thirteen chapters.

It all started as a serial novel in 1995 for "The Miami Herald's Tropic" magazine as completed chapters were passed on to the next writer.  Florida became hooked and eagerly awaited the next publication.  The authors are Carl Hiaasen, Elmore Leonard, Dave Barry, James W. Hall, Edna Buchanan, Les Standiford, Paula Levine, Brian Antoni, Tananarive Due, John Dufresne, Vicki Hendricks, Evelyn Mayerson, and Carolina Hospital.  I've read books by Carl Hiaassen and they are always a lot of fun and I've just recently discovered Edna Buchanan so I sought this book at my local library.  Evidently it's out of print but they did have a hardback copy.

It was an easy and light read in the beginning but with each subsequent chapter (and the change in author and sometimes a very different turn in the plot) I had a more difficult time remembering and/or keeping up with the story.  It's an interesting concept but not one that maybe should be tried with any regularity in my opinion.  pazt