Florida On The Page

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fljoe0

Cantre Member
Apr 5, 2008
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120 miles S of the Pancake/Waffle line
I didn't know he'd written about Florida. Thanks. Have you heard of this book I mentioned in OP?
View attachment 28654
It is a reworking and condensing of a trilogy that was originally published in the Nineties. The New York Times said to read the original three books but praised the updated version as a "typhoon across the Everglades". It sounds like Peaky Blinders set in the Sunshine State.


I haven't heard of this one. Looks like one for the TBR pile.
 

Doc Creed

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Nov 18, 2015
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It's non-fiction but Ernest Lyons was a wonderful Scripps-Howard newspaper columnist and there are (or at least used to be) a couple of compilations of his columns. He was born in Florida before 1920 and had great stories of wild Florida. I have a book called The Last Cracker Barrel. If you can find any of his work, it's worth reading. I think there is another called My Florida.

Ernest Lyons | Florida Press Association
This is right up my hurricane alley, hehheh. I have been especially interested in Florida of the early 20th century and "wild Florida". These days the term Florida crackers is widely misunderstood or forgotten...esoteric. I wonder if you've found this to be true. Thanks for the link, BTW.
 

fljoe0

Cantre Member
Apr 5, 2008
15,859
71,642
62
120 miles S of the Pancake/Waffle line
This is an a
This is right up my hurricane alley, hehheh. I have been especially interested in Florida of the early 20th century and "wild Florida". These days the term Florida crackers is widely misunderstood or forgotten...esoteric. I wonder if you've found this to be true. Thanks for the link, BTW.


The term is pretty much gone. I still hear it occasionally.
 

Tery

Say hello to my fishy buddy
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Apr 12, 2006
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I admire any writer who can pull off that type of plot. Is this the guy who writes about the protagonist with a sidekick named Skink? Shadow? Some funny S-name.
Skink is an overarching character who flits in and out of the books. Things always get interesting when Skink shows up.
I thought Skinny Dip was funny.It's been a long time since I read it but the book started with someone getting tossed overboard from a cruise ship and managed to survive by hanging on to a floating bale of marijuana.
Yep! That's a good one. Native Tongue and Sick Puppy are also outstanding. Bad Monkey is a riot and one of the best interacting plots.
 

Doc Creed

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Nov 18, 2015
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I don't know if it qualifies as prose of high quality but Connie Mae Fowler's novels come to mind - I really enjoyed them. Before Women Had Wings and Sugar Cage are the 2 that come to mind but I know there's more. You definitely feel the presence of Florida.

Excellent thread, Doc Creed
Thanks, Holly. I've read those plus River of Hidden Dreams but I don't think I finished Sugar Cage. Her style reminds me of Alice Hoffman or Michael Lee West. She knows Florida well; no doubt. She doesn't write full on magical realism (I don't think) but she flirts with it and the reader stays under her influence.