Purchased from The Hope Chest (the thrift store to benefit our local Hope Hospice) especially for sharing through BookCrossing.

From: www.Wikipedia.com: "...Naked Came the Manatee is a mystery thriller parody novel published in 1996. It is composed of thirteen chapters, each written by a different Miami-area writer. It was originally published as a serial in the Miami Herald's Tropic magazine, one chapter per issue, and later published as a single novel. Its title is a reference to the literary hoax Naked Came the Stranger. The book was conceived of and edited by Tom Shroder, then editor of "Tropic." Dave Barry came up with the first chapter, which was then handed to the next writer, and so on until Carl Hiassen had to tie all the lose threads together in the final chapter. Each chapter was written on deadline for publication in the magazine ..."

Sent off as part of the Happy Days RABCK sweepstakes! (Link)

Sent via media mail to the winner of ClassicReader25's Happy Day RABCK! Happy Traveling, Book! ☺ Happy Reading, BookCrossing Emmejo! ☺

Thank you very much! This book looks like fun.

When a pair of men hit a manatee while smuggling a human head, they lose the cargo. Before long chaos ensues as the person who finds it tries to keep it away from the folks who will will stop at nothing to recover it. As more and more people become involved, from an ex-president to a 102-year old grandmother, and another head appears as well as the famous person who everyone believed the head to be, thing take a turn for the strange.

The unusual way this story was written (each author wrote a chapter and sent it on to the next who did the same) has worked surprisingly well. The writing managed to stay surprisingly consistent and it certainly creates a good sense of building tension and shifting loyalties.

There were definitely some weak spots, like fact that characters seemed to keep being added to fill in plot holes, resulting a giant, convoluted cast by the end. (Even with folks getting killed.) It also had a tendency to feel like the plot wasn't getting anywhere, instead the authors just kept tangling things up more. With these chain stories, being polite, not stepping on toes and leaving other author's additions alone just stretches things out without creating a story arc. Someone has to be willing to be drastic and make the reader pay attention. The only one who really seemed willing to walk near the edge was Tananarive Due, who provided the only real dramatic happenings up until the end.

Sent out to love2cook as a RABCK.

Received this book as part of a RABCK from emmejo. Thank you.

Released into bookstogive's "Traveling and making new friends" book box.

You have in your hands a free gift. This book is yours to do with as you wish...read it, share it, keep it, pass it on. Thanks for finding this book! I hope you enjoy reading it as I have and when you're done pass it along for the next dear reader. The best book is a shared book. Happy Reading! Please leave a journal entry and let me know where this book has traveled!

I'm taking this from bookstogive's Making New Friends bookbox; I like several of the authors involved, including Dave Barry, and the quirky title appeals to me all by itself {grin}.

Later: I'll echo emmejo's comments - the collaboration by so many different authors worked surprisingly well (though there were some places where it got a bit clunky, not to mention random; kittens? Seriously?). Barry opens the book with a chapter setting the scene in a south-Florida tourist town, and introducing Booger, the titular manatee (whose character shifts from "being a manatee, he wasn't big on abstract concepts" to [spoiler: a much more proactive/intelligent creature - and then, with some delightful lampshade-hanging by Carl Hiaasen, reverts to his "primordial thinking"]). The way in which human heads are deftly inserted into the plot - and keep reappearing under a variety of circumstances - amused me very much, all the more so when it is revealed just whom the heads resemble, and all in all I giggled quite a bit.

I was surprised and delighted to find that there's a Manatee Avenue in town - unlikely, given how far it is from any manatee habitat, but still... Anyway, I couldn't resist the release opportunity, so I left the book in a bag hanging from a street sign at the intersection of Pine St. and Manatee Ave. at about 2:30 or so. Hope the finder enjoys the book!

*** Released for the 2012 You're Such an Animal" release challenge. ***