Bad Monkey is Carl Hiaasen’s latest novel that came out at the beginning of the summer of 2013. Similarly to many of Hiaasen’s novels, the book is about a rough around the edges detective who desperately wants his job back. He sets out to solve a murder that he really has no business solving. While tracking down the murderer, he observes and is a part of a number of humorous hijinks, and his life and the lives of those around him are put in danger.
Carl Hiaasen grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and has lived in Miami for most of his adult life. For this reason, his books generally take place in the state of Florida and the character of the state plays a big role in his novels. He has been a reporter for the Miami Herald since 1976, which explains why his novels also revolve around crime and the police detectives whom he has solve those crimes. Another theme that runs commonly through his novels are that the environment, specifically the wildlife and the swamps and oceans of Florida, are often exploited, destroyed and need to be protected. I would say that if Christopher Buckley is the master of the dry political comedies then Hiaasen has a corner in the dry detective comedy genre. I definitely enjoy both of these types of novels as they do an excellent job of combining two types of genres and making an intriguing new genre.
This is the second novel that I have read by Carl Hiaasen, the first being Skinny Dip. Another aspect to his novels that I thoroughly enjoy is that they are filled with unique characters and that there is no perfect protagonist. Everyone has their hang-ups and everyone has their ulterior motives. This book, Bad Monkey, is entitled so because there is a very naughty monkey (and, not naughty in the Curious George sense) that is supposedly the monkey from the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie but was essentially fired because he was so difficult to work with. Through some coincidence, the monkey plays a somewhat integral part of the story and in a way helps to get the crime solved. The uniqueness of the characters in Hiaasen’s books definitely helps to keep the reader engaged.
Often times when life throws us a curve ball, out natural tendency is to find some corner somewhere, cry in cup of coffee, and sing our favorite verse of poor, poor me. But what if we drew a deep breath, stepped back, and considered for a minute how we could use this opportunity to make a positive change of direction in our lives?
The Giver by Lois Lowry (1993) is a children’s book that is about a seemingly utopian society where “œsameness” is what provides the people with stability. As the story progresses, we learn that the sameness has created a lack of emotion to the point where even the people do not experience color. Jonas, the main character and young teenager, learns the truth about his community as he is chosen to be the receiver of memories, which have been eradicated in order for sameness to be achieved. The giver is an old man who gives him these memories and with them comes the truth and many other revelations.
John Allison was the CEO of one of the only large banks that stayed profitable during the financial upheaval that came to a head in 2008. During his 20 year tenure at BB&T, during which he lead based on the principles of Ayn Rand, the bank grew exponentially in its success (from assets of $4.5 billion to $152 billion). During the crisis, the federal government in essence forced BB&T to take bailout money, even though they didn’t want it or need it, and they were literally the very first bank to pay back the money once it was legal to do so.
Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose is a play that recounts the deliberation of a jury in the murder trial. The jury is tasked to determine the future of an 18-year-old boy who is accused of killing his own father. At first, the case seems pretty obvious, but as the details of the case are discussed we discover that everything is not as open-and-shut as it seemed. The jury learns that biases and prior experiences play a role, unwittingly at times, in how facts are perceived and how events are interpreted. Tempers flare as the innocence and guilt of the defendant is discussed and a unanimous verdict must be found.