Carl Hiaasen (/ˈhaɪ.əsɛn/; born March 12, 1953)[2] is an American journalist and novelist. He began his career as a newspaper reporter and by the late 1970s had begun writing novels in his spare time, both for adults and for middle grade readers. Two of his novels have been made into feature films.
Hiaasen's adult novels are humorous crime thrillers set in Florida. They feature casts of eccentric, sometimes grotesque characters and satirize aspects of American popular culture. Many of the novels include themes related to environmentalism and political corruption in his native state.
Hiaasen was a reporter at TODAY (Cocoa, Florida) for two years before being hired in 1976 by the Miami Herald, where he worked for the city desk, Sunday magazine and award-winning investigative team. Hiaasen was a columnist for the newspaper from mid-1985 until he retired in March 2021. His columns have been collected in three published volumes, Kick Ass (1999), Paradise Screwed (2001) and Dance of the Reptiles (2014), all edited by Diane Stevenson.
After becoming a reporter, Hiaasen began writing novels in his spare time. The first three were co-authored with his friend and fellow journalist William Montalbano: Powder Burn (1981), Trap Line (1982), and A Death in China (1984). His first solo novel, Tourist Season (1986), featured a group of ragged eco-warriors who kidnap the Orange Bowl Queen in Miami. The book's main character was whimsically memorialized by Jimmy Buffett in a song called "The Ballad of Skip Wiley," which appeared on his Barometer Soup album.
Hiaasen's subsequent children's novels are Flush;Scat; Chomp;Skink - No Surrender, which introduces one of his most popular adult characters to younger readers; Squirm; and the latest, Wrecker.
In 2014, Skink was long-listed for a National Book Award in Young People's Literature. Hiaasen's books for young readers feature environmental themes, eccentric casts and adventure-filled plots. Squirm, which is set in Florida and Montana, was published in fall 2018 and opened at #4 on the New York Times bestseller list for middle-grade novels.
Wrecker, released on September 26, 2023, is set in Key West during the COVID-19 pandemic. Kirkus Reviews called it, "A batten-down-the-hatches thriller anchored by critical real-life themes".[8]Booklist wrote, "Wielding his writing talents and wit, Hiaasen seamlessly incorporates...disparate elements into one heck of a ride".[9]Wrecker debuted at number one on The New York Times Children's Middle Grade Hardcover Best Sellers List.[10]
His latest adult book, Squeeze Me, was published on August 25, 2020, and debuted at #2 on the New York Times Combined Print and E-Book Print Best Sellers List. The novel takes place during the glitzy Palm Beach social season, and features wild pythons and a fictional, well-fed U.S. president who has a vacation mansion on the island. Amazon and the WashingtonPost listed Squeeze Me among the best novels of 2020.
Hiaasen's most recent nonfiction work is Assume the Worst: The Graduation Speech You'll Never Hear, which was published in April 2018 and illustrated by Roz Chast, known for her cartoons in The New Yorker.
During the 1990s, Hiaasen co-wrote the lyrics of three songs with his friend and L.A. rocker Warren Zevon. "Rottweiler Blues" and "Seminole Bingo" appeared on Zevon's Mutineer album in 1995. The third song they wrote together, "Basket Case," was done in conjunction with Hiaasen's novel of the same name, and appeared in 2002 on Zevon's album My Ride's Here.
^Parvin, Paige. "We Knew Them When". Emory Magazine (Winter 2013). Emory University. Archived from the original on October 11, 2014. Retrieved March 17, 2013.
^Fresh Air with Terry Gross, June 13, 2013: Interview with Carl Hiaasen; Review of Slaid Cleaves' album "Still Fighting the War"; Obituary for Yoram Kaniuk. National Public Radio (U.S.) WHYY, Inc. June 13, 2013. OCLC957238691. Scroll down to 'View online' to hear the audio of the interview.
