Florida Man, Tom Cooper
Florida Man, Tom Cooper
List: $22.50 | Sale: $15.75
Club: $11.25

Florida Man

Author: Tom Cooper

Narrator: Will Damron

Unabridged: 13 hr 18 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/28/2020


Synopsis

“A riotous journey into the heart of insanity also known as the State of Florida. Bravo!”—Gary Shteyngart, author of Lake Success

Florida, circa 1980. Reed Crowe, the eponymous Florida Man, is a middle-aged beach bum, beleaguered and disenfranchised, living on ill-gotten gains deep in the jungly heart of Florida. When sinkholes start opening on Emerald Island, not only are Reed Crowe's seedy businesses—a moribund motel and a shabby amusement park—endangered, but so are his secrets. Crowe, amateur spelunker, begins uncovering artifacts that change his understanding of the island’s history, as well as his understanding of his family’s birthright as pioneering homesteaders. 

Meanwhile, there are other Florida men with whom Crowe must contend. Hector “Catface” Morales, a Cuban refugee, trained assassin, and crack-addicted Marielito, is seeking revenge on Reed for stealing his stash of drugs and leaving him for dead (unbeknownst to Reed) in the wreckage of a plane crash in the Everglades decades ago. Loner and misanthrope Henry Yahchilane, a Seminole native, has something to hide on the island. So does irascible and pervy Wayne Wade, Reed Crowe’s childhood friend turned bad penny. Then there are the Florida women, including Heidi Karavas, Reed Crowe’s ex-wife, now a globe-trekking art curator, and Nina Arango, a Cuban refugee and fiercely protective woman with whom Reed Crowe falls in love. There are curses. There are sea monsters. There are biblical storms. There’s something called the Jupiter Effect.

Ultimately, Florida Man is a generation-spanning story about how a man decides to live his life, and how despite staying landlocked and stubbornly in one place, the world nevertheless comes to him.

Reviews

Goodreads review by JEN A on August 01, 2020

I could not get into this book at all. The writing was extremely choppy and the characters where unlike able and not well developed. This book just wasn’t for me at all.......more

Goodreads review by Craig on September 24, 2020

I have noticed that sometimes a book about Florida will receive rapturous reviews from people who do not live in Florida and yet fail to grab hold of readers who are residents of Florida. "Florida Man" by Tom Cooper is one of those books. Its cover features raves from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly, b......more

Goodreads review by Warren on June 20, 2022

This was a buddy read with my wife, who also wrote much of the content of this review. She tends to write and think a lot like me, so this probably won't be the last of our collaborative efforts: Too lazy and distracted for a full-blown midlife crisis, Reed Crowe, a depressed and perpetually stoned,......more

Goodreads review by Ryan on August 04, 2020

Florida Man by Tom Cooper takes a look the mythos of the crazy stories surrounding the various news story dubbed "Florida man." This novel is awfully hilarious in it's character studies of Floridian rednecks, Cuban refugees, and American Indians. Most of the stories involve sex, drugs, violence, the......more

Goodreads review by Roy on October 11, 2020

I lived in Florida. I grew up in Largo and lived in St. Pete. So, I’m very familiar with the state. I’ll have to say, the geography in the book was very confusing to say the least. I hate that. Also...did you think no-one would notice you ripped off Swamplandia? Something else bugged me about the time......more


Quotes

“[A] quirky, wild, heartfelt beach read . . . Take a respite from reality and settle in. . . . Cooper’s Florida Man is the escape we’ve all been needing.”—Mississippi Clarion-Ledger
 
“Unexpectedly bittersweet and meditative . . . Cooper’s prose feels both fresh and pleasantly familiar.”The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“There are few words that will do Florida Man justice, but to try: Ribald. Audacious. Terrifying. Florida Man is Cooper's singular, hallucinatory expression of deep American weirdness, a thing enjoyed and then survived, like a tangerine sunset overtaken by a purple hurricane. Hang in, people.”—Smith Henderson, author of Fourth of July Creek

“Cooper made a memorable debut with The Marauders. This second act delivers an even messier, nastier, more brutal, and engaging yarn that spans decades on a remote outpost deep in the wilds of Florida. . . . In this fascinating decades-long trek, we follow perpetually stoned Reed Crowe and his nearly endless run of bad luck. . . . Add a few biblical hurricanes, the occasional sea monster, and Jimmy Buffet and stir. This cocktail's recipe would be one part Travis McGee, one part Carl Hiaasen, and a salt shaker full of magical realism.”Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Darkly entertaining . . . Throughout, Cooper’s macabre and brutal universe crackles with energy and wit, and will hold readers’ attention until the very end. Cooper’s riotous, riveting tale rivals the best of Don Winslow.”Publishers Weekly (starred review)