A Salty Piece of Land

everyone's submissions are far too serious and overly reflective for me. so, this is my attempt to rebel. jimmy buffett: drunken debauchery, cheeseburgers and flip flops flood your thoughts, yes? preposterous to *actually* consider the jimbo a bona fide author. he's no vonnegut. twain does circles around him i'm sure. but i challenge you to read his lyrics. what's more, open up this book. it's not a masterpiece. rather, it documents the life of a wayward wanna be cowboy-sailor. who cares right? but, amid this highly connected, satellite driven society, how often are you invited to that one particular harbor? read it. hate it. love it. judge me harshly for submitting this review. i have a small attention span here in cyberspace and probably won't submit more than one review... so i figured i had to make it good.

Surprisingly (at least to me), <a href="https://goodreads.com/author/show/19824.Jimmy_Buffett" title="Jimmy Buffett" rel="noopener"> Jimmy Buffett</a> is quite the storyteller. I didn't expect a celebrity novelist to be quite so entertaining, or so good at crafting a genuinely interesting tale. Granted, Buffett's songs are stories in themselves and he has written quite a few novels in his day, but still I didn't expect much from this book; I picked it up because my dad said it was alright and I wanted something to read that wasn't academic. So I was quite pleased to find that I really enjoyed it. It wasn't fine literature, of course, but it was similar to - and as good as - any <a href="https://goodreads.com/author/show/8178.Carl_Hiaasen" title="Carl Hiaasen" rel="noopener"> Carl Hiaasen</a> novel. So if you like Hiaasen, or <a href="https://goodreads.com/author/show/27017.Tim_Dorsey" title="Tim Dorsey" rel="noopener"> Tim Dorsey</a>, you'll like Buffett. This was a quirky and downright lovable story.

A Wyoming cowboy makes his way to The Caribbean after getting fired from his job. Bumming around, he gets a job restoring a lighthouse. Strange things start to happen.<br /><br />About what one would expect from a book by Jimmy Buffet. Light, but entertaining.

Yes, that’s him, the singer. But also, a writer.<br /><br />At first I thought I was reading a series of short stories about Jimmy Buffet, but then I realized that it was a novel about a guy and his adventure/life story. <br /><br />Once I realized this, I kind of relaxed into the fun of it and let go and didn’t think much of it. Just flowed with it. Some crazy characters with strange names and interesting back stories living the life on an island. <br /><br />It is a simple book. If you don’t think much beyond that, you can enjoy the everyday people who walk their own path in spite of themselves, make friends along the way and eventually accomplish worthy goals.

You know that any Floridian with a sailboat will have a copy of Buffett's 4 CD collection titled "Boats, Beaches, Bars and Ballads" aboard. The music is the perfect accompaniment to the glorious wind, waves and water of the Florida Keys and the Caribbean. Like his music, his books take you there like few others can do. Frankly, I don't know how this one snuck by me as I have read and enjoyed all his others. Probably got backed up in my reading or was waiting for paperback release or kindle price drop.<br /><br />At any rate, better late than never and my patience was rewarded with a great tale featuring some great characters, places and stories. Why only 4 stars instead of 5? Well, it could have used a bit of a trim, frankly, and the long epistles from his friend got to be a bit annoying, I still have trouble picturing lugging a horse around on a boat but I think it was the coincidences and connections that were a bit of a stretch, Still, great escapist literature in every sense of the word.

When Montana cowboy Tully Mars looks to run away from his problems, a boat headed for the Caribbean seems like the perfect place to start his life over. The consummate cowboy, Tully brings his horse with him to the tropical island of Cayo Loco to get lost. Instead, he not only finds himself, but a quirky gang of expatriate friends who not only have his interest, but have his back. But it is the 101-year-old Cleopatra Highbourne at the helm of her 142-foot long schooner who will change Tully’s life forever – assuming his past doesn’t catch up with him first.<br /><br />In the world of music, Jimmy Buffett requires no introduction. However, A Salty Piece of Land isn’t a song, it is a novel and the standards are much different. But someone forgot mention to Jimmy that this was something different. All he does is go out and write a funny, entertaining, insightful story about one man – Tully Mars – trying to get a fresh start in life and find some peace and happiness. Buffett creates a compelling character at the center of his story, who is all too human and prone to random acts of foolishness. But at his center, he is a kind person who looks out for those around him. This is Buffett’s biggest writing strength – creating compelling, interesting characters. From the rock star to the seaplane pilot, the treasure hunter to the quirky bad guys, everyone in this story jumps off of the page as a unique personality. Nobody is dull.<br /><br />That’s not to say A Salty Piece of Land is perfect. The plot doesn’t always make sense. There are several “coincidences” that leave you going “uh huh, sure.” The story really could have done with some editing, too. There are sizable chunks of the beefy 480 page novel that slow down to a crawl. If Buffett could have tightened it up by about 100 pages, it might have been a real page-turner. Instead, at times I weathered page after page of scene setting or internal monologue to get to the next amusing section. <br /><br />The quality of the writing isn’t Tolstoy. There is a pedestrian sameness to it – at least until you get to the dialog. That is where Buffett hits his stride and each character finds their individual voices. A Salty Piece of Land isn’t great writing, but it is good, fun storytelling. I have to make a confession that my enjoyment of this novel may have been fueled by it being the antidote to the bleakness of the previous novel I read, The Road, by Cormac McCarthy. Whether because of this or in spite of this, I have to admit that I had fun reading a book that didn’t take itself too seriously. It’s not writing that will have me begging for more of the same, but it was a nice diversion.<br />

This book of 2004 shows its age. Buffett tries to explain the world he wants to live in. <br />Probably that world still exists for lots of people. Today we might see the book as an unbelievable world. <br /><br />But, there’s some fun stuff in the book. We meet “Bonefish Bob” and “Jetfuel Joe” and visit the :Lost boys Fishing Lodge.” We get hear about Jack London’s book The Cruise of the Shark. We learn that “Beliese City was “…no trip to the Grand Canyon.” <br /><br />It’s clear that he loves the sea and being on the sea. The book is all about living individually, far away from the everyday world most of us find ourselves in. The core of the book is a good one. But we don’t need 450+ pages to see the point. <br /><br />Note: As a 70-something male living in a retirement program, at a time when we have to stay inside (in the summer) I may not be the best person to review this book. <br /><br />

In "Power of the Myth", Joseph Campbell said, "People say that what we're all seeking is a meaning for life." <br /><br />Jimmy Buffett's characters share that trait. They are everyday people who walk their own path in spite of themselves, make friends along the way and eventually accomplish worthy goals - maybe not GREAT ones, but worthy ones. Fictionally, they are rewarded, but it wasn't what they were looking for when they began their journey.<br /><br />In this book Buffett has explained to us how to live life. As my friend Katrinia puts down as a signature on her emails: Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"<br /><br />He succeeds with this book.<br /><br />

I learned that Jimmy Buffett is a much better singer/songwriter than he is an author. Oh, my. I wonder if Homer Hickam knows that Buffett sort of "borrowed" some of his stuff from <u> The Ambassador's Son<u>? I wonder if he cares? I wonder if it matters, because I doubt they have many overlapping readers.... I wasn't going to put anything into goodreads about this book, but then I saw that the average rating for the book was 3.54, and I decided that couldn't be allowed to stand without my putting in my 2 cents, so here they are: poor book, poorly written, and not worth your time. Woof. Sorry, Mr. Buffett.</u></u>

"Grief is like the wake behind a boat. It starts out as a huge wave that follows close behind you and is big enough to swamp and drown you if you suddenly stop moving forward. But if you do keep moving, the big wake will eventually dissipate. And after a long enough time, the waters of your life get calm again, and that is when the memories of those who have left begin to shine as bright and enduring as the stars above." <br /><br />Jimmy Buffet can be so profound sometimes, for a big goofy old parrot head!