Based in South Florida, where he is a columnist for the Miami Herald, Carl Hiaasen has always exhibited an unbridled interest in the landscape of that state. This interest in and love of the land fuels his darkly tinted novels, which pull no punches and are populated by bizarre characters who find themselves in situations that border on the surreal. However, the characters and situations are just plausible enough to keep his works planted in the realm of realistic fiction. Given his warts-and-all approach to characterization, setting, and plot, Hiaasen's work is probably better characterized in a naturalistic vein similar to the earlier works of Frank Norris, Upton Sinclair, and other writers who were not reluctant to paint man, his works, and his foibles and failings in an ultrarealistic fashion.

Carl Andrew Hiaasen (pronounced "hiya-sun") was born on 12 March 1953 in Plantation, Florida, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale in...