Striptease by Carl Hiaasen

11. – 524.) Striptease by Carl Hiaasen – I had been thinking about reading one of his books for some time. The references to his humour in reviews of the books of Claire Matturo and Paul Levine caught my attention. I arbitrarily chose this title, written almost two decades ago, as it was the earliest mystery of Hiaasen in Westgate Books. Within a few pages I realized, to my surprise, that the book provided the plot for the movie Striptease with Burt Reynolds and Demi Moore. Erin Grant is a nude dancer (stripper in the show) at the Eager Beaver strip joint near Fort Lauderdale. Shad (white in the book and black in the movie) is the massive fearsome bouncer who keeps order. Congressman David Dilbeck, drunk and out of control, starts the action by breaking a champagne bottle over the head of a customer clinging to Erin. The story revolves around those who would expose the incident and those who seek to cover it up. I could not read the book without seeing Burt Reynolds playing Dilbeck. Reynolds perfectly captured the image of a corrupt fun loving senior government representative in the movie. Had I not watched the movie first I expect I would have enjoyed the book more. I kept comparing them. The movie, in Hollywood tradition, has murders but is lighter than the book. As the book draws to a conclusion it is considerably darker than the movie. The movie was far closer to the book than many movie interpretations. I am going to have to read another Hiaasen book to see if I actually like him as an author. I will try not to buy the book after the movie in the future. Paperback. (Mar. 7/10)