Doc Hiaasen and the Real Hollywood Story

Who can blame him? One proposal for Double Whammy makes the Bill and Ted notion seem totally excellent. The novel stars a character named Skink, a Florida governor who vanishes to become a hermit. "I got a call from the guy who does the `Hey, Vern' movies. This guy saw, what's his name, Jim Varney, as Skink," Hiaasen moans. "I kinda had to draw the line on that one. But I'm meeting with the guy who produced the Madonna movie. Don't ask me what connection there is between Madonna and Double Whammy."

Skin Tight, perhaps the best of Hiaasen's work so far, is at Universal/MGM. "The delicious irony," Hiaasen says, "is that something I did at twenty is a movie, and all my new stuff is wallowing in Hollywood hell. We'll see what happens. If the movie comes out, I'm ready to denounce it. And cash the checks.