Pop Stars, Plastic Surgery, and Paparazzi

If you decide to spend your summer vacation in Carl Hiassen’s unbearably sunny, superpastel imaginary South Beach, please remember to protect yourself. You will need to wear sunglasses, a wide-brimmed hat, two condoms, and a bulletproof vest. Why? ’Cause Hiassen’s latest beach book, Star Island, is a lurid literary trap...

By S. Pajot

August 19, 2010

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If you decide to spend your summer vacation in Carl Hiassen’s unbearably sunny, superpastel imaginary South Beach, please remember to protect yourself. You will need to wear sunglasses, a wide-brimmed hat, two condoms, and a bulletproof vest. Why? ’Cause Hiassen’s latest beach book, Star Island, is a lurid literary trap populated by a pack of truly trashy human beings. First, there’s the star: an aging, coked-out pop princess named Cherry Pye (AKA Cheryl Bunterman) who seems only a stagger away from the grave. Second, there’s the entourage: Cherry’s deluded fame-whore mother, the body double, twin publicists with a plastic surgery addiction, and a pervert pop producer. And third, you’ve got a bunch of wild cards, including a sex-crazed governor and a deranged paparazzo. Watch out when Hiaasen reads from Star Island, signs copies of the book, and answers questions at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden this Monday.
Mon., Aug. 30, 8 p.m., 2010

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