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The Edible Exile
Cuervo is a pampered Nicaraguan moneyman, funding a guerrilla war from his cushy Miami penthouse. Sixto is his hulking, pistol-packing attendant, whose job satisfaction is on the wane. When an aging mobster enters their lives with a promise to help the rebel cause—with a planeload of chickens originally intended for voodoo sacrifice—a tense situation turns combustible. From the wickedly funny mind of Carl Hiaasen comes "The Edible Exile," a raucous story of sleazeball nihilists, lovable thugs, and jungle-weary freedom fighters who collide in a battle of wills, ego, and the almighty dollar.
This cheeky tale, written twenty-five years ago, set aside, and recently rediscovered, is a time-capsule glimpse of Miami during the over-the-top 1980s, when everyone was on the make and gross excess was the order of the day. In an intriguing twist, Hiaasen had lost his original ending to the story. “So I decided to write a new ending,” he says. “As a friend said, ‘How often does a writer get the opportunity to collaborate with a younger version of himself?’”
"The Edible Exile" is a wild romp through Hiaasen Country, sure to appeal to the outlaw in all of us.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Carl Hiaasen was born and raised in Florida, where he still lives with his incredibly tolerant family. He is the author of several bestselling novels, including "Strip Tease," "Stormy Weather," "Lucky You," "Sick Puppy," "Basket Case," "Skinny Dip," "Nature Girl," "Star Island," and, most recently, "Bad Monkey." He has also written a number of novels for young "Hoot," "Flush," "Scat," and "Chomp." At age twenty-three, he joined the "Miami Herald" as a general assignment reporter and went on to work for the paper’s weekly magazine and later its prizewinning investigations team. Since 1985, Hiaasen has been writing a regular column, which still appears most Sundays in the Herald’s opinion-and-editorial section. "Dance of the Reptiles," a new collection of his columns, will be published in January 2014 by Vintage.
PRAISE FOR CARL HIAASEN
“A relentlessly sane voice in a hurricane of hypocrisy, hokum and hype.” —Dave Barry
“Does anyone remember what we did for fun before Hiaasen began turning out his satirical comedies?” —The San Francisco Chronicle
“Carl Hiaasen isn’t just Florida’s sharpest satirist—he’s one of the few funny writers left in the whole country . . . I think of him as a national treasure.” —Newsweek
“Hiaasen [is] a superb national satirist . . . A great American writer about the great American subjects of ambition, greed, vanity and disappointment.” —Entertainment Weekly
“No one writes about Florida with a more wicked sense of humor than Hiaasen." —USA Today
“Hiaasen’s wasteland is as retributive as Cormac McCarthy’s, but funnier. . . . [His] pacing is impeccable, and the scenes follow one another like Lay’s potato chips.” —The New York Times Book Review
“Recalls Twain and Chandler in its mingling of the cultured and the coarse … The funniest writer around.” —Sunday Times of London
This cheeky tale, written twenty-five years ago, set aside, and recently rediscovered, is a time-capsule glimpse of Miami during the over-the-top 1980s, when everyone was on the make and gross excess was the order of the day. In an intriguing twist, Hiaasen had lost his original ending to the story. “So I decided to write a new ending,” he says. “As a friend said, ‘How often does a writer get the opportunity to collaborate with a younger version of himself?’”
"The Edible Exile" is a wild romp through Hiaasen Country, sure to appeal to the outlaw in all of us.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Carl Hiaasen was born and raised in Florida, where he still lives with his incredibly tolerant family. He is the author of several bestselling novels, including "Strip Tease," "Stormy Weather," "Lucky You," "Sick Puppy," "Basket Case," "Skinny Dip," "Nature Girl," "Star Island," and, most recently, "Bad Monkey." He has also written a number of novels for young "Hoot," "Flush," "Scat," and "Chomp." At age twenty-three, he joined the "Miami Herald" as a general assignment reporter and went on to work for the paper’s weekly magazine and later its prizewinning investigations team. Since 1985, Hiaasen has been writing a regular column, which still appears most Sundays in the Herald’s opinion-and-editorial section. "Dance of the Reptiles," a new collection of his columns, will be published in January 2014 by Vintage.
PRAISE FOR CARL HIAASEN
“A relentlessly sane voice in a hurricane of hypocrisy, hokum and hype.” —Dave Barry
“Does anyone remember what we did for fun before Hiaasen began turning out his satirical comedies?” —The San Francisco Chronicle
“Carl Hiaasen isn’t just Florida’s sharpest satirist—he’s one of the few funny writers left in the whole country . . . I think of him as a national treasure.” —Newsweek
“Hiaasen [is] a superb national satirist . . . A great American writer about the great American subjects of ambition, greed, vanity and disappointment.” —Entertainment Weekly
“No one writes about Florida with a more wicked sense of humor than Hiaasen." —USA Today
“Hiaasen’s wasteland is as retributive as Cormac McCarthy’s, but funnier. . . . [His] pacing is impeccable, and the scenes follow one another like Lay’s potato chips.” —The New York Times Book Review
“Recalls Twain and Chandler in its mingling of the cultured and the coarse … The funniest writer around.” —Sunday Times of London
26 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 9, 2013
194 people are currently reading
1373 people want to read
About the author
Carl Hiaasen
99 books9,821 followersCarl Hiaasen was born and raised in Florida. After graduating from the University of Florida, he joined the Miami Herald as a general assignment reporter and went on to work for the newspaper’s weekly magazine and prize-winning investigations team. As a journalist and author, Carl has spent most of his life advocating for the protection of the Florida Everglades. He and his family live in southern Florida.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 111 reviews
November 18, 2016
A short feature by one of my favorites, Carl Hiaasen, updated from a story he wrote 20-something years ago. This was really no more than a short story, would have been better fleshed out into one of his hilarious novels.
September 28, 2016
A story so short, it seems incomplete. 4 of 10 stars
February 11, 2017
A very short, 40 minute novel by Hiaasen. Narrated by Scott Brick.
3 stars, wish it had been longer.
3 stars, wish it had been longer.
December 9, 2015
Truthfully the actual story isn't that great but the introduction is worth the price of the book (.99). He or was it someone else? found this long forgotten novella in a drawer. It was was written nearly thirty years ago. If you like to read the early writings of authors you love, and you love Mr. Hiassen as I do, then you should read it.
November 10, 2017
In the world of drugs and guns.... there is always someone trying to be top dog making the money. Some do it for themselves, others do it for the cause. What happens when cause and personal gains mix? This story for one: Sixto is for the cause and the man he works for only wants the money and thee fame. He has expensive tastes while those fighting the cause are living in the jungles with rats to eat.
Sixto decides the fate of two men who swindle the cause for their own gains. He learns, if you know the right people, you can make anything happen. Sixto has met an old mobster who is always interested in making money with quick results. He teaches Sixto the value of this lesson and yet a new someone is born in the dealings of the dark web and under belly of the trade of arms... if not chickens.
Love Carl's mind and that his younger mind and older-wiser mind collaborated to re-release this short story that resulted from an arms deal that went sideways during the Reagan administration. So many of those stories..... Love that reporter side of Carl's mind.
Sixto decides the fate of two men who swindle the cause for their own gains. He learns, if you know the right people, you can make anything happen. Sixto has met an old mobster who is always interested in making money with quick results. He teaches Sixto the value of this lesson and yet a new someone is born in the dealings of the dark web and under belly of the trade of arms... if not chickens.
Love Carl's mind and that his younger mind and older-wiser mind collaborated to re-release this short story that resulted from an arms deal that went sideways during the Reagan administration. So many of those stories..... Love that reporter side of Carl's mind.
February 14, 2017
This is a short story, available only in audio format. It's okay as stories go, although the subject matter is pretty dated since it deals with Iran-Contra during the Reagan years.
Still, Hiaasen is always worth a look, or in this case, a listen.
Still, Hiaasen is always worth a look, or in this case, a listen.
February 26, 2016
2.5
Entertaining shaggy dog [short] story. Saw the ending coming in the first paragraph -- in the title, come to think of it. Typical light weight Hiaasen fun, but I'm glad I checked this one out of the library.
Entertaining shaggy dog [short] story. Saw the ending coming in the first paragraph -- in the title, come to think of it. Typical light weight Hiaasen fun, but I'm glad I checked this one out of the library.
April 29, 2021
Ha ha ha, the bad guys pay the price - and then some! Good narration by Scott Brick.
January 29, 2025
So short, one can barely get into it.
January 13, 2014
Very early Hiassan short story, now available as a "Kindle Single" (or other platforms). Lacks his roll on the floor laughing humor, but has his amazing ability to draw a character in a few paragraphs, put them in an odd situation. And let things develop. Worth the 20 minutes to read.
June 6, 2014
Hiaasen found an old short story of his and decided to publish it. It's not very good. The found copy was missing its ending, so he added a new one. It's also not very good. I mean, it's entertaining enough, but overpriced for what you get.
August 10, 2014
Classic Hiaasen. If that is even close to how things were then I believe justice was done.
January 1, 2025
Audio Length:00:41:00
January 13, 2018
This is more of a short story than a novel. The audiobook clocked in at only 40 minutes. As a Hiaasen fan, the story behind the story is really my favorite part. Hiassen "rediscovered" this story that was written for a magazine almost 25 years ago but never published and realized in the process that the story was either unfinished or the ending was missing. Unable to remember his original ending, he set about to finish the tale. Set in the mid 1980s, right around the time of the Iran-Contra Scandal that rocked the Reagan Administration, The Edible Exile tells a small piece of the tale, following a self-proclaimed freedom fighter who is funding what becomes a mess of a war down in Nicaragua. The tale is short and simple but I could see Hiaasen developing all the characters into a larger novel at some point, if he wanted to go down that path. It was a fun (but too short) read. If you're already a Hiaasen fan, this is a must-read. If you've never read his work, this could be a fun starter story but go and read his other works for a better judge of his writing.
September 20, 2025
An intriguing short by Hiaasen -- the manuscript was written many years ago during the 1980s, highlighting the Sandinista/Contra conflict in Nicaragua. But the magazine Hiaasen submitted it to - Esquire, I believe, did not publish it. And it was returned to Hiaasen many years later. But missing the ending. Hiaasen searched his papers but could find nothing pertaining to the story - so he wrote a new ending. An intriguing premise, for sure!
Sixto is Nicaraguan and works for Cuervo - a fat sleazeball living in luxury while theoretically funneling money to freedom fighters in Nicaragua. But Sixto has family who are part of the guerillas that are fighting -- and he knows that they are starving and need weapons. He tries to get Cuervo to help but is brushed off. But then Sixto has a chance encounter with a retired mobster who provides live chickens for santeria sacrifices -- and things get very interesting!
Sixto is Nicaraguan and works for Cuervo - a fat sleazeball living in luxury while theoretically funneling money to freedom fighters in Nicaragua. But Sixto has family who are part of the guerillas that are fighting -- and he knows that they are starving and need weapons. He tries to get Cuervo to help but is brushed off. But then Sixto has a chance encounter with a retired mobster who provides live chickens for santeria sacrifices -- and things get very interesting!
November 12, 2017
A very short story about the Contras during the Reagan administration. Cuervo is a moneyman who is helping to fund the war while living very high. Sixto is Cuervo's body guard. Sixto's cousin comes from the war, very thin and almost starving. She tells Sixto the fighters are starving. Sixto meets a mobster who says he can get live chickens to the Contras in two days. He gets the chickens there. Sixto turns on Cuervo because he is using the money that could feed and arm the Contras.
This book is famous because the story was found after 25 years without the end. Hiassen gets to collaborate with himself of 25 years ago to write the end as he doesn't remember what he originally wrote.
This book is famous because the story was found after 25 years without the end. Hiassen gets to collaborate with himself of 25 years ago to write the end as he doesn't remember what he originally wrote.
January 10, 2023
This is actually a short story. It's very much a story of it's own place and time, occurring in the 80s and dealing with America's response to the crisis in Nicaragua with regard to the Contras, etc. There's little of the humor Hiaasen usually infuses throughout his work but plenty of outrage as usual toward those who capitalize on humanitarian crises. A decent read, but not Hiaasen at his best.
May 26, 2017
A "quickie" resurrected from the reject pile of Hiaasen's early history, we're taken back to Iran-Contra times for a glimpse into Carl's early humor and sick mind. A fun short read. Ironic that the found manuscript was missing the ending and had to be completed by a more mature Carl. I wonder what the young one would think? I'm sure he'd approve.
May 20, 2017
Don't Bother
Not what one would expect from Mr. Hiaasen. It starts slow and ends too soon. I was not expecting a short story but that's what this turned out to be, and it left me wanting more of a story than I got.
Not what one would expect from Mr. Hiaasen. It starts slow and ends too soon. I was not expecting a short story but that's what this turned out to be, and it left me wanting more of a story than I got.
September 3, 2017
Please Keep Them Coming Mr. Hiaasen
Fun, funny, interesting and relevant with the biting sarcasm one comes to expect from Hiaasen books. I have read them all and this one meets the expectations
Fun, funny, interesting and relevant with the biting sarcasm one comes to expect from Hiaasen books. I have read them all and this one meets the expectations
May 5, 2021
Listened to this five days ago and already forgot how it ended! I dont recommend. I have to remember I don't care for this author no matter how much I want to. He's supposed to be funny but just isn't.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 7, 2024
Seriously funny, a look at the other side of the many levels of guerilla warfare, random acts of kindness and lack of collective consciousness.
Thank you for your words Carl Hiaasen and Scott Brick your eloquence, very much appreciated gentlemen. (-:
Thank you for your words Carl Hiaasen and Scott Brick your eloquence, very much appreciated gentlemen. (-:
May 25, 2017
Cute little story .... brought back memories of the long long past for me ....
June 15, 2017
I liked the concept of Hiaason co-authoring the book with his younger self but it just didn't do it for me. I guess I was expecting more tongue in cheek that Hiasson is known for.
April 22, 2018
His only short story - quite political too!!
June 18, 2018
Enjoyable short story
Only wish it could have gone on longer. Carl Hiassen is a master writer. I have enjoyed everything he has written.
Only wish it could have gone on longer. Carl Hiassen is a master writer. I have enjoyed everything he has written.
September 12, 2018
I had to replay the end of the audiobook several times to make sure I didn't miss something. Turns out there was nothing to miss. 40min I will never get back.
October 22, 2018
Funny, if not particularly profound. Maybe deserves 4 stars instead of 3.
January 21, 2019
Gotta love a guerilla with a heart!!
February 15, 2019
A quick story about a bigwig in the Iran Contra affair, and his bodyguard that changes his loyalties.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 111 reviews