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Strip Tease
No matter what you heard or thought about the movie version of Strip Tease, forget it. Film simply can't catch the layers of humor, satire, and imagination that author Carl Hiaasen creates in each of his novels.
When a deranged Florida congressman falls for a gorgeous but virtuous stripper, he dedicates himself to pursuing this tasselled princess. Not only is she a real beauty, she's a damsel in distress. The effects of his quest will ripple through the spotlights of the strip joint, the sugar cane fields of south Florida, and some powerful political careers. Fueled by innocent lust and dizzy miscalculations, this story will keep you howling with surprise.
George Wilson's colorful narration is the perfect vehicle for Carl Hiaasen's twisted fairy tale.
When a deranged Florida congressman falls for a gorgeous but virtuous stripper, he dedicates himself to pursuing this tasselled princess. Not only is she a real beauty, she's a damsel in distress. The effects of his quest will ripple through the spotlights of the strip joint, the sugar cane fields of south Florida, and some powerful political careers. Fueled by innocent lust and dizzy miscalculations, this story will keep you howling with surprise.
George Wilson's colorful narration is the perfect vehicle for Carl Hiaasen's twisted fairy tale.
418 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 1, 1993
612 people are currently reading
4546 people want to read
About the author
Carl Hiaasen
99 books9,822 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 931 reviews
August 6, 2025
Kinky off-the-wall hilarity!
If you've ever read a travelogue by Bill Bryson then you'll know what I mean when I say it's possible to be hilarious and entirely serious at the same time. You'll also understand what I mean when I suggest that Carl Hiaasen is to fiction and mystery novels as Bill Bryson is to travel literature.
Strip Tease is a somewhat kinky, entirely off-the-wall, but thoroughly entertaining tale of murder, blackmail and political intrigue that revolves around Erin Grant, a stripper who toils nightly to raise the money for the legal tab she's running up in a custody battle for her daughter, and David Dilbeck, a thoroughly corrupt and entirely imbecilic US congressman whose thought processes rarely stray beyond hormones and never get above the level of what's between his legs (or whose legs he's between).
When Dilbeck makes the ill-advised election year decision to become involved in a drunken brawl in the Eager Beaver strip joint where Erin Grant works, the opportunities for blackmail become obvious and the workload for sleazy political fixers such as Malcolm Moldowsky becomes more than even his expertise can handle.
Hiaasen runs up a string of outlandish coincidences and creates a series of brilliant portrayed, absolutely bizarre and often likeable characters. The entire novel somehow manages to hang on the knife edge of a sharp ridge threatening to tip over into the realm of slapstick vaudevillian silliness. But somehow, he holds back and manages to generate real laughter over a real story that, believe it or not, at times can also be quite heartwarming! His political commentary and obvious criticism is also entirely intentional and, in this reader's opinion, entirely justified.
Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
If you've ever read a travelogue by Bill Bryson then you'll know what I mean when I say it's possible to be hilarious and entirely serious at the same time. You'll also understand what I mean when I suggest that Carl Hiaasen is to fiction and mystery novels as Bill Bryson is to travel literature.
Strip Tease is a somewhat kinky, entirely off-the-wall, but thoroughly entertaining tale of murder, blackmail and political intrigue that revolves around Erin Grant, a stripper who toils nightly to raise the money for the legal tab she's running up in a custody battle for her daughter, and David Dilbeck, a thoroughly corrupt and entirely imbecilic US congressman whose thought processes rarely stray beyond hormones and never get above the level of what's between his legs (or whose legs he's between).
When Dilbeck makes the ill-advised election year decision to become involved in a drunken brawl in the Eager Beaver strip joint where Erin Grant works, the opportunities for blackmail become obvious and the workload for sleazy political fixers such as Malcolm Moldowsky becomes more than even his expertise can handle.
Hiaasen runs up a string of outlandish coincidences and creates a series of brilliant portrayed, absolutely bizarre and often likeable characters. The entire novel somehow manages to hang on the knife edge of a sharp ridge threatening to tip over into the realm of slapstick vaudevillian silliness. But somehow, he holds back and manages to generate real laughter over a real story that, believe it or not, at times can also be quite heartwarming! His political commentary and obvious criticism is also entirely intentional and, in this reader's opinion, entirely justified.
Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
February 26, 2019
The epilogue alone is side splitting hilarity and priceless-read this to get away from the winter blues !!
May 29, 2023
I read this book when it first came out, back before they made a movie out of it, and I loved it. Either my tastes have changed over the years, or this book really wasn't as funny as I initially thought it was.
In this second go around with this novel, I found the characters to be one dimensional; flat like soda with no fizz. The plot- a divorced woman stripping (dancing she calls it) to get the money to pay her lawyer to regain custody of her daughter. An ex- husband who is so unfit as to be a caricature. Typical Floridian politics rounds out the plot as well as several murders, a nice cop riding to the rescue and no love interest whatsoever.
Trite plot, flat characters and more boobs than you can shake a stick at, made this a painful re-read for me.
In this second go around with this novel, I found the characters to be one dimensional; flat like soda with no fizz. The plot- a divorced woman stripping (dancing she calls it) to get the money to pay her lawyer to regain custody of her daughter. An ex- husband who is so unfit as to be a caricature. Typical Floridian politics rounds out the plot as well as several murders, a nice cop riding to the rescue and no love interest whatsoever.
Trite plot, flat characters and more boobs than you can shake a stick at, made this a painful re-read for me.
November 29, 2016
It's more or less impossible to say something about this book and not mention the film, so I'll just get that out of the way. It (the film) was (I think) undeservedly bad mouthed by critics and some public alike. The only major problem I remember having with it was that Rhames was miscast as Shad (but I'm not sure there is/was a real-life actor that would be a good fit for the character, actually). Other than that it was quite fun. Not terribly true to Hiaasens book, however, and not as good by a long shot. The book contains all the trademark Hiaasen black humor, biting satire, quirky characters and odd situations that you expect.
February 20, 2016
This is my third Carl Hiaasen novel. I'm becoming a fan. I haven't seen the Demi Moore movie based on this book, but I doubt the movie captured the humor and clever interweaving of so many characters in half a dozen subplots the way Hiaasen does in yet another novel about that weirdest of states, Florida.
The main plot revolves around a white powder that is worth billions of dollars, enriches a few magnates at the expense of the underpaid migrant workers who harvest and process it, and for which powerful men will kill anyone who threatens profits. Sugar, of course.
Erin is a former FBI agent who now works at a strip club. She has a crazy meth-head ex-husband who managed to get custody of their daughter after he brought the Bible-thumping judge to her place of employment. Hizzoner declared Erin an unfit mother, and is now a regular at the club.
One night, a libidinous Congressman goes into a blackout-drunk rage onstage with Erin, nearly clubs another patron to death, and has to be dragged out by long-suffering "fixer," who then spends the rest of the book trying to cover up the Congressman's infelicities before an important vote on sugar subsidies.
The Congressman falls in love with Erin (a phenomenon she's not unused to, working at a strip club), but his exposing himself to her (literally and figuratively) puts his political career in danger, and the men who have bought and paid for him can't have that. Erin is smart enough to take care of herself, but also smart enough to realize she's in danger and just being smart and competent isn't enough against the power of Washington lobbyists who are willing to erase inconvenient little people. Fortunately, she also has her biker bouncer buddy, Chad, and a police sergeant who takes an interest in the case after his fishing vacation is spoiled by his son discovering a "floater" who happens to be one of the inconvenient little people.
Like Hiaasen's other novels, Strip Tease tucks trenchant social criticism and cynical political commentary into a colorful cast of weirdos, crazies, working class folks, conniving villains, lecherous creeps, smart chicks, decent cops, corrupt politicians, scheming ex-cons with hearts of gold, and half a dozen subplots that all somehow manage to drive the main plot forward in clever ways. There is the bouncer who is perpetually foiled in his schemes to retire on the proceedings of a lawsuit from a cockroach found in his yogurt, the strip club owner perpetually in labor disputes with his dancers, who range from empty-headed bimbos to very smart women trying to get by; there are shysters and fixers and dirty politics galore. And it's very funny. Erin herself never falls into any kind of stereotype as a stripper, and while the villains are a little bit out of Central Casting, who doesn't love a dimwitted, lecherous Congressman getting what's coming to him?
The main plot revolves around a white powder that is worth billions of dollars, enriches a few magnates at the expense of the underpaid migrant workers who harvest and process it, and for which powerful men will kill anyone who threatens profits. Sugar, of course.
Erin is a former FBI agent who now works at a strip club. She has a crazy meth-head ex-husband who managed to get custody of their daughter after he brought the Bible-thumping judge to her place of employment. Hizzoner declared Erin an unfit mother, and is now a regular at the club.
One night, a libidinous Congressman goes into a blackout-drunk rage onstage with Erin, nearly clubs another patron to death, and has to be dragged out by long-suffering "fixer," who then spends the rest of the book trying to cover up the Congressman's infelicities before an important vote on sugar subsidies.
The Congressman falls in love with Erin (a phenomenon she's not unused to, working at a strip club), but his exposing himself to her (literally and figuratively) puts his political career in danger, and the men who have bought and paid for him can't have that. Erin is smart enough to take care of herself, but also smart enough to realize she's in danger and just being smart and competent isn't enough against the power of Washington lobbyists who are willing to erase inconvenient little people. Fortunately, she also has her biker bouncer buddy, Chad, and a police sergeant who takes an interest in the case after his fishing vacation is spoiled by his son discovering a "floater" who happens to be one of the inconvenient little people.
Like Hiaasen's other novels, Strip Tease tucks trenchant social criticism and cynical political commentary into a colorful cast of weirdos, crazies, working class folks, conniving villains, lecherous creeps, smart chicks, decent cops, corrupt politicians, scheming ex-cons with hearts of gold, and half a dozen subplots that all somehow manage to drive the main plot forward in clever ways. There is the bouncer who is perpetually foiled in his schemes to retire on the proceedings of a lawsuit from a cockroach found in his yogurt, the strip club owner perpetually in labor disputes with his dancers, who range from empty-headed bimbos to very smart women trying to get by; there are shysters and fixers and dirty politics galore. And it's very funny. Erin herself never falls into any kind of stereotype as a stripper, and while the villains are a little bit out of Central Casting, who doesn't love a dimwitted, lecherous Congressman getting what's coming to him?
January 8, 2025
Took me an age to read this. There’s nothing wrong with it, I just couldn’t engage with it. Written well and an entertaining story but just not my thing.
October 13, 2009
Oh holy crap on a stick. This has an average rating of 3.5 !?! Is that cause it fits in your purse? Is that cause you can read it drunk, upside down, with the lights out and still not miss a trick? (Yes, fine, take the pun - I don't care). The book could have worse, but is that any methodology for handing out stars? Oh god. And the acknowledgment actually acknowledges the people who brought the practice of wrestling half-naked strippers in creamed corn to his attention. The fact that this book has a rating of 3.5 makes me want to gouge my eyes out and rely on listening to indie films for entertainment. But I won't because there are a lot of really good books yet to read (and a lot of indie films suck too). And if I did then my ex would be totally justified in calling me overly-dramatic. I just wouldn't recommend this to my dog... if I had one.
December 15, 2018
This book has a great plot but the writing and execution are atrocious. Throughout the novel, Hiaasen violates "show don't tell," thereby making an interesting plot fall to the wayside of unimaginative and uninspired writing. This would have been a five star novel if written by Elmore Leonard.
May 3, 2011
this is my first encounter with carl hiassen for grown-ups (having eagerly devoured 'hoot' and 'flushed' a few years back), and i am pleasantly surprised and ready to become good friends with carl hiassen-for-grownups. his writing is a weird blend of humor, grit, and knowledge-ableness about seemingly everything florida or seedy (for the sake of political correctness, i won't say those two are one and the same). combined with his gift for crafting complicated, sprawling plots that always manage to resolve in a satisfying manner, and characters that are believably good, bad, crazy, etc., without being shallow, what resulted here was a really funny, really entertaining, readable novel where the heroine is a stripper and the rest of society are revealed as frauds, only in a much more endlessly readable way than that promises. he's like christopher moore, but without the angels/giant lizards/zombies, etc.- and the fact that he can leave those out and still keep me reading (and giggling) is high testament to his prowess. good job, carl hiassen!
July 19, 2016
Good summertime read/listen. 4 Vaseline-covered stars. :D
I've read/listened to 3 of Hiassen's books so far, and they're very deceptive. On one level, they're mindless fun, hilarious and farcical, poking fun at a state that always seems to be in the news because of its over-the-top citizens. (I wonder if he gets his book ideas from the local evening news...) On another level, the books are complex and clever, massive Gordian knots that are neatly untied by the end. At any rate, I'll keep reading them!
I've read/listened to 3 of Hiassen's books so far, and they're very deceptive. On one level, they're mindless fun, hilarious and farcical, poking fun at a state that always seems to be in the news because of its over-the-top citizens. (I wonder if he gets his book ideas from the local evening news...) On another level, the books are complex and clever, massive Gordian knots that are neatly untied by the end. At any rate, I'll keep reading them!
January 7, 2009
Carl Hiaasen's works are usually very funny, intelligent, witty, creative, with a happy ending. What could you want more from an entertaining lite read? The imaginative characters, the adventure, the great use of irony and sarcasm, he keeps you guessing how things could possibly all work out for the best, and they do in his books which I like. I always find good qualities to admire in his heros, and can easily despise the villians, cheering when they meet their demise...in whatever creative fashion that might come. I also like the positive ecological theme that runs throughout many of his books. Hiaasen's works are great diversions in life, and if you look at them the right way you might even find a surprising improved perspective, but perhaps that's simply from the number of laugh out loud moments.
February 7, 2015
There are some very humorous remarks in this story until the plot gets a bit in the way. I wish he could have only dealt with the funny, but I know comedy is hard and only masters are capable. Not that Carl Hiaasen isn't when he sets his mind to it. 6 of 10 stars
November 7, 2024
Unfortunately, nowhere near as fun or funny as other novels I've read from this author. An interesting story with little of the absurd humor the author is know for. I am going to try one more from the author to determine whether this is a one-off exception to the hilarity of his other novels,
December 30, 2016
'Strip Tease' is definitely my most favorite novel of those I've read written by Carl Hiaasen! What a rollicking book of ridiculous villains, high-spirited dames and silly state officials! Florida has never appealed to me much, but Hiaasen actually manages to make of it a lovable state! Sort of.
Erin Grant fell in love and married Darrell Grant. This has turned out to be the worst mistake of her life. Darrell is a drug addict and a criminal, but by the time Erin realized it, she was pregnant with the now 4-year-old Angela. She lost custody of the little girl in the divorce because Darrell became a police snitch. The police subsequently decided to erase his felonies from the computer; and the bible-thumping evangelical judge ruled that her job as a stripper, which she took up to pay her divorce lawyers, made her an unfit mother. Sadly, she continues to dance and strip, saving her tips, hoping for another custody trial. Since she is a mother, she ONLY dances and strips. The other dancers, who are entertaining characters in every sense, think she is missing opportunities for making real money.
One night at the club, called the Eager Beaver, the judge who refused Erin custody of her daughter, and another lovesick little man who the strippers nicknamed Mr. Peepers, and a drunken party of young men out celebrating because one of them, Paul Gruber, was getting married the next day, were all in the club watching the dancers. Paul crawls onto the stage and hugs Erin, the last dancer for the night. He absolutely refuses to let go. Shad the bouncer had left the club for a minute, and the owner, Orly, was in his office. Suddenly, a really strange man jumps onto the stage and begins beating Paul on the head with a liquor bottle until it shatters. Paul is taken to the hospital, and the man who viciously attacked him is pulled out of the club by another unknown man. The two nasties disappear into a limousine.
If Mr. Peepers, or actually, Jerry Killian, hadn't decided to take pictures of the incident, and if the violent man hadn't been the United States Florida Congressman, and secretly a perverted sex-addict, Dave Dilbeck, or as his fixer, Malcolm 'Moldie' Moldowsky, calls him, "a card-carrying shithead", the story would have ended there. But Jerry Killian has a crush on Erin, and so he decides to help her by blackmailing the Congressman with the photos to force Dilbeck to put pressure on the religious divorce judge, who also loves the dancers too, but biblically, of course.
Dilbeck receives millions of dollars from the sugar cane producers of Florida, and an important farm support bill is soon to be up for a vote. It is essential no scandal erupt before that vote, so Moldie decides to 'fix' Mr. Peepers. By the wildest coincidence, a Florida police detective, Al García, finds Killian in a very peculiar circumstance, and even though it isn't his case, decides to find out who wanted to kill Killian and why.
Erin, meanwhile, is trying to find where Darrell has hidden her daughter, again, so she has gone to Darrell's sister's home. Rita Grant raises 'gentle pet' wolves to sell, so visiting Rita is a challenge. Even Rita finds the baby wolves a bit of a challenge - she wears a catcher's mask and logging gloves to feed them. Angela is frequently left at Rita's by Darrell, but this time Rita explains Darrell has decided to use the girl to steal wheelchairs to sell for cash from hospitals, by pretending Angela is sick and wheeling her out in the wheelchair. Erin knows if Darrell is arrested, they both will lose custody!
Believe it or not, things actually begin to spin even more out of control, especially when Dilbeck decides to go back to the club against strict orders because he has fallen in love with Erin. One of the other dancer's snakes disappears. Orly wants to put in a lady-wrestling arena to defeat the competition down the street, who is stealing the Eager Beaver's dancers with offers of more tips from more customers. Then, lawyers start showing up...and there is still 2/3 of the book to go!
Lots of jokes, pratfalls, illegal schemes, devious plots, and a psychopath or two, not counting the snakes! Delightful disasters abound and rebound! I truly hated turning the last page!
Erin Grant fell in love and married Darrell Grant. This has turned out to be the worst mistake of her life. Darrell is a drug addict and a criminal, but by the time Erin realized it, she was pregnant with the now 4-year-old Angela. She lost custody of the little girl in the divorce because Darrell became a police snitch. The police subsequently decided to erase his felonies from the computer; and the bible-thumping evangelical judge ruled that her job as a stripper, which she took up to pay her divorce lawyers, made her an unfit mother. Sadly, she continues to dance and strip, saving her tips, hoping for another custody trial. Since she is a mother, she ONLY dances and strips. The other dancers, who are entertaining characters in every sense, think she is missing opportunities for making real money.
One night at the club, called the Eager Beaver, the judge who refused Erin custody of her daughter, and another lovesick little man who the strippers nicknamed Mr. Peepers, and a drunken party of young men out celebrating because one of them, Paul Gruber, was getting married the next day, were all in the club watching the dancers. Paul crawls onto the stage and hugs Erin, the last dancer for the night. He absolutely refuses to let go. Shad the bouncer had left the club for a minute, and the owner, Orly, was in his office. Suddenly, a really strange man jumps onto the stage and begins beating Paul on the head with a liquor bottle until it shatters. Paul is taken to the hospital, and the man who viciously attacked him is pulled out of the club by another unknown man. The two nasties disappear into a limousine.
If Mr. Peepers, or actually, Jerry Killian, hadn't decided to take pictures of the incident, and if the violent man hadn't been the United States Florida Congressman, and secretly a perverted sex-addict, Dave Dilbeck, or as his fixer, Malcolm 'Moldie' Moldowsky, calls him, "a card-carrying shithead", the story would have ended there. But Jerry Killian has a crush on Erin, and so he decides to help her by blackmailing the Congressman with the photos to force Dilbeck to put pressure on the religious divorce judge, who also loves the dancers too, but biblically, of course.
Dilbeck receives millions of dollars from the sugar cane producers of Florida, and an important farm support bill is soon to be up for a vote. It is essential no scandal erupt before that vote, so Moldie decides to 'fix' Mr. Peepers. By the wildest coincidence, a Florida police detective, Al García, finds Killian in a very peculiar circumstance, and even though it isn't his case, decides to find out who wanted to kill Killian and why.
Erin, meanwhile, is trying to find where Darrell has hidden her daughter, again, so she has gone to Darrell's sister's home. Rita Grant raises 'gentle pet' wolves to sell, so visiting Rita is a challenge. Even Rita finds the baby wolves a bit of a challenge - she wears a catcher's mask and logging gloves to feed them. Angela is frequently left at Rita's by Darrell, but this time Rita explains Darrell has decided to use the girl to steal wheelchairs to sell for cash from hospitals, by pretending Angela is sick and wheeling her out in the wheelchair. Erin knows if Darrell is arrested, they both will lose custody!
Believe it or not, things actually begin to spin even more out of control, especially when Dilbeck decides to go back to the club against strict orders because he has fallen in love with Erin. One of the other dancer's snakes disappears. Orly wants to put in a lady-wrestling arena to defeat the competition down the street, who is stealing the Eager Beaver's dancers with offers of more tips from more customers. Then, lawyers start showing up...and there is still 2/3 of the book to go!
Lots of jokes, pratfalls, illegal schemes, devious plots, and a psychopath or two, not counting the snakes! Delightful disasters abound and rebound! I truly hated turning the last page!
February 26, 2015
Strip Tease reinforces why Carl Hiaasen is one of my favorite authors! This a stand alone book,so it can be read by first time readers of Hiaasen
March 17, 2011
Personally, I'm not sure any Carl Hiaasen book deserves the 5-star Goodread's "it was amazing" description, but Strip Tease comes very close. I picked up this book, already being an established Hiaasen fan, on the cheap from Goodwill or some thrift store. Soon afterwards, I learned the 90s movie Strip Tease starring Demi Moore was based on this book. For this very reason I left it untouched for months. I did not think the movie was particularly good and therefore had low expectations about the book. I was wrong.
This is a perfect example of, 'the book was better than the movie'. In fact, Strip Tease is probably one of the best Hiaasen novels I have read - up there with Skinny Dip.
Many of the negative or luke-warm reviews appear to be from Readers who are probably not Hiaasen fans. If this is the case, I understand; you are entitled to your own opinion. But if you don't like Strip Tease, then don't bother reading any other Hiaasen books; you will never be a fan. Likewise, if you enjoy Hiaasen then you will definitely enjoy Strip Tease! I certainly did.
This is a perfect example of, 'the book was better than the movie'. In fact, Strip Tease is probably one of the best Hiaasen novels I have read - up there with Skinny Dip.
Many of the negative or luke-warm reviews appear to be from Readers who are probably not Hiaasen fans. If this is the case, I understand; you are entitled to your own opinion. But if you don't like Strip Tease, then don't bother reading any other Hiaasen books; you will never be a fan. Likewise, if you enjoy Hiaasen then you will definitely enjoy Strip Tease! I certainly did.
February 3, 2025
This is an earlier Hiaasen book, good but not his best (Star Island is). As usual, we have a sweet innocent young woman who just made bad choices - one of them was a husband. And, as usual, we have the evil corporate farmers or fishermen, or some evil organizationa, and again as usual, we have the fool that we have elected to be in the national law making group. Hiaasen likes to display law makers and attorneys at their evil worst. We have several in this book. The evil law-breaking former husband is doing drugs, stealing, selling a lot of wheelchairs that are stolen and he legally has their child. He had enough friends or money to buy off the judge so the judge ruled that he has sole custedy of their precious child (maybe 4 years female). So our dear heroine has to get a job to pay for her attorney. She got a job in a strip club in Miami with an awful boss and a sweet, gentle, kind bouncer who protected Erin.
I can't tell you anymore, let your imagination run wild. This is a typical Hiassen book - lots of action, people get slapped around, sometimes murdered, there is often a body to remove from the water or tied to something in the water - this is Miami, after all. In this book, the really evil organization is the sugar growers; they put all the fertilizer, polluted water into the natural streams, rivers or the ocean, and, in general, pollute the entire earth. And they have purchased the local congressman, now chairman of a committee that hands out subsidies to "farmers." They need his vote.
Hiaasen really dislikes all growth in Florida, all destruction of natural resources, and most lawyers and elected officials. He started his professional life as a reporter for the Miami Herald, then became a columnist, and now writes books about all the evils he sees in this over developed, over-Disneyed, absolutely corrupted wonderful natural land in Florida. He is funny, writes well, always lets you know who is the bad guy and who is the beloved nice one who has been treated so awfully. Everyone should read at least one Hiaasen book - there will be some character in the book that you will enjoy seeing his evil shown to the world.
I can't tell you anymore, let your imagination run wild. This is a typical Hiassen book - lots of action, people get slapped around, sometimes murdered, there is often a body to remove from the water or tied to something in the water - this is Miami, after all. In this book, the really evil organization is the sugar growers; they put all the fertilizer, polluted water into the natural streams, rivers or the ocean, and, in general, pollute the entire earth. And they have purchased the local congressman, now chairman of a committee that hands out subsidies to "farmers." They need his vote.
Hiaasen really dislikes all growth in Florida, all destruction of natural resources, and most lawyers and elected officials. He started his professional life as a reporter for the Miami Herald, then became a columnist, and now writes books about all the evils he sees in this over developed, over-Disneyed, absolutely corrupted wonderful natural land in Florida. He is funny, writes well, always lets you know who is the bad guy and who is the beloved nice one who has been treated so awfully. Everyone should read at least one Hiaasen book - there will be some character in the book that you will enjoy seeing his evil shown to the world.
August 9, 2011
The mystery of why every single Carl Hiaasen book hasn’t been made into a movie has finally been solved. Suffice it to say that Mr. Hiaasen should be allowed to slap Demi Moore until her head falls off, and his readers should have the right to go Skink on anyone else who took part in the debacle that was “Strip Tease” the movie.
Unbeknownst to stripper Erin Grant, she is at the center of a big cover-up the night one drunk beats up another with a champagne bottle while she’s onstage. The bottle wielder is none other than US Congressman David Dilbeck, who heads the committee that keeps sugar prices artificially high and ensuring fat profits for corporate sugar farmers, who in turn pay their workers disgustingly low wages. Dilbeck is recognized by one customer who is so infatuated with Erin he offers to blackmail the congressman into helping her get custody of her daughter, which she lost in the divorce because of the job she had to take in order to pay her attorney fees. When the customer disappears, his body later found by Florida detective Al Garcia while on vacation in Montana, Garcia links the death to a missing attorney and his cousin, who happened to be the fiancée of the man who was bludgeoned by Dilbeck with the champagne bottle. At the same time, the bouncer at Erin’s strip club, the Eager Beaver, had been attempting to earn a huge settlement by planting a roach in a carton of yogurt. His attorney happened to be the same one who went missing.
Erin’s ex also goes off the deep end, his drug habit and wheelchair stealing getting out of control as he gets closer and closer to losing it. There’s quite a cast of characters, between the bigshots behind the scenes keeping Dilbeck’s career on track to the cast of dancers and crooked managers of both the Eager Beaver and its rival club, the Flesh Farm. It’s great entertainment all the way, which just makes me wonder how the unskilled moron who hacked this book into a screenplay managed to miss it all and come up with the script that made it to the big screen.
Maybe I was a little prejudiced because of that awful excuse for a movie, but it took me a few chapters to really get into this book. Erin was a bit much of a powerless victim at the beginning, but once she gets mad enough to start taking some drastic action, things get going and this wound up being one of my favorite Hiaasen novels. It’s got everything we expect from him: a convoluted plot full of off-the-wall characters and plenty of laughs. It even managed to overcome the stigma of sharing a title with the worst movie I have ever seen.
Unbeknownst to stripper Erin Grant, she is at the center of a big cover-up the night one drunk beats up another with a champagne bottle while she’s onstage. The bottle wielder is none other than US Congressman David Dilbeck, who heads the committee that keeps sugar prices artificially high and ensuring fat profits for corporate sugar farmers, who in turn pay their workers disgustingly low wages. Dilbeck is recognized by one customer who is so infatuated with Erin he offers to blackmail the congressman into helping her get custody of her daughter, which she lost in the divorce because of the job she had to take in order to pay her attorney fees. When the customer disappears, his body later found by Florida detective Al Garcia while on vacation in Montana, Garcia links the death to a missing attorney and his cousin, who happened to be the fiancée of the man who was bludgeoned by Dilbeck with the champagne bottle. At the same time, the bouncer at Erin’s strip club, the Eager Beaver, had been attempting to earn a huge settlement by planting a roach in a carton of yogurt. His attorney happened to be the same one who went missing.
Erin’s ex also goes off the deep end, his drug habit and wheelchair stealing getting out of control as he gets closer and closer to losing it. There’s quite a cast of characters, between the bigshots behind the scenes keeping Dilbeck’s career on track to the cast of dancers and crooked managers of both the Eager Beaver and its rival club, the Flesh Farm. It’s great entertainment all the way, which just makes me wonder how the unskilled moron who hacked this book into a screenplay managed to miss it all and come up with the script that made it to the big screen.
Maybe I was a little prejudiced because of that awful excuse for a movie, but it took me a few chapters to really get into this book. Erin was a bit much of a powerless victim at the beginning, but once she gets mad enough to start taking some drastic action, things get going and this wound up being one of my favorite Hiaasen novels. It’s got everything we expect from him: a convoluted plot full of off-the-wall characters and plenty of laughs. It even managed to overcome the stigma of sharing a title with the worst movie I have ever seen.
September 13, 2009
Hiaasen's humorous story of a woman, Erin Grant, who resorts to dancing in a strip joint to raise money for an appeal to gain custody of her daughter.
As the story begins, Congressman Dave Dilbeck who can't control his libido is at a strip club when a drunken party goer jumps on the dancer's stage and begins groping one of the dancers. Dilbeck, intoxicated, jumps on the stage and begins plummeting the drunk with a champagne bottle. This is bad timing since it's an election year.
Another patron at the club, Jerry Killian (nicknamed Mr. Peepers) takes a photo. Killian sends Erin a note that he might be able to get her daughter back. He intends to use the photo to have Dilbeck use his influence to get the judge to change his custody decision. We learn that Erin's husband, Darrell Grant, had made up a story about Erin's sexual activities and then got two of his friends who are in the sheriff's department to vouch for his story.
Malcolm J. Moldowsky is Dilbeck's "fix it" man and Erb Crandall is Dilbeck's bodyguard. When Killian approaches the Congressman about the photo, Moldowsky and Crandall take action and Killian ends up dead.
A subplot has the club bouncer, Shad, working with attorney Mordecai to sue the Congressman.
Mordecai, who now has the photo, is playing two clients against each other. The fiance of the man Dilbeck hit with the champagne bottle is in on the extortion plot Mordecai has set up against Dilbeck.
A Sgt. Al Garcia is the person who finds Killian's body and then takes a personal interest in the case.
The novel was full of humor and enough scheming that the reader's interest is held. Just picturing Demi Moore in her role in the movie and Burt Reynolds as Dilbeck was fun even though the movie didn't do justice to the book.
Overall a fun read.
As the story begins, Congressman Dave Dilbeck who can't control his libido is at a strip club when a drunken party goer jumps on the dancer's stage and begins groping one of the dancers. Dilbeck, intoxicated, jumps on the stage and begins plummeting the drunk with a champagne bottle. This is bad timing since it's an election year.
Another patron at the club, Jerry Killian (nicknamed Mr. Peepers) takes a photo. Killian sends Erin a note that he might be able to get her daughter back. He intends to use the photo to have Dilbeck use his influence to get the judge to change his custody decision. We learn that Erin's husband, Darrell Grant, had made up a story about Erin's sexual activities and then got two of his friends who are in the sheriff's department to vouch for his story.
Malcolm J. Moldowsky is Dilbeck's "fix it" man and Erb Crandall is Dilbeck's bodyguard. When Killian approaches the Congressman about the photo, Moldowsky and Crandall take action and Killian ends up dead.
A subplot has the club bouncer, Shad, working with attorney Mordecai to sue the Congressman.
Mordecai, who now has the photo, is playing two clients against each other. The fiance of the man Dilbeck hit with the champagne bottle is in on the extortion plot Mordecai has set up against Dilbeck.
A Sgt. Al Garcia is the person who finds Killian's body and then takes a personal interest in the case.
The novel was full of humor and enough scheming that the reader's interest is held. Just picturing Demi Moore in her role in the movie and Burt Reynolds as Dilbeck was fun even though the movie didn't do justice to the book.
Overall a fun read.
January 13, 2011
A bachelor party on the eve of the wedding takes a wrong turn when the groom stumbles on stage with a dancer, Erin Grant, at the Eager Beaver. An unidentified wild man jumps into the fray and begins hitting the groom over the head with a champagne bottle. In the confusion, the unidentified attacker escapes. As it turns out, the attacker is so drunk he doesn't know what he did and doesn't really care. He is Congressman David Lane Dilbeck and he has a fixer on staff to deal with situations like this one . Unfortunately for the Congressman, some things cannot be easily fixed. In this case, the fix is the beginning of a series of deadly events.
"Strip Tease" has a number of memorable characters. Erin Grant, former FBI clerk, dances to make enough money to pay the legal fees in her custody battle for her daughter. Her ex-husband is psychopathic drug addict and a fine example of stupidity in action. Her friend and bouncer, Shad, is the back up muscle who makes every effort to protect, in between his get rich quick scams. Al Garcia, a local homicide detective whose family vacation is interrupted when his children find a floater from south Florida in a Montana river is determined to solve the murder. He must make some clever manouvers to accomplish this goal. This makes for an entertaining and read.
"Strip Tease" has a number of memorable characters. Erin Grant, former FBI clerk, dances to make enough money to pay the legal fees in her custody battle for her daughter. Her ex-husband is psychopathic drug addict and a fine example of stupidity in action. Her friend and bouncer, Shad, is the back up muscle who makes every effort to protect, in between his get rich quick scams. Al Garcia, a local homicide detective whose family vacation is interrupted when his children find a floater from south Florida in a Montana river is determined to solve the murder. He must make some clever manouvers to accomplish this goal. This makes for an entertaining and read.
February 11, 2020
“Malcolm J. Moldowsky did not hesitate to address United States Congressman Dave Dilbeck as 'a card-carrying shithead.”
― Carl Hiaasen, Strip Tease
What do you do?
“I steal wheelchairs,” Darrell Grant replied
Strip Tease by Carl Hiaasen
Words cannot describe how good this book is. It has an unforgettable cast of characters and some of the best one liners I have ever seen in a book.
I think what makes this book so great are the unforgettable cast of characters. And their personalities. It is difficult for me to think of one book that is as side splitting as this one and that element keeps you glued to the pages.
It is also great at showing the seamy side of Politics. In this book. it is not the strippers who are sleezy, it is the politicians. Erin, the dancer is one of the most real and sassy characters I have ever read about. This is a seriously underated book.
I would call it a must read. Sadly the movie version was awful. See, this book was meant to be both serious and witty and the movie lost all the charm of the book.
If you choose to read this you will laugh both in disdain at the congressman and the wheel chair stealing Husband and in admiration of the super cool Erin and her amazingly awesome body Guard. And some of the one liners will have you roaring. Four stars for a fun and well written book.
― Carl Hiaasen, Strip Tease
What do you do?
“I steal wheelchairs,” Darrell Grant replied
Strip Tease by Carl Hiaasen
Words cannot describe how good this book is. It has an unforgettable cast of characters and some of the best one liners I have ever seen in a book.
I think what makes this book so great are the unforgettable cast of characters. And their personalities. It is difficult for me to think of one book that is as side splitting as this one and that element keeps you glued to the pages.
It is also great at showing the seamy side of Politics. In this book. it is not the strippers who are sleezy, it is the politicians. Erin, the dancer is one of the most real and sassy characters I have ever read about. This is a seriously underated book.
I would call it a must read. Sadly the movie version was awful. See, this book was meant to be both serious and witty and the movie lost all the charm of the book.
If you choose to read this you will laugh both in disdain at the congressman and the wheel chair stealing Husband and in admiration of the super cool Erin and her amazingly awesome body Guard. And some of the one liners will have you roaring. Four stars for a fun and well written book.
September 27, 2024
Oh, CARL. The way he can connect rich people destroying Florida, single mothers, cops with messy lives, at least five people who could be called "Florida Man," politicians, and other assorted kooks . . . I just love it!
November 24, 2015
This book is hilarious!
The audiobook narration is fantastic as well. I felt each character had his or her unique voice. I particularly enjoyed listening to Dillbeck's lines. The narrator does a superb job at representing his personality.
I told someone this book would make a good movie. Well, I didn't get the memo, and apparently, it happened back in 1996 with Demi Moore as Erin Grant. Well, I never watched the movie because I don't really care about her acting. Maybe I'll watch it now.
The more Hiaasen's books I read, the more I like him. He's a funny guy in a very twisted way.
The audiobook narration is fantastic as well. I felt each character had his or her unique voice. I particularly enjoyed listening to Dillbeck's lines. The narrator does a superb job at representing his personality.
I told someone this book would make a good movie. Well, I didn't get the memo, and apparently, it happened back in 1996 with Demi Moore as Erin Grant. Well, I never watched the movie because I don't really care about her acting. Maybe I'll watch it now.
The more Hiaasen's books I read, the more I like him. He's a funny guy in a very twisted way.
September 26, 2018
Strip Tease, written by Carl Hiaasen and set in South Florida in the 1990’s is a hysterical crime fiction that preaches about the evils of the sugar industry. Government officials are bought and paid for by lobbyists of these companies. This book also touches on the injustice of working women that are single mothers fighting an unfair divorce settlement. In this case, the movie was not even close to as good as the novel.
September 2, 2018
This was not my favorite Hiaasen novel. Only the end saved it from 2 stars.
June 23, 2025
A decent beach read page-turner, if a bit overly long.
This part got the biggest laugh from me: “…Shad, who was on break, reading a large-type edition of The Plague by Albert Camus. The book made Shad feel slightly better about living in South Florida.”
This part got the biggest laugh from me: “…Shad, who was on break, reading a large-type edition of The Plague by Albert Camus. The book made Shad feel slightly better about living in South Florida.”
June 28, 2020
The humor in this crazy Floridian tale just makes the book. It’s funny that most of the ridiculous things are completely believable for a place like Florida but I do enjoy Hiaasen’s honest messages in the book about the environment and corrupt politics.
January 12, 2021
Most reviews seem to focus on the humor when it comes to this book and they're not wrong. The writing is totally funny, but the story itself was a bit sad. I found myself angry at the predicament of the main character after I would put it down even though I probably had a smirk on my face while actually reading it. Great book and the ending was a legitimate shock simply because I found myself no longer angry or sad. Although I did feel the need to apologise on behalf of my gender. Men suck.
August 28, 2011
Strip Tease is the book that the Demi Moore and Burt Reynolds movie of the same name is based on. This author is terrific with his sense of humor and his quick wit. He has come up with another group of crazy characters. Erin the beautiful stripper, Shad the educated conniving bouncer, Al Garcia the tough minded detective, Congressman Dilbeck the drunken womanizer, Moldy the political fixer and Darrell- Erins felonious ex husband. What a terrific story. How the author even came up with it is beyond me. The story starts with a bachelor party at the Eager Beaver. At the end of the night a drunken groom hugs Erin up on stage and a disguised Congressman jumps up and beats him with a champagne bottle putting him in the hospital and putting off the grooms wedding. The Congressman is recognized by a patron and also had his picture taken while giving the beating up on the stage. Dilbeck is the head of the panel that oversees the sugar subsidies in Congress. This is where Moldy gets called in as Erin has a fan that thinks he can help her with the judge in her custody case. Erins daughter was given to her ex Darrell the wheelchair stealing felon. Moldy has a hard time controlling Dilbeck even with the help of Erb Crandall a security man assigned to the Congressman. An excellent read. A lesson in irony and also the belief that good things come to those who wait. Garcia is the perfect example of this as he pushes his way through this story.
November 7, 2009
Strip Tease
By Carl Hiaasen
If you haven’t read Carl Hiaasen, the former Miami Herald columnist and writer of satirical, environmental questioning, political malfeasant novels about Florida in the disguise of murder mystery novels (sort of a fuzzy Edward Abbey) then you are reading the wrong review.
I’ve given up on trying to figure out Hiaasen's sequence of novels. These novels are available at my local library and I take what is on the shelf. I’m not sure where Strip Tease falls within the Hiaasen hierarchy of novels but I would recommend it as a good funny read without too much political buzz and not complicated with his swamp caricatures.
A friend has recommended Native Girl as even better, but I have to read something of substance before another Hiaasen novel, too much mind sugar can rot your brain.
If you insist, the story line is about a tittie bar striper with a heart of gold that after many trials and tribulations comes out on top (without a top).
By Carl Hiaasen
If you haven’t read Carl Hiaasen, the former Miami Herald columnist and writer of satirical, environmental questioning, political malfeasant novels about Florida in the disguise of murder mystery novels (sort of a fuzzy Edward Abbey) then you are reading the wrong review.
I’ve given up on trying to figure out Hiaasen's sequence of novels. These novels are available at my local library and I take what is on the shelf. I’m not sure where Strip Tease falls within the Hiaasen hierarchy of novels but I would recommend it as a good funny read without too much political buzz and not complicated with his swamp caricatures.
A friend has recommended Native Girl as even better, but I have to read something of substance before another Hiaasen novel, too much mind sugar can rot your brain.
If you insist, the story line is about a tittie bar striper with a heart of gold that after many trials and tribulations comes out on top (without a top).
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