Now is the time to read The Hunger for More because it is possible to look back and reflect on Shames's thoughts and predictions. "Hunger" is one of the most readable accounts of the social and economic forces of the last few decades, how American life has been affected by affluence, and what it has done to Americans as individuals. "A sickness called success" may be the best chapter--how we as individuals make choices that eventually rebound on us as well as society. A little feedback goes a long way. Extremely readable, not a dry scholarly treatment of how we lost our values or why our society is fragmenting into dozens of class-based but culturally (read "racially") emphatic parts.

RE: RECORDED BOOKS AUDIO VERSION. Among the quirky Key West characters are a reluctant & reflective Mafia Don, his pal "retired" heavy Bert the Shirt, a ditzy gun-moll with a heart of gold, a neurotic Jewish newspaper editor and the Shirt's aging chihuahua, Don Giovanni. They're all artfully blended in a stew of humor and suspense where its hard to tell the white hats from the black. Well worth a read.
One question: why am I the first friggin' guy to, whaddayacallit, review, this book, Knowwhaddamean?

A retired capo di tutti capi decides to leave the world his memoir before it's too late and hires a yellow sheet editor who thinks his life would be redeemed if he writes a book.

The rival clan and FBI come into play, the boss' dumb son arrives from NYC with his likable but confused bimbo to make problems for everyone - starting with himself.

It's jerks vs. decent people and these 2 categories can be found in Mafia and FBI in equal shares. After the spectacular sacrifice the good ones win and the book ends a bit prematurely.

There is a lot of smart observations, quirky characters and the language proves that author really sees the people and places he puts into his text instead of just covering the paper with typed lines.

But still I felt the tinge of disappointment. There was a lot of fuss with having to decide if writing the memoir is such a good idea, with looking for a sympathetic scribe, with FBI and the Mob getting the wind of it. And then... The project is cancelled. Leaving us to think that all that preliminaries were the excuse for introducing us to a bunch of eccentric characters going through their quirky routines with no particular direction and meaning. And then the author just lets the curtain fall when he thinks we've had enough.

Sunburn is a pleasant little affair with minor flaws, quite enjoyable, but it did not linger with me. I hope Laurence Shames was just warming up for something more memorable.

It took a lot of searching in airport bookstores to get the sequel to Florida Straits.

This book might even be better than the last one.

I think this book went out of print because everybody who reads it gives it to his friends to read, and nobody gets to buy their own copy.

I must have bought this book three separate times. I have to keep it on my shelves. It remains one of my favorites -- and my husband's too.

As crime fiction writers go, Laurence Shames is in a league of his own. FLORIDA STRAITS pulses with humanity (John Steinbeck meets Elmore Leonard?) His characters are caught up in bigger-than-life situations, but they're all real people. The humor is real. Words like 'farcical' and 'romp' don't apply.

If you're new to Laurence Shames, I suggest you start here. I think it's his best. Mangrove Squeeze, I'm sorry to say, I couldn't finish. The Naked Detective, I haven't read yet. The others, great, but this one outshines them.

I love this book.

This novel was the most thoroughly delightful read I have had in a long, long time. Laurence Shames infuses his characters with so much, well, character, that they are just begging to come to life. You're right there as the mob goons are talking with each other in the writer's mob-phonetically-correct spelling of "whaddaya sayin?" The characters are so well developed that you can't help but be drawn into their world. And it's such a quirky and interesting world that you have no desire to resist. This writer pulls off the strange mix of mob/mystery/comedy so deliciously that you'll want to come back for more. After reading "Florida Straits", I quickly read all of the Lawrence Shames books available. He is truly a joy to read. What a talent for writing. Another book, please, Laurence!

The publisher that releasd FLORIDA STRAITS with a paperback cover of stunning green and fluorcent orange may not have done the book a service. It implies HIAASEN! HIASSEN!

That's misleading, but not pejorative. In my opinion, in terms of literary quality, FLORIDA STRAITS, FLORIDA STRAITS ranks up there with, say, Carl Hiaasen's STRIP TEASE, Elmore Leonard's PULP FICTION* or the later Ross McDonald stuff.

But FLORIDA STRAITS has its own voice -- it is no clone; it has its own voice and is well worth reading. All are terrific, all have a voice, but and I have to emphasize.

All the literature I've mentioned above have in common the crime/humor themes of slightly loveable fish-out-of-water oddball protagonists (lead characters),** crazy character side figures, and a mix of danger, huumor and satire.

But in author Larence Shames' FLORIDA STRAITS, not all tourists are uppity jerks, not all bourgeois charcters are Ned Beatty/Ronald cynics who ratify his friends' desire to make money, (looser laws, environmental degradation, etc.) Violence and danger -- of which the strong stuff is relatively free of grisliness or obligatory humor -- nonetheless comes across in intriguing fashion. Fortunately, even though nine years old, FLORIDA STRAITS is enduring enough not to need timlines, excessive camp, or a plenitude of pop-culture refernce. It's hard to define, but the book still has lots of "oomph".

I agree with that perceptive critic whose review appears below, and here I'm praphrasing loosely, that an analogy can certainly be drawn beteen applied to Elmore Leonard (Get Shorty, Pulp fiction).* Hiassen, too, of course, and I would say the later Ross McDonald.

As my students say, "whatver." FLORIDA STRAITS has interestingly loopy charcters -- the lead chacter is a minor mafioso who leave Noo Yawk for Florida. It's the classic duck-out-of-water scenario: Our (anti-)hero is a skankier, far less intelligent or ethical version of clueless Oliver Wendall Douglas in that camp Sixtiessitcom, "Green Acres." That was only an analogy but the sense of culture shock makes for great humor.

So a cliche publicist might put it, "If you liked STRIP TEASE, PULP FICTION or THE DROWNING POOL, you're going to like FLORIDA STRAITS. Shoot, anyone to the left of Miss Marple should take a look at this neglected apotheosis.

WHY, oh why, has the paperback publisher (whose name ryhmes with 'bell,') N-O-T done more to publicise FLORIDA STRAITS this potential classic entry into the Cops and Crooks/Comic-Satiric/ hall of fame? Even though the book is almost nine years old, it holds up remarkably well.

A minor, (or telling) lack is the absence of even a brief author bio, despite all the praise reviews and colorfulness. This leads to bizarre speculation that the book was ghost-written by Joseph Lieberman, Fran Leibowitz, Jeb Bush or Marilyn vos Savant.

I'm just joking, but really -- a brief paragraph of bio, please.

DID SOMEONE PSEUDONMYOUSLY write FLORIDA STRAITS?? C'mon, tell us in the bio.

But do read FLORIDA STRAITS!!

* Please look at the perceptive review below, that establishes a connection betwee FLORIDA STRAITS and Elmore Leonard's work. It was that person's analogy, I agree with it, and so give due credit.

**

Delightful, off-the-wall, light entertainment. Who'd have thought a Prozac overdose could lead to such an amusing story (when I took too much, it left me anxious, wired, and paranoid)? I picked this book up in desperation, looking for some light reading ... and it was perfect--engaging enough to hold my attention, amusing enough for chuckles and the occasional belly laugh (wait 'til the "Vikings" make their appearance), off-beat enough not to be predictable--just what the doctor ordered on vacation! (Silly me, I had brought along an entire trunk full of political philosophy!) Shames' tale is less outrageous than the Hiaasen novels I've read (Sick Puppy and Stormy Weather) and a bit lighter, too. It's not as dark as an Elmore Leonard novel, either. Neither is it total mind fluff--and it's ambiguous enough to avoid a Hollywood Ending. For those suffering from situational depression, it has a not-so-subtle message: "Better chemistry through living." Break out of the life in which you're trapped and the brain chemistry may just sort itself out without the Prozac, St. John's Wort, or $100/hr therapist. Four stars for solid entertainment value. Four stars for whimsy. Four stars for daring to be just weird enough to be interesting. (If you'd like to dialogue about this review, please click on the "about me" link above and drop me an email. Thanks!)

I have currently read Tropical Depression by Laurence Shames.
This book was about a man going through a semi-stage of depression.Murray Zimmelman is going through his second divorce while contemplating suicide.Suddenly he snaps and drives 14 hours non-stop to Key West Florida where he begins a new life.He meets an indian who is fighting for his rights.Murray helps the indian get an island named after his tribe.I would suggest reading this book.

This is a hilarious book with zany characters and situations. I dare anyone to read to the Indian fishing scene without laughing out loud!

I love Shames' stories. Read them all. Funny, lots of surprising twists, nice endings. No big investments needed, but if you're looking for a nice means to escape, these stories fit the bill. Two boneheaded "hit men" and two guys named "Big Al" all mixed up in Paradise. And I loved the "death by seafood" theme. Shames' books are all good. It's hard not to laugh out loud. Can't wait for the next one.

Get ready to laugh out loud, because Shames has done it again! He has arranged for two New Yorkers to head for Key West, Florida for a vacation. Taken out of their element, these typical New Yorkers, one of whom just happens to in the Mafia, have more problems than the Feds could ever give them. Mix in a furniture salesman from suburban Jersey with the same nickname as the Mafiosa, a hit man who is going to kill somebody with seafood, and, of course, a gorgeous New York City doll, and it's vintage Shames! For a light hearted view of the Mafia, Key West, and relationships, this book can't miss. In fact, it's right on target!

I have read all of Laurence Shames books and find them all very exiting and he keeps you on the edge of your seat. I thought Welcome to Paradise is one of his best yet. It seems that every book he writes just gets better. This book was so good that they could make a movie about it. In all of Shames' books the one thing he has common is Bert the Shirt. I have grown to love that old man. Everyone of his books are different and all are exciting books. They are "can't put it down" books.

Shames once again puts together a passable-but hardly noteworthy-South Florida thriller in the vein of Carl Hiassen, Elmore Leonard, et al. This time he trots in the tired specter of Russian mafia types running tawdry tourist t-shirt shops as a money laundering operation for the big bucks they make as brokers for ex-Soviet art and weaponry. Against these cardboard villains are arrayed an ex-Wall Street type who left it all to forget about his divorce, take care of his father, and renovate an old hotel; a Jersey transplant called Suki who's stuck in a dead-end job, two creaky old men, and two nice semi-homeless guys. Through it all there's a kind of stumbling, bumbling good naturedness-which serves to heighten the nastiness of the Russians. The outcome is hardly surprising, but it passes the time and is slightly more successful than two other of his books I've read, The Naked Detective and Scavenger Reef,

Laurence Shames is a very enjoyable writer if you are alive and well living in this decade. The way he sprinkles anecdotes about society into the fabric of his characters is both fascinating and an all around "hoot." The only thing this book lacks that the others have is more situational comedy. Nevertheless, an enjoyable experience!

I had really liked Florida Straights, so I decided to give this one a try. And I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard! I kept waking my girlfriend up I was laughing so hard in bed! This book has the kind of wry sense of humor that is so hard to find. It also has sweet, likeable characters. And Shames has left out a lot of the violent nastiness a lot of other writers in this genre go so heavy on! I can't wait for my next trip literary trip to Key West!

Since I was a child in the 1960s I am intrigued by the political processes of that decade; by the civil rights movement, Viet Nam, and the three presidents of that decade. I have read a number of books and was looking forward to reading The Sixties. I was disappointed. Mr. Anderson tilts his approach and inevitable editorial comments too far to the left and leaves the reader with the sense that the book had a political agenda rather than the book being an effort to provide an objective rendition of one of the more critical decades experienced by the United States. He writes very well; but there were times that the bias in favor of hippies, campus protestors, etc., was just too much to take. I have the benefit of sitting in "judgment" of the sixties (the decade, not the book) with total objectivity since I was only a kid at the time and based on all of my reading this book is simply too biased to the left to be taken seriously. I would certainly not have high school or college students read it if the purpose is to give an accurate historical perspective on the sixties.

When I first had to read this book for class I thought that it would be bad. After I read it I saw that it is a great book. The author looks at the 1960's in stages and covers virtualy every bit of that time period. He makes it fun to read about this time and it is a very scholaly look too. All in all I give it 5 stars and wish I could give it more.

Although this book attempts to set itself in the same colorful "wacky Florida crime" world of Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiassen, it falls totally flat. The idea is kind of nice, a beloved Key West painter goes missing in a storm and is presumed dead. His agent holds a memorial show of his work in an attempt to drive up the price of the posthumous painters work., this results in a canonizing review by a super-influential critic. A little later a Sotheby's auction is arranged and his friends, agent, and others all try and cash in on the painter's new cachet. Meanwhile, he comes back from the dead, throwing a spanner in everyone's plans! So, someone tries to kill him to maintain the value of the art. It's a neat idea, but not particularly well executed. Airplane reading at best.

With Scavenger Reef, Laurence Shames leaves his entertaining crowd of displaced mafia thugs and paints a stunning portrait of a creative life in a real-world (if Kew-West-surreal) context. As a growing fan of the Florida mysteries by Leonard, Hiaasen, Hall, Shames, and others I like to identify what I consider the Key Book by each author, the one you most eagerly recommend. With Leonard it's La Brava. Tourist Season is the Key Book from Carl Hiaasen as is Under Cover of Daylight for James W. Hall. For Laurence Shames I definitely recommend Scavenger Reef. The usual literary portrayal of artists is as hacks, or as painters of alegorical canvases that serve the needs of the novel but which never sound like a painting you'd want to look at. The qualities of Augie Silver's canvases are abstract and radiant, they inform the descriptions of every setting in the book. Within this well-told story of friends and enemies is a startling sense of light and space.

I stumbled upon this author after exhausting myself on James W. Hall and Carl Hiassen. It was arguably the best mystery book I've ever read in which no murder is ever committed! (Don't worry, I didn't give anything away.) Shames' lead character, Augie, is a refreshing change from the genre's typical hard-boiled, prone-to-violence protagonist. And Reuben, the gay servant, is a true hero. A pleasure to read! I'll be looking into more Shames titles.

Slogged through 12 or 15 pages of this adjective-drenched drivel. Got to the line where he describes a guy's crooked pinky finger as "independent" and i had to quit. This is truly awful.

After reading (and loving!!!) Florida Straits, Sunburn, Welcome to Paradise, and Tropical Depression, I was looking forward to more of Laurence Shames books. But he disappointed me, big time, he left Bert the Shirt, Sandra & Joey and the other wonderful characters and went on to write more violent, harsh stories minus all the warm characters he had created earlier. I don't know what happened to Laurence Shames - it's as if someone else took over the writing.

This is the rare crime novel that is truly funny, charming, and eccentric without being absurd.

The plot is neatly turned, the characters well-drawn, and the dialogue extraordinarily deft--I don't know if this is how Mafia people talk, but it's certainly how they should talk.

Unlike many humorous writers, Shames seems to treat his characters with true affection. I look forward to reading more by this writer.

The book reminded me of a Woody Allen line about life. Two women were complaining about a restaurant - "the food was terrible...and such small portions."

Although Laurence Shames is one of my favorite authors (especially Scavenger Reef), I was dsappointed by the book. When it arrived I was surprised at how short it was. As I read it, I found it hard to care about Pete Amsterdam. The whole reluctant detective theme didn't work for me. The other characters were all familiar that we have seen in John MacDonald, Carl Hiaasen and Tom Corcoran. I am not drawing comparisons to these three authors (certainly the best in this genre) as that would be unfair. I will still look forward to Shames' next book when he will hopefully get back on track.

The name's Amsterdam. Pete Amsterdam. A tough no-nonsense Key West private eye solving cases with style and ease like a modern day Philip Marlow. Yeah, right. A wacky caper that could only have been dreamed up by Laurence Shames, The Naked Detective is the story of a reluctant gumshoe who would rather be drinking wine naked in his hot tub instead of trying to solve a puzzling murder mystery.

Pete Amsterdam never wanted to be a private eye. He only opened Southernmost Detection on the advice from his accountant. A write-off. A legitimate tax dodge. Butt naked in his hot tub, Pete is approached by a woman (who turns out to be a man) looking to hire a detective. Amsterdam declines to take the case and the next day, the would-be client turns up dead on Sunset Key. Coincidence? Pete decides to investigate and find out for himself. The results are both amusing and intriguing. A fast moving mystery that will keep you guessing whodunit up until the very end.

Laurence Shames has a knack for making the reader feel like he's in the middle of the action. It's not as good as some of his previous books, but an enjoyable read nonetheless. I am anxiously waiting for the day when he writes a Key West novel featuring all of his memorable characters (Charlie Pont, Bert the Shirt, Ziggy Maxx, Tommy Tarpon, Arty Magnus, Joey Goldman, Sukie Sperakis, etc.) Wouldn't that be a hoot?

At about the time of its publication I perused a copy of Florida Straits, Laurence Shames first novel, and was struck by the author's vivid description of garbage accumulating on a New York City street corner. I read the book and became a fan. Mine is the perspective of one who has read each of Laurence Shames' novels in the order by which they were written. All of them are very good, but some are better than others. The Naked Detective is some of Shames best writing yet.

The formula for the author's eighth novel is familiar Shames: colorful Key West denizens reluctantly or unwittingly drawn into a zany plot involving farcical criminal capers, with overtures of lust and ever present danger. This book -- as the others -- are simply fun to read. This plot is slightly less farcical than we have come to expect, but the prose, as always, is wonderfully refreshing.

The Naked Detective is somewhat novel for its style, it is the first book Shames has written in the first person, but it showcases his splendid writing skills wonderfully. Shames' descriptive techniques are superlative; spirited dialogues come alive with vibrant descriptions of body gestures, posture and (his specialty) hand movements. And of course there is the ever present artfully drawn tapestry of Key West.

A slight disappointment is that there are no cameo appearances by now familiar characters, such as Joey Goldman or Burt the Shirt, nor are any ailing pets woven into the story line (I hope the chihuahua is still alive), but several new characters are introduced and fans can only hope that one day they will all meet at a Key West sunset cocktail party in a forthcoming Shames story.