Hot Damn!: Alligators in the Casino, Nude Women in the Grass, How Seashells Changed the Course of History, and Other Dispatches from Paradise | 
 enlarge | Authors: James W. Hall, James Hall
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy New: $5.88
You Save: $9.07 (61%)
New (20) Used (15) from $5.29
Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 403867
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 248
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5 x 0.7
ISBN: 0312316151
Dewey Decimal Number: 896
EAN: 9780312316150
ASIN: 0312316151
Publication Date: June 16, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Paperback, mark on outside of pages adjacent to spine, minor shelf wear. Ships promptly w/notification emailed after shipping.
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
James W. Hall is the critically acclaimed author of eleven crime novels, including Body Language and Blackwater Sound. He's also published four books of poetry. And several of his short stories have appeared in magazines like the Georgia Review and Kenyon Review.
Now, writing in the spirit of Dave Barry and Garrison Keillor, Hall wins a new kind of reader with this collection of essays that run from insightful to opinionated, funny to wise.
Hall ponders subjects as diverse as his own love affair with Florida which began on a trip after college from which he never returned, to his equally passionate romance with books. He ponders the nature of summer heat, the writing of Hemingway and James Dickey, television, teaching, politics, fatherhood and much more. In the vibrant and elegant prose which characterize his fiction and poetry, Hall now proves himself a master of the essay as well.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Great writing, crass marketing. November 17, 2005
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
My relatively low rating refers strictly to the marketing methods used to promote this book. The title and blurbs suggest this is a collection of wild tales from freaky Florida. They are actually touching and thoughtful, even poetic essays from someone who lives there, finds it beautiful and takes the bad with the good. Ironically, more than one of the essays pokes fun at publicists and marketing types.
 Poet, Crime novelist and Essayest July 18, 2003
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This man can write. He can write fiction and he can write about Florida. These 39 essays are the superb refections of an interesting mind at work, at play and once, afraid for someone he loves. If you remember and liked John Kennedy's statement about how close the chemistry of our blood is to sea water then you will love Hall's "We swim in the amniotic fluids of our earth, as we swam so long ago like blind fish in the womb." (From Touchy Feely)
I like his crime novels. But if you like Florida, particularly the Florida Keys, or evocative writing, or walking with an exceptionlly observant mind through interesting times, then you will appreciate this book of essays.
Just a wonderful change of pace. June 22, 2002
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
Mid-afternoon yesterday UPS brought me my latest Amazon order.
On top was Dr. Hall's "Hot Damn!"I devoured it in two sessions. These thirty-nine essays are insightful, poignant, thoughtful, humorous, heartfelt and a joy to read. The compositions are such a delight that I will now go back and savor a couple of them daily. Each one is most relatable on a multitude of levels. You do not have to be Floridian to enjoy these essays---but if you are, many strike a most responsive chord. Seldom do I stray from the mystery/thriller genre, but like "Seabiscuit," "Hot Damn!" reads like a novel. "The Hardy Boys" chapter alone is worth the price of admission. This is exhilerating writing that makes you feel good. Do not miss it. Hot Damn!
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