The perception of celebrity works well as a structure of smoke and mirrors depending on the amount of money involved. Carl Hiassen's new novel "Star Island" [Knopf/Carl Hiassen/352pgs] which plays to the infinite balance of paparazzo and subject understands the humor enough harkening much to"Striptease", his earlier novel. The exceptional element that Hiassen is able to bring to a situation that might be mundane is the idea of every one of these characters as a completely flawed individual who is still interesting yet mildly unempathetic. From the sheer buffoon aspect of Abbott, a paparazzo who loses all sense of perception to McGee, a former governor turned vigilante in the Florida Keys, to Chemo, a wretched bodyguard who has a weed whacker for an arm to the maelstrom of Cherry Pye, a Britney wannabe and her stand-in, Annie, who she has no conception of thanks to her wonderful management team, the characterizations work with more than a healthy level of irony. Buoyed by obvious ideas of Lohan, Spears & Hilton, Hiassen revels in the aspect of situations, which though played out with comedic bravado at times, are not too far from the truth. The key in making the ideas whip around is the quick quips of the characters (especially McGee and Chemo). The narrative revolves within the structure of a pop idol on a downward spiral of sex, drugs and rock n' roll with all of her constituents and relatives hanging on for the ride until her last breath. As a South Florida native, Hiassen gets the little elements just right having played the field way before "Burn Notice" came into being. While he distinctifies that human nature will always prevail, he also leaves the perspective open for possibilites that don't occur to us yet. Out of 5, I give "Star Island" a 3.
