Publisher's Synopsis
This collection brings together both academic and personal essays to explore the strange, unconventional, and often surreal landscape of Florida. From its earliest storytellers to contemporary voices, the contributors examine the state's polymorphic identity, where real estate speculation, environmental extremes, and mythic imagery collide.
The essays tour Florida's literary geography, stopping at Ernest Hemingway's Key West, Zora Neale Hurston's Eatonville, and Jack Kerouac's unexpected Floridian chapter. They consider the Seminole storytelling tradition, the spectacle of Walt Disney World, the space coast's strange allure, and urban exploration in Tampa. From the satirical crime fiction of John D. MacDonald and Carl Hiaasen to Miami's literary magazine, this book celebrates how Floridian literature reflects the state's wilderness and eccentricity.
