Florida Book Club

Florida was as violent a place as anywhere in the US in the early 1800s as in the 21st century. “Stand your ground” was the dominant ethos, there was a distrust of law and government, belief in self-determination and personal “rights,” and tons of guns and booze, just like now! My guest today is James Michael Denham, author of A Rogue’s Paradise: Crime and Punishment in Antebellum Florida. We’ll discuss the frontier era of Florida and the violent legacy it bequeathed to future generations of criminals and law enforcement.

Will monstrous invasive pythons soon be roaming the streets of suburban Florida? Probably not. But that doesn’t mean they don’t represent a pressing ecological crisis. Larry Perez, a former ranger at Everglades National Park and my guest today, wrote a book in 2012 that warned readers about this issue spreading beyond the Everglades, where the snakes have become established. Has it gotten worse? Join us for the conversation and find out!

“Grotesque, Florida Man-type stories” is how my guest today, Florida College English Association president Christina Connor, describes Vicki Hendricks’ 2010 collection Florida Gothic Stories. Does that appeal to you? There are hurricanes, iguanas, identical twins, murders, and rather unconventional human/animal relationships on hand, too. Join us for the discussion!

Coming March 31. Nature's revenge. Twisted Gothic tales of murder. Creatures hiding in the Florida wilderness. Blood-soaked streets and lawless frontier towns. Sound interesting? This is a taste of what awaits you in Florida Book Club Season 2.

"Alligator" looks like the cheapest kind of pulp horror novel upon first glance. The cover, the summary, the title – they all do it no favors in terms of perception. But it is a remarkably compelling book about an economically struggling Everglades town and the hunt for a comically-large killer gator in the local swamps. There’s sneaky depth to it, though, I promise. Join me in the Season 1 finale as I talk about Shelley Katz’s Alligator and issue an invitation to interested readers. *Stick around for a special guest afterward! Further reading at www.FloridaBookClub.com.

Shane Hinton’s 2019 novel "Radio Dark" doesn’t seem like the kind of book one would want to read in 2020. It’s about a plague that effectively ends society, it uses its Florida settings to present some truly ominous and disturbing imagery, and generally seems to think humans are doomed. But it’s pretty good! I’m joined by avid reader Tony Litvinas to talk about Hinton’s novel. Further reading at www.FloridaBookClub.com.

George Long Brown was no Harriet Beecher Stowe. I mean, he bought slaves when he settled in Florida after emigrating from New England, and Stowe was a fervent abolitionist. But like her, he left us a document of Florida frontier life in the 1800s — and Newnansville, Florida, was indeed frontier back then. I’m joined by Keith Huneycutt, professor of English at Florida Southern College and editor of The Letters of George Long Brown, to discuss the book and Brown’s life. Further reading and full transcript at www.FloridaBookClub.com.

Frogs aren’t really scary. Well, unless they’re telepathically controlling lizards, alligators, snakes, and other reptiles and commanding them to attack humans. I mean, these are humans with lots of hubris and a very unfavorable view of Nature in general, so I guess the victims in George McCowan’s 1972 eco-horror film "Frogs" deserve it. But how true to reality are the settings and wildlife depicted in this movie, set and filmed in the Florida Panhandle? I’m joined by two Florida natives who viewed the film and share their thoughts. Further reading and full episode transcript at www.FloridaBookClub.com.

Walt Disney World, it could be argued, has not had a net positive effect on Central Florida, environmentally speaking at least. University of Central Florida professor of art history Keri Watson joins me to discuss her article “From the Sideshow to Walt Disney World: Florida Reimagined,” paying special attention to how Walt Disney went out of his way to shut out the natural environment and attract a certain kind of patron to his planned Orlando-area megapark. Full transcript and further reading at www.FloridaBookClub.com.

There is a book out there filled with sexual anecdotes and stories that in some cases are so embarrassing, frightening, or… well, ordinary, that they make for pretty entertaining reading. “Condoms and Hot Tubs Don’t Mix” was published by Orlando’s Beating Windward Press in 2018, and all the proceeds from its sales go to Planned Parenthood. In this episode, the book’s coeditors, Jennie Jarvis and Leslie Salas, talk about the experience of putting it together. Further reading and a full episode transcript at www.FloridaBookClub.com.