Basket Case (novel)
First edition cover
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| Author | Carl Hiaasen |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Crime novel |
| Publisher | Alfred A. Knopf (USA) & Macmillan (UK) |
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Publication date
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January 2002 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 336 pp (hardback edition) |
| ISBN | (hardback edition) & (paperback edition) |
| OCLC | 47255262 |
| 813/.54 21 | |
| LC Class | PS3558.I217 B37 2002 |
| Preceded by | Sick Puppy |
| Followed by | Skinny Dip |
Basket Case, published in 2002, is the ninth novel by Carl Hiaasen. It is a classic Hiaasen crime novel, set in Florida, and centers on the death of singer James Stomarti (aka Jimmy Stoma), an ostensibly washed-up former lead man of "Jimmy and the Slut Puppies".
A typical Hiaasen protagonist, a journalist, suspects the widow of former rocker Jimmy Stoma to be involved in his death, and investigates the case while dealing with several personal issues. This novel marks the first time Hiaasen used first-person point of view to deliver the novel. In previous works, he used third-person view.
In addition to being a good old-fashioned murder mystery, the novel is also a frank exploration of the pros and cons of a career in newspaper journalism, and a passionate screed against the downsizing of American newspapers and their corporate owners’ emphasis on profitability over depth. This theme is introduced tentatively in Hiaasen’s novel Lucky You but explored fully here.
The book is named for the fictional Jimmy Stoma's hit song. While writing the book, Hiaasen collaborated with singer-songwriter Warren Zevon, a longtime friend. The song appears as the second track on Zevon's 2002 album My Ride's Here. It is quoted several times throughout the book, and is printed in its entirety at the end (credited to Jimmy Stoma and Warren Zevon).
Jack Tagger, aged forty-six, is an obituary writer for the Union-Register (a fictitious South Florida newspaper). He becomes excited on seeing a death notice for James Bradley Stomarti aka Jimmy Stoma, lead man of the rock band Jimmy and the Slut Puppies.
Jack interviews Jimmy’s widow, pop singer Cleo Rio (her stage name comes from the rumor that she flashed a sight of her pubic area during one of her music videos), who says that Jimmy died in a diving accident in the Bahamas. Cleo also plugs her new upcoming album, with a title song co-written by Jimmy and herself.
But after the obituary is printed, Jimmy's sister Janet tells him Cleo lied: Jimmy was working on his own comeback album. Jack gets more suspicious when he visits Jimmy’s corpse in a funeral home and find that no autopsy was performed on his body. However, before Jack can call for an official autopsy, Jimmy’s body is cremated.
Jack used to be an investigative reporter, but was demoted to the obituary beat after publicly insulting Race Maggad III, the CEO of the newspaper’s publishing company. His ambition is to climb back onto the front page by “yoking my byline to some famous stiff.” He tries to convince his editor, the “impossible” Emma to let him investigate Jimmy’s death, but she refuses.
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