Big Trouble (novel)
Cover of Big Trouble
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| Author | Dave Barry |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novel/ Humor |
| Publisher | Putnam |
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Publication date
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September 1999 |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 41017558 |
| 813/.54 21 | |
| LC Class | PS3552.A74146 B54 1999 |
Big Trouble is a novel written by Dave Barry. It was made into a film version in 2001. However, the film was not released until 2002 because of the September 11 attacks. Barry, a longtime columnist for The Miami Herald, set the novel's events in and around Miami, Florida.
In point of fact, this plot-line, below, is the plot-line of the movie. The book is far more detailed, and ironic. I.E. How Eliot, at the end, gets a job being a copywriter for the Seminal Fluids (which he detests) because of the submission, by his client, of his client's artwork in his name, which is suitably rude and crass as to gain the attention and accolade of the Seminal Fluids' management. In addition, there is the ongoing joke about subcontractors, and how they tend to get knocked-off in boating accidents, when they become a political/legal hot potato - and how that fate eventually finds Arthur.
The story follows a large cast of people as they go about their lives. A boy named Matt is involved in a high school game called Killer, where he must squirt a girl named Jenny with a water gun, but with only one witness. Attempting to sneak into her house at night, Matt takes everyone completely by surprise, causing Jenny and her mother, Anna, to attack him, and Jenny's mean stepfather, Arthur, to fall over - just missing being hit by two hitmen who also showed up. The housemaid, a young Mexican immigrant named Nina, panics and runs from the house towards the hitmen. She is rescued by a young homeless man named Puggy, who was living in a tree on the property.
After the hitmen leave, the two talk and instantly fall in love. Two police officers, Monica and Walter, arrive and call Matt's divorced father, Eliot, who comes over and becomes instantly attracted to Anna, while Matt becomes attracted to Jenny. The police dismiss Matt and Eliot and question Arthur about whether or not he has any enemies. Arthur denies this; however, he is actually guilty of embezzling money from the less-than-honest company that he works for to pay off gambling debts. Realizing that his life is on the line, Arthur wants to turn in the company to save himself, and decides at the last minute to get a bomb so that the police will take him seriously.
Later, Jenny, Matt, and Andrew (the one witness and Matt's friend at school) agree to meet at the back of a nearby mall for Matt to "kill" Jenny. Just as he's about to squirt her, a police-wannabe thinks that Matt is using a real gun on Jenny and opens fire with his own gun. Matt and Jenny, frightened, head to Jenny's house to call the police. Andrew runs away and is caught by the same two police officers who investigated the shooting at Arthur's house. After confiscating the man's gun, they decide to head to Jenny's house to find Jenny and Matt.
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