BOOK: Salty Piece of Land

AUTHOR: Jimmy Buffett

SUMMARY: Jimmy Buffett has another bestseller. This novel takes Tully Mars on a journey from Wyoming and the law to the Caribbean in Buffett's humorous and laid back style. Readers who like Buffett's music will enjoy his rambling story telling. His wild cast of characters will draw you in and keep your attention as you ask who will appear next. This cast includes a Mayan shaman, a pilot, an entrepreneur, bounty hunters and many locals who add much color to his tale. Most interesting among them is Cleopatra Highbourne, a 102-year-old captain of a schooner. Buffett paints whimsical people and places. This journey is a travelogue through the islands that his "Parrothead"fans and winter weary Wisconsites will escape to with a smile. This book contains a lot of philosophy by Buffett, such as " The fishing pole bends heavier for some than others, and nobody has to figure out why - " or " Life is like a fish on a line. When it is there, you feel it. You fight it. You gain line. You lose line. But if that line suddenly snaps, or the pole breaks, or a thousand other possibilities occur that fishermen use as excuses when the tension is gone, you feel it even more." Buffett's eccentric and humorous style make this entertaining read pure fun.

PLOT: Tully Mars ends up in Cayo Loco in the southern Bahamas after choosing not to be a poodle-ranch foreman. To complicate matters further his former boss wants to put him in jail back in Heartache, Wyoming. He sails with his horse, Mr. Twain on Captain Kirk's boat to Lost Boys Lodge. He is a fishing guide here before meeting Cleopatra who has him restoring a lighthouse and looking for an old Fresnel lens. Tully has many adventures in beautiful and unpredictable places such as Belize. His friends always snatch him from some catastrophe moving him on. Buffett recounts loves lost and love found. He ties up all the loose ends in a final chapter and an epilogue that accounts for everyone.

ASK YOURSELF: When can I book a flight to one of these places?

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