Lots of trouble - big trouble

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Lots of Trouble - Big Trouble is Dave Barry's first novel . It appeared in 1999 under the original title Big Trouble ; 2001 then in German translation by Lübbe . In the same year a film adaptation of the novel, u. a. with Tim Allen , published under the title Lots of Trouble .

It is considered a crime comedy, but is assigned by Dave Barry himself to the "Florida-teeming-it-just-so-crazy-genre", as the novel was called in the foreword.

action

The story consists of several storylines that interweave more and more towards the end. The author creates figures, some of which are in stark contrast to one another.

There would be among others:

  • Puggy, a friendly homeless man who gets lost in Miami in search of accommodation, where he ends up in shady business;
  • the copywriter Eliot, who is in dire financial straits and jobs;
  • his son Matt;
  • Arthur Herk, a millionaire who makes his living doing all kinds of scams;
  • his wife Anna, who suffers from her bossy husband;
  • her daughter Jenny, who is also bullied by her stepfather;
  • Nina, the Herks maid, with a heart of gold;
  • Leonard and his buddy Henry, two hit men from New York;
  • the police officers Monica Ramirez and Walther Kramitz;
  • John and Leo, the owners of the "Jolly Jackal" of a rundown pub;
  • Snake and Eddie, two petty criminals who want to get rich;
  • a poisonous toad that roams the Herks porch and
  • a bomb in the suitcase.

The beginning is very calm, the characters suffer from everyday problems: lovesickness, money worries, etc.

In Miami everything seems peaceful at first glance. But appearances are deceptive: In a bar, not only “beers over the counter”, but “rather heavy weapons”, a “fraudulent construction company botches” wherever they can, numerous “exotic animals make their way through the city” and also otherwise it seems “in Miami to be teeming with crazy people” (quotes from the book).

Events soon tumble over: a bullet hits the living room wall of the traditional property, while an apparently madman rushes across the terrace with a small gun. Puggy wrestles with an armed stranger in the middle of the night before a beautiful woman runs into him. A policeman with a tattered uniform tries to stop a car on the street while a fat, extremely confused man is chained to him.

For the showdown, Dave Barry lets all the important figures come back to Miami Airport. This is where the "decision in the struggle between good and evil" falls (quote from Dave Barry from the Miami Herald). Greed becomes a death sentence for evil.

epilogue

In the afterword, Dave Barry reviews the events of the book and reports from the perspective of a newspaper reporter. Only viewed from a neutral position does it become clear how grotesque the events in the book actually are. He also presents the further course of the story and what influences they had on the lives of those involved.

Writing style and things to know

Dave Barry is considered a very headstrong writer by some people.

In the book there are repeated changes between calm and "tension-laden" sequences, which results from the strange, sometimes grotesque behavior of his characters, who are "typical Miamians". This behavior often seems incomprehensible to characters who come from outside. He also jumps back and forth between the storylines at more action-packed points, so that the events are presented from the perspective of different people.

But it is precisely this "unconventional way", according to Newsweek, that makes it popular with many, which is why it has already been awarded the Pulitzer Prize.

Shortly before the book was published in the United States, the Mayor of Miami asked Dave Barry to move the book's location out of town. He feared that in the rest of the United States people would “otherwise consider us totally crazy” and “avoid Miami as a vacation spot,” he later said in a conversation with a reporter for the Miami Herold. Ultimately, the mayor withdrew his request, as Dave Barry had joked about Florida in previous books and columns, but had also repeatedly touted the beauty and friendliness of this state.

There were no such changes. Despite the book, or perhaps because of it, tourist numbers did not collapse.

Author's intention

Dave Barry himself said in 2002: “When you're in Florida, be on your guard. There is a madman lurking around every corner here ”. He found the ideas for his book, he said, in “everyday life” in Florida: the “shootings on the street”, “drug packages falling from the sky” and, last but not least, the “absolute stupidity of the American government”.