A fun and winding read that both gives some of the best “Florida man” headlines & backgrounds as well as dives deeper to contextualize the whacky, surprising, and eyebrow raising “Florida-ness.” Covering interesting crumbs starting with the Spanish arriving in the 1500s to the frontier-like atmosphere that brought swindlers/dreamers/those looking to start over and insights into how the unique climate, geography, and inter-state migration to the state (myself included!), Pittman shows how they have all created the crock pot stew of a state that can at the same time feel like a paradise, a dystopia, a community, and an acid trip!

As an aside, reading the 2017 update creates some new perspective as the Trump years began, and I can only imagine the new content the author would have added in the wake of the Desantis-led woke hunt.

In the end I’m happy I finally got around to reading this in full. I do wish writing wise Pittman focused less on cramming in brief mentions of every headline or story and spent more time on the deep dives that were the most interesting part. But I can forgive him knowing he’s a journalist who is sitting on an endless supply of Florida Man stories thanks to the sunshine laws!