Swine Not?: A Novel | 
| Author: Jimmy Buffett
Creator: Helen Bransford
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Category: Book
List Price: $21.99
Buy New: $7.99
You Save: $14.00 (64%)
New (53) Used (18) Collectible (2) from $7.59
Avg. Customer Rating:  41 reviews
Sales Rank: 1081
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 5.9 x 1.1
ISBN: 0316114022
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780316114028
ASIN: 0316114022
Publication Date: May 13, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: BRAND NEW - EXCEPTIONAL VALUE - EXCELLENT BUY
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Product Description
Best-selling writer Jimmy Buffett weaves an irresistible new tale---filled with colorful characters, wry humor, and the pursuit of a very clever pig.
When Southern belle Ellie McBride moves her twins from Vertigo, Tennessee to New York City, they wouldn't dream of leaving behind the family pig Rumpy. But the posh hotel where Ellie has found work (and living space) has "No Pets" writ large on its portal. So hiding Rumpy from the hotel staff---especially the ultra-carnivorous hotel chef, who would like nothing better than to transform their pet into pork roast---becomes imperative.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 36 more reviews...
 Swine Not? 'Cause It Was Boring! July 16, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
First of all, I'm a parrot head, so I guess it was required reading. With 40+ CD's in my collection, Buffett's music is an integral part of my emotional survival kit. I have also found some of his other books enjoyable.
Having said that, this book was amazingly boring, requiring substantial will power to make it to the finish. I could possibly see some appeal to pre-teen female readers, and there's nothing in it that would be unsuitable for that age group. For adult audiences, this book offers absolutely nothing that the Jimmy Buffett aura promises to deliver.
This book should have been targeted toward a youth market. In that arena, it could have been well received, and deservingly so. Aimed at an adult market, it's only apparent purpose can be to pluck a few more dollars from his large band of devoted followers.
 Swine So July 16, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is not Buffett's normal type of novel, so don't buy it expecting mysteries in the tropics with aging pilots & sea captains. It's written from the perspective of a pig & one of her owners, and the switching between narrators can sometimes be confusing. It's a clean book, completely perfect story for children (in fact it started as a children's book). It's got a lot of adventure and the narrations from the pig really do get you into the mind of a lesser animal. It's great for adults too, a great observation of how animals observe humans. The book seems long but the text is fairly large and makes for a quick read. It's worth the purchase.
The better question is swhy? July 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This pleasant, lightweight, but non-consequential kids' fable seems to have no reason to exist other than the picking of the $21.99 retail price from the pocket of Buffett fans.
The story is not nearly as cynical as I just made it sound. Its not a bad story, and a Buffett fan can find turns of phrase that remind them of the lyrical craftsman they know Buffett to be. It may be better appreciated by the pet pigs, soccer moms, and 10- to 13-year-olds who are its main characters.
Truth in reviewing: while not a pig, soccer mom, or 10- to 13-year old, I am a Buffett fan with a vanity plate (JB A1A) on my convertible who received the book from my wife as a birthday present. So I came into this book predisposed to like it. And I didn't hate it. I just don't know why it exists. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say Buffett was doing a favor for his friend Helen Bransford, who is the source of the idea and the owner of the pig who's fictionalized tail is told in the fable.
Best bets if you fear the cynical angle of forking over $21.99 as a favor for a Friend of Buffett may sour you on Buffett or the book: read it over a Sunday-morning latte at your neighborhood Barnes and Noble (it reads fast), check it out of a library, wait for the paperback, or buy it used.
His previous novel, A Salty Piece of Land, was better, but his first was his best: Tales from Margaritaville.
Swine Bother? July 10, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Bad. Bad. Bad. Bad. Painfully bad.
This is the same man that created "A Pirate Looks at Forty" and "Death of an Unpopular Poet"? Please, lock up his word processor and send him out fishing.
A Great Novel...For Teen Readers July 10, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
While I enjoyed reading about the tales of Rumpy and his family, it certainly was not the book I was expecting from the author. My wife is a parrot head and I bought the book for her, as she has read all of his other work. As she is currently out of town, I decided to read it for a change of pace. And, I enjoyed it, but, but would have checked it out of the library had I known the reading level.
While the story is well put together, is cute, and somewhat humorous, it isn't what most adults would be expecting. It would have been better labeled as a teen level novel to warn off unsuspecting buyers. If you need to spend the afternoon with a book that won't tax your brain too strongly or enjoy relatively short, easy to read stories, you will enjoy the book. Just don't expect too much.
5 stars for teens, 3 stars for adults
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