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Alligators in B-Flat: Improbable Tales from the Files of Real Florida (Florida History and Culture)
Alligators in BFlat Improbable Tales from the Files of Real Florida - Florida History and Culture Author:Jeff Klinkenberg Travel the back roads of Florida with the state?s favorite columnist ?Jeff Klinkenberg is the ghost orchid of Florida nonfiction; an observer who prefers swamps and shadows to sunshine banalities; a prose writer of distinction whose roots seek out, then elegantly entwine, that which is fine and funny, outrageous and rare about our beloved state.... more » Alligators in B-Flat is a virtuoso performance, and proves, once again, that Klinkenberg is among our finest writers.??Randy Wayne White ?You read this fine writer and you stare with him into the canals for the dark shape of a manatee, and listen for rumors of alligators, and stand over the grave of a green snake in the yard, in mourning. This is a writer who has never forgotten any of the mystery of this mysterious place, who never allowed his paradise to be paved over in concrete, at least inside his heart, and I could read him all day.??Rick Bragg ?If Jeff Klinkenberg isn?t careful, he might give journalism a good name.??Carl Hiaasen Florida is a civilized place with eighteen million residents, fine universities, art museums, world-class restaurants, and other modern amenities. It is also home to panthers, bears, rattlesnakes, and alligators, just waiting to take a bite out of the unprepared. With a keen eye for detail and a lyrical style, Jeff Klinkenberg sets his sights on the contradictions that make up the Sunshine State. No one else would think to engage a professional symphony orchestra tuba player to find out whether bull gators will thunderously bellow back at a low B-flat during mating season (they do, but only to that pitch). From fishing camps and country stores to museums and libraries, Klinkenberg is forever unearthing the magic that makes Florida a place worth celebrating. Jeff Klinkenberg grew up in Miami, began working in newspapers at age sixteen, and has been writing for the Tampa Bay Times since 1977. He is a two-time winner of the Paul Hansell Distinguished Journalism Award, the highest honor given by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors.« less