A Salty Piece of Land

Jimmy Buffett

Nov 2004 · Sold by Little, Brown

About this ebook

Wander to "where the song of the ocean / Meets the salty piece of land" with Tully Mars, washed up from Margaritaville and in the mood for monkeyshines, in a shimmering Caribbean epic by the late king of tropical rock, Jimmy Buffett.

It's not on any chart, but the tropical island of Cayo Loco is the perfect place to run away from all your problems. Waking from a ganja buzz on the beach in Tulum, Tully can't believe his eyes when a 142-foot schooner emerges out of the ocean mist. At its helm is Cleopatra Highbourne, the eccentric 101-year-old sea captain who will take him to a lighthouse on a salty piece of land that will change his life forever.

From a lovely sunset sail in Punta Margarita to a wild spring-break foam party in San Pedro, Tully encounters an assortment of treasure hunters, rock stars, sailors, seaplane pilots, pirates, and even a ghost or two.

Ratings and reviews

A. Yes. My wife and I heard it on the way to Chicago from Los Angeles. It was eight disks and took about ten hours to hear the entire story. Q. How did you like it? A. For me, it was a difficult listening. The main character, Tully, was pretty boring, but even more boring was his good friend, Willie Singer, and unfortunately, Willie takes over much of the narrative through his long letters to Tully. Tully jumps for joy when his tormentor dies, not exactly a healthy attitude, though a human one. He and his benefactress, Cleopatra, worship their forbears almost the same way that Willie's Cargo Cult worships him and his patron saint. It seemed like Jimmy was making fun of the Cargo Cult but glorifying the ancestor worship by Cleopatra. I think they're both way off. Q. How was the reading? A. The reader, whose name I don't recall, was pretty good, but actually, he could not do Hispanic voices, Polynesian voices, or even Caribbean lilt voices. But to give him credit, he had many, many characters to voice, so he did the best he could, though they overlapped quite a bit. Q. So do you recommend this book? A. No. It's boring, the listening is, and I assume the reading would be worse. There was nothing to this long saga, nothing morally uplifting, unless you're into pointless escapades and ancestor worship. Q. What do you mean by pointless escapades? A. Well, like restoring old lighthouses with original lenses and mirrors. Sure, I know many people are into this type of thing, collecting antiques, restoring them, all that. But why not restore people, instead? Because people are difficult and antiques don't talk back, that's probably why. Q. Oh, so now you're a philosopher, eh? A. Sorry, I'm sure Jimmy B. knows a lot more about life than I do.

I'm an avid reader and parrothead and this book is the best of both. It sings to the pirate/expat/ beachbum in all of us. Tully mars for president!

I have read this book too many times to count and have the audio book on cd in my car. Thank you Jimmy, in this crazy live I need my escapes more and more.

About the author

Jimmy Buffett is the author of #1 bestseller A Salty Piece of Land as well as A Pirate Looks at Fifty, Tales From Margaritalville, which was on the bestseller list for seven months, and the #1 bestseller Where Is Joe Merchant? Buffett is also a singer and songwriter with many hit singles and legions of fans. He has his own record company, his own radio station, and chains of restaurants and stores.