Chomp

By: Carl Hiaasen

Narrated by: James Van Der Beek

Length: 6 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

The hysterical number one New York Times best seller from Newbery honoree Carl Hiaasen featuring gators, snakes, bats that bite, and reality show hosts gone wild!

When Wahoo Cray’s dad - a professional animal wrangler - takes a job with a reality TV show called Expedition Survival!, Wahoo figures he'll have to do a bit of wrangling himself to keep his father from killing Derek Badger, the show's inept and egotistical star. But the job keeps getting more complicated: Derek Badger insists on using wild animals for his stunts; and Wahoo's acquired a shadow named Tuna - a girl who's sporting a shiner courtesy of her father and needs a place to hide out.

They've only been on location in the Everglades for a day before Derek gets bitten by a bat and goes missing in a storm. Search parties head out and promptly get lost themselves. And then Tuna's dad shows up with a gun...

It's anyone's guess who will actually survive Expedition Survival...

©2012 Carl Hiaasen (P)2012 Listening Library

Critic reviews

“Hiaasen’s best for a young audience since Newbery Honor Hoot (2002) features a shy, deep-feeling protagonist who’s also a pragmatist and plenty of nature info and age-appropriate cultural commentary…. Humorous adventure tales just don’t get any more wacked…or fun to read than this.” (Kirkus)

“Only in Florida - and in the fiction of its native son Carl Hiaasen - does a dead iguana fall from a palm tree and kill somebody.” (New York Post)

“Chomp is a delightful laugh-out-loud sendup of the surreality of TV that will be enjoyed by readers of all ages.” (Los Angeles Times)

Hiassen & his wit

Where does Chomp rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Right up there at the top

What was one of the most memorable moments of Chomp?

the poor slob thinking he was a vampire

What does James Van Der Beek bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

voices, and emotion.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

laugh mostly

AWESOME!

love it! it was great! asd asd add a few more days before I can get to the office and I will be there at the same time I don't have a car so I can get the money to you and your family a very happy and prosperous New year to you and your family a year ago and I was wondering if you could send me a very good job on the same day and I was wondering I have a car so I don't know what to say to that is a good thing to have a good time at the party but I can get you a car so we can go to you and.

Funny Uplifting High Adventure Coming of Age Story

Any additional comments?

Often a young adult story, that deals with sobering realities yet retaining the values of caring, friendship, courage spun from devotion (not mere bravado), and humor is so much more inspiring, uplifting and satisfying than adult books dealing with the same issues. "Chomp" is such a one, and was time and money well spent. The narrator could not have been more advantageous. His pace, tone and subtle humor, as if he, too, knew some of these feelings, was excellent and complemented the story perfectly.I love both mysteries and adventure stories, but need an emotionally satisfying conclusion, where the antagonists experience some mete of justice and the protagonists experience a sense of growth or enhancement from their ordeal.Here Carl Hiaasen includes issues of alcoholism and child abuse realistically without disempowering the victim and not making the abuser a frightening monster, but who is definitely going to be made responsible for his actions.The story takes place in the Florida Everglades where we meet Wahoo Cray, his dad, awildlife wrangler who loves his animals and does stunts for nature documentaries, and his mom, who is a linguist teaching businesspersons, The opening is very funny,which I won't spoil, but the enciting problem is lack of income, due to an accident Mickey, the dad, had in a wildlife encounter. Mom decides to take a job in China for 2 months; Mickey is offereda wrangling job with a famous TV survivalist which he is loathe to take, partly due to the lingering effects of the accident, and mostly because the survivalist, stage name Derek Badger, has an ego the size of a hot air balloon, loves French cheeses and eclairs, therefore lacking the physique befitting a real mountain man, and who not only is disdainful of his crew, but, completely lacking sense of direction and the least of survival skills, would get lost anywhere except his hotel.The Cray family, their appreciation,and acceptance of each other form a firm milieux for all the hilarious events which ensue. All the characters are well drawn, including the minor ones; so much so that you start thinking you'd like to go there and meet them someday! I laughed out loud several times, loved the real science and accurate nature descriptions and events (including fast moving thunder and lightning storms which stop human activity due to their intensity) and am interested in another book by the same author and narrator.

extremely great book

one of my most favorite Carl hiaasen books best far is very good performance p

Fun story & excellent narration!

This was a really fun read. I loved the story and thought the narration was excellent! I love how James used multiple voices & accents to differentiate the characters. That made it even more enjoyable!!

Great book, good voice acting

I love this book already, and the voice acting is just great! James Van Der Beak does the accents very well, there is lots of emotion, just a great listen overall

Great book for the entire family.

What did you love best about Chomp?

I loved the relationship between Wahoo and his family. Makes the whole book seem even better.

What did you like best about this story?

The characters were smart funny and likable. I was in the everglades in florida when i listened to this. I even tried to figure out if there was a stuffed alligator at the air boat tour I took my children on.

What does James Van Der Beek bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He is a great reader. He does a good job of making all of the characters come to life.

Any additional comments?

I wish the author would write more about this family. Bring back Tuna.

An Everglades Farce

Would you consider the audio edition of Chomp to be better than the print version?

The narration and voice changes add to the audio version. The images you can conjure up as the calamities unfold are hilarious.

What did you like best about this story?

The sheer absurdity of the predicaments.

Which scene was your favorite?

The struggle with the alligator Alice.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I laughed a lot during the story. Carl Hiaasen has a very active imagination - always fun to read/listen.

Any additional comments?

This is a great story to make you forget the stresses of the world!

Bodacious (according to my 11-year-old son)

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely because I enjoyed the narrator and feel like I could relate to the characters.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Chomp?

When Raven Stark was shooting Alice and the gun went "Click, Click, Click!". Of course Micky hadn't loaded it!

Have you listened to any of James Van Der Beek’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, but we will listen to more of him in the future!

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Do you have what it takes to survive in the Everglades?

I really liked it

loved it. It was a really good book and I think other people will like it