Panama

This 1978 novel by Thomas McGuane revels a little too much in its outrageousness. By the end of the first chapter, a character has snorted cocaine off the sidewalk, masturbated in a grocery store toilet, and nailed his hand to a door. Yet there is some crackling and funny writing here, like the line describing a character who "looks like a circus performer who's been shot out of the cannon one too many times." McGuane also delivers a colorful portrait of a raucous Key West. Critics savaged McGuane for this one, which he considered his best. For me, it falls into the category of interesting books that will never be re-read.