Tales From Margaritaville

I have read some of Jimmy’s books and I am a huge fan of his. You may label be a Parrothead and I will wear it with pride.

Tales from Margaritaville is a journey for dreamers and adventurers to let your imagination and your inner child run wild and free. Join us in this wonderfully fun walkabout with Jimmy Buffett.

Everyone asks, “Where is Margaritaville?” It is in the minds and souls of all us beach lovers.

We will spend a lot of time In Heat Wave, Alabama, we will also travel from the west to the east coast, visit Wyoming with Tully Mars and cruise the Carribbean. You will meet the Swamp Creature, enjoy some football, play some golf and sail the seas.

You will smell the ocean and the swamp and feel the cool tropical breezes as we show more travel through the imagination of a third-generation sailor.

So many of the destinations are familiar. I have lived in Alabama, been to Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard, traveled to Cozumel, Isla Mujeres and Cancun, cruised the Carribbean and had a cocktail or two at Pusser’s in Tortola.

I loved it! It brought back many memories and gave me thoughts for the future. All the time I was reading, his songs were playing through my head and I had a smile on my face, even when I was worried about them being stranded on the seas in a terrible storm. I had confidence that Jimmy would prevail.

So, hop aboard and let the adventure begin! show less

I bought a paperback copy of this book around the time it came out in the early 90's. and I fell in love with the stories. I've been re-reading it over the years whenever I felt homesick or nostalgic, because truly these stories capture a flavour of the south, and Florida in particular, that is hard to find in the present day. Snake Bite Key (the setting for a lot of the stories, or the characters' backgrounds) could just have easily been in South Florida in the 70's as it is a fictional island in Alabama.

I recently upgraded my poor old softcover copy to a lovely hardback I found when I was on vacation, and I just had to sit down and re-read it. Funny how certain things stick out once your perspective changes: I never paid much show more attention to Buffett's references to Australia and Australian Aboriginal myths until I was living in Oz myself; suddenly these references have more relevance for me. But otherwise, the stories hold up - they aren't all gems and I love some more than others.

My personal favourites:
Off to See the Lizard
Boomerang Love - this is my all-time favourite of the stories in this book.
The Swamp Creature Let One In

Good but not great:
Take Another Road
I Wish Lunch Could Last Forever

Meh:
The Pascagoula Run

These are apparently semi-autobiographical:
You Can't Take it With You: I wasn't ever really sure there was much point to this one.
Are You Ready for Freddy?: Tedious to the extreme. Freddy likes to hear his own voice.

Hooked in the Heart - this one couldn't have been great - I can't remember it!!
Life in the Food Chain - Very good.
A Gift for the Buccaneer - I really liked this one.
Sometimes I Feel Like a Rudderless Child - also thought this one was interesting, although it ended oddly.

An oddball collection of stories, but most of them take me back home and leave me smiling when I'm finished; I'm not sure I can ask much more from Mr. Buffett. show less

Revisit this book every few years or try to. These stories take on new meaning since his passing in 2023. I had always hoped he would write more books. These stories are wonderful, imaginative, and fun. A nice mix of non fiction and fiction stories. I'll admit I am a fan, so I definitely have a bias.

I have read some of Jimmy’s books and I am a huge fan of his. You may label be a Parrothead and I will wear it with pride.

Tales from Margaritaville is a journey for dreamers and adventurers to let your imagination and your inner child run wild and free. Join us in this wonderfully fun walkabout with Jimmy Buffett.

Everyone asks, “Where is Margaritaville?” It is in the minds and souls of all us beach lovers.

We will spend a lot of time In Heat Wave, Alabama, we will also travel from the west to the east coast, visit Wyoming with Tully Mars and cruise the Carribbean. You will meet the Swamp Creature, enjoy some football, play some golf and sail the seas.

You will smell the ocean and the swamp and feel the cool tropical breezes as we show more travel through the imagination of a third-generation sailor.

So many of the destinations are familiar. I have lived in Alabama, been to Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard, traveled to Cozumel, Isla Mujeres and Cancun, cruised the Carribbean and had a cocktail or two at Pusser’s in Tortola.

I loved it! It brought back many memories and gave me thoughts for the future. All the time I was reading, his songs were playing through my head and I had a smile on my face, even when I was worried about them being stranded on the seas in a terrible storm. I had confidence that Jimmy would prevail.

So, hop aboard and let the adventure begin! show less

Margaritaville may not appear on a map, but it does exist--at least in the brilliantly creative, sometimes slightly skewed imagination of Jimmy Buffett. Tales from Margaritaville is a collection of short stories (some purely fiction, some based in truth) so vividly packed with restless dreamers, wild wanderers, and pure gypsy souls that just reading it is a wild adventure. Travel along with a cowboy named Tully Mars, as he heads from Heartache, Wyoming, to Graceland, and relive the autobiographical odyssey of a third-generation sailor and first-rate musical outlaw. With unforgettable stories that present the true roamer's twin loves--the sea and the road--Tales from Margaritaville is one "smooth sailing book of infinite imagination" show more (Chicago Sun-Times). show less

This was just an OK read for me. I liked the second half of the book, where he starts telling stories about his own life, the best.

Always entertaining, Jimmy Buffett takes us on great adventures with many diverse, interesting characters.