UP FOR GRABS: A Trip Through Time...

UP FOR GRABS: A Trip Through Time and Space in the Sunshine State by John Rothchild (Penguin: $7.95) John Rothchild tries to blend childhood memories of Florida with an irreverent history of the state, but the mixture never quite gels. Florida’s humid real estate has spawned nearly as many flamboyant scandals, crooks and get-rich-quick schemes as California’s, but Rothchild fails to capture the baroque excesses of his subject. The narrative flashes backward and forward awkwardly, scrambling any sense of continuity and confusing the reader. Rothchild’s straightforward style lacks devilish edge needed for this type of wise-cracking memoir.