Naked Came the Manatee

Naked Came the Manatee (ISBN 978-0399141928) is a mystery thriller parody novel published in 1996. It is composed of thirteen chapters, each written by a different Miami-area writer. It was originally published as a serial in the Miami Herald's Tropic magazine, one chapter per issue, and later published as a single novel. Its title is a reference to the literary hoax Naked Came the Stranger. The book was conceived of and edited by Tom Shroder, then editor of Tropic. Dave Barry came up with the first chapter, which was then handed to the next writer, and so on until Carl Hiaasen had to tie all the loose threads together in the final chapter. Each chapter was written on deadline for publication in the magazine.

The plot involves three crime-fighting characters from three of the writers' previous, non-parody, mystery/thriller works coming together to help an elderly environmentalist and her granddaughter investigate the mystery behind a package delivered by a precocious Miami-area manatee named Booger. John Dufresne opens his chapter in a spoof on Moby-Dick, with the line "Call me Booger..."

All proceeds from the novel were donated to charity.

The writers of the different chapters are:

1. Dave Barry
2. Les Standiford
3. Paul Levine
4. Edna Buchanan
5. James W. Hall
6. Carolina Hospital
7. Evelyn Mayerson
8. Tananarive Due
9. Brian Antoni
10. Vicki Hendricks
11. John Dufresne
12. Elmore Leonard
13. Carl Hiaasen