History Literature / TrickyBusiness

* DitzySecretary: The secretary was hired solely on the basis of having cleavage a small dog could get lost in. [[UnderlingWithAnFInPR Her idea of keeping the press away consists of being at the door, turning her head to talk to the boss, then turning back to announce "he says he's not here".]]

-->'''Arnie:''' ''[watching a weather report]'' Always with the hurricane, people are buying bleach.

A novel by Creator/DaveBarry. Like his previous foray into fiction, ''Literature/BigTrouble'', ''Tricky Business'' is set in Miami and concerns the interlocking stories of several quirky characters. It's another spoof of the crime drama, this time set on a cruise liner and involving a man dressed like a giant conch shell, air bag deployers that spray garbage on you instead of air bags, and the world's most valuable lifeboat.

* ContinuityNod: To Literature/BigTrouble in the form of the song, "I Want Your Sex Pootie"

* LostAtSea: [[spoiler:Fay and Wally]], after the former falls into the water and the latter swims to the rescue with a life preserver. Under the circumstances, the ship is ''not'' coming back for them anytime soon. [[spoiler:Fortunately, a helicopter rescues them many hours later.]]

* ContrivedCoincidence: No fewer than ''five'' characters who are not allowed to be at the back of the boat choose to go back there, just in time to see [[spoiler:the drug deal.]] And not just the ''usual'' [[spoiler:drug deal]], no. They get to see the one where [[spoiler:Tark shoots everyone as part of the EvilPlan he's been brewing for the past ''two years'']].

* IntercourseWithYou: The song "I Want Your Sex Pootie" by the Seminal Fluids, which Johnny and the Contusions play on the boat. The lyrics are just the title repeated over and over.

* OnlyInMiami: Set mainly in the city and a boat sailing out of the city. Naturally, the plot revolves around a huge drug deal.

* GoofySuit: The Conrad Conch costume, Conrad being the {{mascot}} for Bobby Kemp's chain of conch fritter restaurants. It's big, pink, and made of foam, and it's almost impossible to see or hear anything while you're wearing it. Bobby usually pays this one homeless guy to wear it. [[spoiler:Except when he needs it to sneak aboard the ''Extravaganza of the Seas'' incognito.]]

%%* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue

%%* VomitChainReaction: Notably called "the barf brigade"

%%* IntercourseWithYou: "I Want Your Sex Pootie."

%%* AGoodNameForARockBand: Johnny and the Contusions.

* DitzySecretary: The secretary was hired solely on the basis of having cleavage a small dog could get lost in. Her idea of keeping the press away consists of being at the door, turning her head to talk to the boss, then turning back to announce "he says he's not here".

* NakedPeopleAreFunny: A naked Johnny flees from the kitchen through the casino after another girl he'd been seeing happened on him comforting a "grieving" divorcee.

%%* TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler:Frank to Tark.]]

!!The book provides exampels of:

* AGoodNameForARockBand - Johnny and the Contusions
* AllMenArePerverts
* ClusterFBomb - so much so, Barry had to put a warning at the front of the book saying '''THIS BOOK CONTAINS BAD WORDS.''' Apparently he'd received some complaints after ''Literature/BigTrouble'' since normally his columns are family friendly. He just didn't think it'd be realistic to have his gangsters saying GoshDangItToHeck.
* ContinuityNod - to Literature/BigTrouble in the form of the song, "I Want Your Sex Pootie"
* CorruptCorporateExecutive - Bobby Kemp, who made his fortune restoring air bags that had been deployed (it was cheaper to just throw whatever refuse was handy in the compartments and hope no one got in an accident), conch fritters without any conch in them (turns out the conch is the least appeatizing part of the fritter), and bargain eye surgery (thr guy was an ex-vetinarian who'd learned from a video, and wasn't half bad if your appointment was early enough in the day).
* DeadlineNews - a running [[BlackComedy gag]]. A report about the electrocution of a boy in a flooded area with downed power lines leads to the deaths of nine reporters as they [[TooDumbToLive do all of the unsafe things]] they tell the audience ''not'' to do. [[spoiler: Turns out that the little kid was fine.]]
* EvilPlan- [[spoiler: This is one the main villains main mode of operating. Unfortunately for him his plan has the pleasure of being interrupted by several SpannerInTheWorks. This forces him to try out XanatosSpeedChess... He isn't very successful]]

* {{Gasshole}} - Tina.
* IntercourseWithYou - "I Want Your Sex Pootie"
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters
* TheMafia - the villains in the piece
* TheMole - [[spoiler: Bobby Kemp in the conch suit]]
* MysteryMeat - The band isn't sure what's in the food in the cruise ship, but they do know it gets reheated and reserved for at least a week before the cook throws it out and makes a new batch.

* OnlyInFlorida
* TheParody - of crime fiction
* PoliceAreUseless
* ThePornomancer - One of the bandmembers.
* RedShirtReporter - the local Miami news station sends a reporter out to cover a tropical storm. She stands in water near downed power lines. [[spoiler: It Gets Worse when the station starts sending vehicles out, finally culminating in a helicopter crash. Ultimately, nine of the station's reporters are dead, representing 100% of the people killed by the storm.]]
* ReverseMole - [[spoiler: Fay]]
* ShootTheShaggyDog - manages to be pulled off humorously with the reporter subplot.
* SmugSnake - [[spoiler: Tark.]]
* SpannerInTheWorks: Practically everyone at some point or another.
* StealthSequel: to ''Literature/BigTrouble'', the song "I want your sex pootie" is in both of them.
* TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler:Frank to Tark.]]
* TooDumbToLive - the news team.
* VomitChainReaction - notably called "the barf brigade"
* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue

A novel by DaveBarry. Like his previous foray into fiction, ''Literature/BigTrouble'', ''Tricky Business'' is set in Miami and concerns the interlocking stories of several quirky characters. It's another spoof of the crime drama, this time set on a cruise liner and involving a man dressed like a giant conch shell, air bag deployers that spray garbage on you instead of air bags, and the world's most valuable lifeboat.

----

* ContinuityNod - to BigTrouble in the form of the song, "I Want Your Sex Pootie"

* StealthSequel: to ''BigTrouble'', the song "I want your sex pootie" is in both of them.

* ClusterFBomb - so much so, Barry had to put a warning at the front of the book saying '''THIS BOOK CONTAINS BAD WORDS.''' Apparently he'd received some complaints after ''Literature/BigTrouble'' since normally his columns are family friendly. He just didn't think it'd be realistic to have his gangsters saying GoshDangItToHeck

* CorruptCorporateExecutive - Bobby Kemp, who made his fortune restoring air bags that had been deployed (it was cheaper to just throw whatever was handy in the compartments and hope no one got in an accident), conch fritters without any conch in them, and bargain eye surgery

* SpiritualSuccessor - to ''BigTrouble''

A novel by DaveBarry. Like his previous foray into fiction, ''BigTrouble'', ''TrickyBusiness'' is set in Miami and concerns the interlocking stories of several quirky characters. It's another spoof of the crime drama, this time set on a cruise liner and involving a man dressed like a giant conch shell, air bag deployers that spray garbage on you instead of air bags, and the world's most valuable lifeboat.

* ClusterFBomb - so much so, Barry had to put a warning at the front of the book saying '''THIS BOOK CONTAINS BAD WORDS.''' Apparently he'd received some complaints after ''BigTrouble'' since normally his columns are family friendly. He just didn't think it'd be realistic to have his gangsters saying GoshDangItToHeck