Settled through the chicanery of a few enterprising brokers and real estate wizards, Rothchild's Florida is a civilization built from scratch, out of the most unusual ingredients. While much of the state seems younger than many of its inhabitants, he observes, it hosts all the modern demographic, economic, and social problems. Still, those ills don't dispel the magic of its sunshine, beaches, and exotic fauna or undermine its status as a great American myth.
Told within the framework of Rothchild's travels from Miami to the Everglades, around the state and back again, up for Grabs is part history, part travelogue, part journalism, part autobiography -- a humorous and appreciative tour of a society fabricated from