(Image Credit: http://www.goodreads.com)

Laced with vitriol, and interspersed with dollops of morbid wit, award winning investigative reporter Carl Hiaasen’s book, nay, tract, is a polemical and personal vindication of one the world’s largest stand-alone entertainment corporates. Vacillating in that cramped space between a book and a brochure, Hiaasen’s slim work at times reads more like a personal vengeance towards Disney than a rebuke of the company’s proven misdemeanours.

However, this is not to say that “Team Rodent” (a wicked reference to the rampant spread of the Disney image globally), the book is totally bereft of facts and substance. It sure has its moments. Under the stewardship of Michael Eisner, scathingly referred to as “Insane Clown Michael” repeatedly by Hiaasen (an ode to a monumental blunder made by Disney in releasing an expletive laced music album titled The Great Milenko made by a band called Insane Clown Posse), Disney, according to the author has been operating in a ham fisted and brute manner in furthering its prospects.

Whether it be turning a blind eye to controversies of voyeurism within the company or a sweeping acquisition of hundreds and thousands of acres of land that involves draining of lakes and threatening the ecology, Disney according to Hiaasen virtually has a free hand to do as it pleases. Possessing the power to influence politicians, law enforcement agencies and even the lower rungs of the judiciary, Disney is the beneficiary of a plethora of favours.

However, at times even Goliaths of the likes of Disney is humbled by the occasional David. A case in point the failed bid to develop a three-thousand-acre sprawl that was in close proximity to the Manassas National Battlefield. Despite the cries of Virginians who viewed such a development as transcending mere encroachment and coming dangerously close to the boundaries of desecration, Disney was set in its motives and intentions. “If the people think we will back off, they are mistaken.” Eisner stated with more than just a measure of confidence. However, the will of the people prevailed, and the proposed $160 million project was ultimately abandoned.

Similarly, the gut-wrenching story of a young rhino that was found dead under mysterious circumstances with a lethal stick found wedged deep into the animal’s rear end. Even though it was ultimately proved that the offending object was found inside the rhino before it was transported into Disney, there were more discomforting questions than answers.

“Team Rodent” is a short exercise in anger, focusing more on an execrable periphery than plunging into the core of and for the truth.