Customer Reviews

Orange Crush (Serge Storms)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Dorsey writes the literary equivalent of a summer blockbuster, a writers version of those new gravity and physics defying roller coasters where you strap yourself in, hang on tight and wonder "what the heck did I do this for??!?!" as you spin your lunch back out at 4 gees, and then you run right back to line up for more.

This is fun, pure and simple and nothing else. Very little redeeming social value, it won't teach you anything you can use in life or business or camping. It will entertain you almost to stroke levels. Hugely. His books have the manic, non-stop pace of Nascar, the local Florida color of Carl Hiasson, and the kind of laughs that Jerry Lewis inexplicably gives the French.

This is the 3rd or 4th Dorsey book I've read this summer, and I liked it the best. They are all very similar in style, tone, what have you. Like the others this one starts in the present, and then backs up a year or two to explain how 4 or 5 bizarre plotlines ultimately braid together. If you liked the movie Pulp Fiction, you'll like these books. They are definitely lighter than PF, but both combine the same blends of violence and humor. But much, much heavier on the humor in a Dorsey. One of the other reviews complained that there was not enough character development. This ain't Jane Austin. It is still well-written.

Orange Crush actually has the most character development of any of the Dorsey's I've read. We watch Marlon Conrad, the spoiled rich privileged son of a Florida political power broker grow from a puppet Lt. Gov. to a Jimmy Stewart, Mr. Smith goes to Tallahassee-type. We see Serge make an impact on politics and soft tissue. We see Marlon's competitor for Governor stuff pigs in a blanket into his cheeks and pocket. We laugh. We wear stunned expressions. We buy the next book.

Read it and laugh!

Being a Florida native I had always searched for books that capture the true essence of Florida: the residents, the visitors, the violence, the history. When I read Tim Dorsey's Florida Roadkill I thought: Finally, someone is writing about the Florida that I grew up in and know. The Florida where we invented the Home Invasion Robbery and were proud of it. The Florida where even my paperboy carries a pager, a cell phone and a Glock.

I went on to read Hammerhead Ranch Motel and loved it. Once again Tim Dorsey was able to capture Florida with all of its colorful characters and the you-have-to-read-it-to-believe-it crime combined with his amazing sense of humor. Add to the mix Serge Storms; sociopath and Florida history buff. To quote Serge "We're a twenty-four hour, dead-bolted, hair on the back of your neck, free continental breakfast deathwish vacation of a lifetime, not from concentrate..." I dont want to give away too much about his first two books except to say that if you are reading them for the first time you are in for an amazing experience. Serge rocks!

Orange Crush delivers the same humor, mayhem, and true to life image of Florida. Tim Dorsey gives his book a notable and wonderful backdrop: a Florida gubernatorial race. Being a politcal junkie I had always thought enough was not written about Florida politics. With Orange Crush Tim Dorsey takes us behind the scenes of a Florida guberntorial race with all of its intricacies, corruption, humor, and of course Serge Storms who pops up in the least likely place.

As I read Orange Crush I laughed out loud so many times that my roommate kept coming into my room to find out what was so funny. I would read the passage to him out loud and think to myself Orange Crush is truly Tim Dorsey's funniest and coolest book to date.

I rarely find a new author that rockets to the top my must read list, at the speed Tim Dorsey has. Dorsey another master of the Florida Crazy fiction was knocked at first for trying to hard to be like Carl Hiaasen. However now that he is in his third book he coming into his own and has a style all to his own. Dorsey crams alot a characters and little quick storylines and sometimes it can get a little confusing to the reader, but by the end Dorsey brings everything together usually with some very funny results.

"Orange Crush" revovles around the govenor's race for the great state of Florida. The incumbent Marlon Conrad is a a shoe in. Then Marlon has a political awakening and starts to be politician for the people instead of the politcian for big money. He buys a orange mobile home and starts visiting the lesser known parts of Florida looking for what the real people of Florida want. Along for the ride are his press secratary who is afraid of minorities and a speechwriter with amnesia. Gomer Tatum his opponent is being led by want-to-be first lady Jackie Monroeville. It the middle of this there is a killer loose. The story ends on election day and the result are pure classic Dorsey.

Tim Dorsey has now put himself on my top five author list. He is a must read for any fan of this genre. Readers who have read Dorsey may wonder at first where Serge is?? Don't worry he is there and is up to his usual tricks. For the first time reader you can start with "Orange Crush" but I suggest reading "Florida Roadkill" and "Hammerhead Ranch Motel" in order first. One word of warning Chapter 39 is so funny you might split a gut.

This whole series of books by Tim Dorsey can be described as a twisted and funny study on the dark side in all of human beings. Tim Dorsey manages to take everyday situations and make them incredibly funny. Based in Florida, the series follows the twisted life of Serge Storms (one of the best characters ever created) and all his sick, violent and disturbed adventures. Of course, along the way you will get to meet every kind of character you can imagine.

The interesting thing about this series is that behind all the funny stories, there are tons of social and political criticisms. I have read all the books in the series, and each one keeps getting better. If you are a fan of Quentin Tarantino movies, or South Park cartoons, you will love these books. A must buy.

Once on late night TV I came across a church service where the attendees went into laughing fits that ranged from a continuous giggle to spontaneous bursts of howling and screeching. The people at a certain laundromat in Jacksonville probably think I am either a memeber of that church or someone who escaped a group home because this book had more zingers, one liners, twisted undercurrents and inside jokes between the characters, the writer and the reader than anything I have ever read! It left me talking to myself and laughing hysterically in public places. Being someone who lives in Florida and often roadtrips while follwing my favorite musicians across the state (whether they want me to or not) I can say that I have run into some permutation of all the characters in Dorsey's 3 novels, but I am still amazed that he can create more and more of these people and weave them in and out of plots and subplots that are both disjoint and cohesive at the same time! I also have to say that if there was ever a fictional character I could have a crush on it's Serge A Storms.Ok, so he kills people who get on his nerves. I've hung out with people who have irritating personal habits before. If your real life leaves you in need of a laugh, your sense of humor needs a twisted restoration, or the only way you can experience ADHD is vicariously, Tim Dorsey's novels are the perfect fix. Forget linear plotting, chronological disfunction is part of the game. Come along for the roadtrip. It's one of the best you'll ever have.

Tim Dorsey does it again!!! If you like FLORDIA ROADKILL and HAMMERHEAD RANCH MOTEL, you'll love Dorsey's new book, ORANGE CRUSH! This novel is filled with more craziness and mayhem, than both his previous books combined. Also MR. Serge A. Storms makes another appearance. This book was a real page turner, I couldn't put it down. I read the entire thing in one day! And after my gut hurt so bad from laughing at the outrageous hi-jinks going on throughout the book. It's a MUST read!

Over-the-top? Yes, deliciously so, precisely what is hoped for and expected whenever Dorsey unleashes his blow-torch-humor within the confines of the Sunshine State. In his third book, Dorsey looks at Florida's gubernatorial race, not through glasses colored rose, but jet-black, and the result is political wackiness and sun-splashed mayhem found only in a Dorsey tome. To reveal any of the characters _ needless to say, everyone's favorite homicidal hero, Serge A. Storms, returns to spice up the dysfunctional stew _ and resulting dialogue would be to deprive the reader of Dorsey's myriad gifts _ his keen observatory sense, his mastery of Florida history, and a writing style that is all at once economical, stylish and uproariously funny. There is no fat on the bones of Dorsey's books, merely the lean, enriching meat of a writer familiar with his audience, and one who rarely fails to entertain. Dorsey's first two books, Florida Roadkill and Hammerhead Ranch Motel, gave us a taste. Orange Crush satisfies completely the palate of readers looking for a not-so-outlandish peek at Florida's political process. (Remember the recent Presidential election while you read it!!!) And to all those who think Crush is too far over the top, too nutty, with little reason to care about its characters and content, you can always cuddle up with the phone book.

This is an incredible continuation of Dorsey's first two books, Florida Roadkill and Hammerhead Ranch Motel. Our favorite serial killer/hero Serge (although incognito) returns with his madman encyclopedic knowledge of Florida lore and several more ingenius variations on how to produce bodies. A slew of new characters are introduced : Babs (the puppet lady with trauma-inducing talents), Helmut von Zeppelin (the evil mastermind behind dirty politics), Jackie (persistant gold-digger), Escrow (twisted politician-in-training), Joe Blow (you know, Average Joe?), and our central character--Marlon Conrad.

Marlon starts off as a bland, illiterate politician. But after a transcendant Saul-on-the-way-to-Damascus type revelation, we witness Marlon's growth to something much more than a crooked politician. We see him gain back his humanity. I'd even hazard to say he's a modern day King Lear.

The real magic of the book lies in its power to have serious issues (corrupt politics) tempered by pure zaniness. The complete joke that is Politics is taken to such an extreme, one can't help but laugh. Although your giggle does die down a bit when you realize that this fiction isn't too far from the truth...keep in mind this book was written *before* the fiasco of the Florida presidential elections.

We do see more of "Roadkill"'s jaunts around the state. It's a great feeling to see different places that you know so well described so accurately in a book. Dorsey mentions the Merry Pranksters (Ken Kesey's infamous troupe) at one point in the book and he's absolutely right. It's got the feel of some people who are out to do good, whether you like it or not!

The only downer, for me, was when I sat back and reflected on the character Marlon. It was the moment I realized that only in fiction could such a compassionate politician dare to exist.

This a superb novel. I cannot rave enough about it. Read the book. Savor the book. Fondle the book. But more important--BUY the book!

Florida Lieutenant Governor Marlon Conrad, a political nobody, has been picked by the Florida power brokers to be the next governor, but he's happier playing computer games than handling the state's business. That doesn't matter, the power brokers tell him, because in Florida policy is decided by "Big Oil, Big Sugar and Big Rental Car." All Marlon has to do is wait for the sitting governor to finish his term and let his handlers do the rest. There is, however, one tiny obstacle, Marlon had never registered with the Selective Service. So he joins the National Guard, that way he'd look patriotic and could be inactive. However he gets called up and sent to the Balkans, sees action and all of a sudden becomes a real man of the people.

No longer content to be a tool of the Florida power brokers, Marlon takes off on a campaign across the state in an RV dubbed Orange Crush. His political opponent, the gourmandizing Speaker of the House Gomer Tatum, has also found new political life, thanks to his working class girlfriend. So the election becomes a rough and tumble contest.

It is almost impossible for me to tell you just how funny this five star book is. Not only did I laugh through the pages, I'm still laughing.

I love returning to Tim Dorsey's Florida novels. It's like meeting up with an old friend. I know I'll get a quick, funny read that will make me laugh out loud on occasion.

"Orange Crush" is a bit of a departure from the first two books. The plot concerns the race for governor in Florida, and how the numb-brained shoo-in lieutenant governor has a maturing epiphany while serving in Bosnia and comes back to run a campaign based on truth and honesty.

I don't think this novel was as funny as the previous two, but I sort of liked the change in direction -- it satirizes Florida politics savagely and it's not, as the first two books were, exclusively about Serge, lost money, and piling bodies.

The plotting of this novel (and the use of the word "plot" here is only in the most vague sense) is as chaotic as Marlon's campaign. And truthfully, this novel definitely starts to run out of steam as it gets to its end.

But it's hard to complain. Dorsey is just a brilliant comedy writer who knows how to give you that perfect deadpan nudge that makes it impossible to stop a laugh from bubbling out. The big debate finale that takes place at a WWF match is perhaps one of the funniest things I've ever read. It certainly boosts the end of the book, which starts to sag.

Yeah, the book is over the top, but that's what makes these novels so much fun. The adults act like deranged children, the scenarios are preposterous, and the violence intense and yet casual. But don't tell me you didn't laugh your butt off.

And as long as Dorsey keeps telling his tales, I will gladly read them.