A few weeks ago I picked up The Stingray Shuffle in paperback and couldn’t put it down. Since then, I’ve gone on a Dorsey kick and I’ve now read Florida Roadkill, The Hammerhead Ranch Motel and * Orange Crush. Now I’m just beginning Triggerfish Twist.
I love these books. They’re edgy, funny, smart and very well crafted. Dorsey’s anti-hero, Serge A Storms, is a terrific creation- a spree killer with a conscience (and an encyclopedic knowledge of Florida history) who only kills assholes.
I think my favorite so far is Orange Crush, which centers around a Florida gubenatorial election and features a character who is transparently patterned after GWB but who goes through a personal transformation during the election (this is an election story where the good guy is a Republican and the Democrat is an idiot).
I’m consistently surprised by the way that Dorsey manages to juggle completely amoral characters with characters who are surprisingly sympathetic, as well as mixing scenes of Tarantino style comic mayhem with scenes that are unexpectedly moving and humane.
Dorsey is like a combination of Quentin Tarantino, Hunter Thompson and Carl Hiaasen with a touch of John Kennedy Toole (in the way that multiple story lines and characters are tied together at the end).
I’ve found all his books extremely entertaining and Serge is one of the most engaging protagonists I’ve discovered in ages.
Has anyone else ever read these books. What do you think? I’m dying to talk about them.
