Tim Dorsey

[yendi]

So, why didn't anyone tell me that there was an author who was basically like an gonzo version of Carl Hiaasen years ago?

I finished Florida Roadkill last week, and am a few pages away from the end of Hammerhead Ranch Motel. The latter just featured the funniest sex scene this side of an Anita Blake novel, only this time, it was intentionally funny. Both books feature murder, mayhem, Florida history, and some brilliant moments.

Definitely not for everyone, but if you can tolerate loads of violence, lots of drug use, and bad things happening to bad people (often in heftier doses than the law would ever allow), the books are a blast. The first book provides a few more accessible characters, but the closest thing to a hero in the second one makes Dexter seem like a classical hero.

Comments

[badlittlemonkey.livejournal.com]

I feel like Dorsey and Hiaasen make up their own little mini-genre of "darkly comic crime novels with an environmentalist bent set in Florida." And it's a genre I like quite a bit, apparently. (I guess Dave Barry's Big Trouble would fall in here, too.) I think that from the books I've read, Hiaasen is a little bit funnier overall, but the darkness of Dorsey's humor balances things out. I dig 'em both. I've long had this suspicion that when I finally get around to writing a novel, it might well fall within this mini-genre.

[yendi]

I'm also a huge fan of the genre (although Barry's second book, Tricky Business, was a better example). Dorsey doesn't have Hiaasen's gift for plot, but his zaniness makes him a blast.

[badlittlemonkey.livejournal.com]

I haven't read Tricky Business yet... guess I'll have to add that to the TOREAD list. Thanks!

[muse0fire.livejournal.com]

Have you read Christopher Moore? I've always thought of him as a cross between Tom Robbins and Carl Hiaasen. Definitely lighter on actual meaning than either of those two, but a similar esoteric story-telling style. Probably closer to Hiassen than Robbins. Check out "Fluke".

[yendi]

Ha! I think I've been reading Moore since before I first met you, actually. We own everything he's written. :-)

[muse0fire.livejournal.com]

LOL - I'm always late to the party...

[badlittlemonkey.livejournal.com]

/me takes notes and adds Christopher Moore to the TO-READ list.

Thanks! :)