Florida (Dirtbag Central) and Tim Dorsey

As writers of the film noir films of the mid-Twientith Century wrote documentaries on the viciousness of women disguised as fiction, Tim Dorsey writes documentaries on Florida disguised as comic fiction.


Here is an example from the prologue to Dorsey's new book, Nuclear Jellyfish, from the blog of Serge Storms (Dorsey's serial killer anti-hero):


Question to blog: "Why are all of the dirtbags in Florida?"


Answer in blog: "Because if you lay down in the snow, you die."


Words to live (and die) by.



But Serge was incomplete. Why are the dirtbags not in Texas (which, for most of the state, does not get much snow)? I will fill in for Serge and answer:


Answer: Because in Texas, we execute them--those that the Texas Rangers and citizens let actually get to trial.


I always thought that George Bush's (Bush 43) (accurate) answer to the question of why he opposed further "hate crime" legislation in Texas, even though a black youth had been dragged to death in a "hate crime" (most murders are not?), was the best--almost the only good--response he ever made to a question:


"What do you expect me to do (if we had more "hate crime" legislation)? Execute them TWICE?"


I cannot yet review Nuclear Jellyfish, because I have not yet finished it. My preliminary impression is that it does not reach the heights of Triggerfish Lane (rating 100)--one of the great comic novels. Dorsey's mistake, I think, is that he has begun to concentrate totally on the raunchy stuff, and left behind the contrast between a "normal" family and Florida that made Triggerfish Lane such a great book. Since Dorsey is writing documentaries on Florida, this leaves open the question of whether there are any normal families left in Florida. We already know that there are none left in California (which rendered Dorsey's attempt at a "comic" novel set in Califonia as prettymuch a failed experiment--containing "jokes" so tame in comparison with the real California that they were not either fresh or funny). But Dorsey is screamingly funny, even when he is not at his very best.


P.S. This is a free idea for Tim Dorsey. Serge's next targets should be the on air "talent" of MSNBC and CNN. Serge kills people who deserve to die, but who are immune because we are "civilized" (even though the people who deserve to die are not). Heck, why stop with CNN and MSNBC. All of the mainstream media are worthy Serge targets. Maybe Serge could arrange something at a media convention in Florida.............. Nope. I do not care if Fox News is included in Serge's draconian remeday to the problem of present day "jouralism".


I know. There is a problem here. There indicatinos (including the leftist diatribes in Orange Crush (the only Dorsey novel I consider not worth reading), that Tim Dorsey has leftist leanings. Rush Limbaugh lives in Florida. If Serge goes after a media person, is it likely to be Limbaugh? I am afraid so. I may be creating a monster. However, the idea of Serge going after the me national media (local media people have appeared in Dorsey's previous documentaries) is so attractive that I had to mention it.