Product Description

The Republicans' "golden boy" -- and a loyal, unquestioning tool of the powerful special interests -- handsome, unthreatening, Florida governor-by-default Marlon Conrad seems a virtual shoo-in for re-election. That is, until he undergoes a radical personality shift during a bloody military action in the Balkans. Now it's just three weeks before the election and Marlon is suddenly talking about "issues" and "reform" as he crosses the length and breadth of his home state with an amnesiac speechwriter and a chief of staff who turns catatonic in the presence of minorities. The governor's new-found conscience might well cost him the election, though. And it appears that pretty much everybody from Tallahassee to Miami Beach is trying to kill him...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #49664 in Books
• Published on: 2002-04-01
• Released on: 2002-04-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 384 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780061031540
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
Maybe you can't be too outrageous when the subject is Florida politics, but Tim Dorsey (Florida Roadkill, Hammerhead Ranch Motel) manages to go so far over the top in this satirical page burner that even diehard fans of Carl Hiaasen, Laurence Shames, and Dave Barry may find their patience wearing thin after the first couple of chapters. When Republican Governor Marlon Conrad is inexplicably called up by the reserve unit he joined for a reelection photo-op and sent to Bosnia, he suffers a midlife crisis that has his campaign staff totally flummoxed. Not that they're playing with a full deck either; Conrad's closest adviser is a crazed serial killer who happens to be an expert in Florida folklore, and the rest of the boys on the bus--the Orange Crush, Marlon's joyride across the Sunshine State--aren't much saner.

While Conrad's the main character, there are enough second-string oddballs to keep this road trip going until the denouement, a bizarre debate between the governor and his opponent, Gomer Tatum, whose idea of intelligent political discourse is a WWF death match. They include Helmut Von Zeppelin, a multimillionaire who owns most of the politicians in Florida; Jackie Monroeville, a trailer queen determined to get her man into the governor's mansion; and Gottfried Escrow, Marlon's chief of staff. There's plenty of mayhem but not much mystery in this comic novel that proves there can be too much of a good thing. While Dorsey keeps the belly laughs coming, he doesn't stop long enough for the reader to give much of a hoot about any of his characters, much less root for the good guys to win. --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly
Florida politics get roundly skewered in Tim Dorsey's (Hammerhead Ranch Hotel) Orange Crush, a relentless farce about the battle for the Sunshine State's governorship between Republican incumbent Marlon Conrad and Democratic underdog Gomer Tatum. Conrad, completely beholden to special-interest groups, seems like a shoo-in, but an epiphany for Conrad when his reserve unit is posted to the Balkans changes everything. Would-be assassins, spin doctors, scandalmongers, bloodthirsty journalists, lobbyists and at least one serial killer (Dorsey regular Serge E. Storms) are along for the wild ride. Thoroughly cynical and over-the-top from the prologue to the "note on the type," it will produce laughs under many a beach umbrella.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Dorsey (Florida Roadkill) does it again with his latest screwball novel. Republican Lt. Gov. Marlon Conrad is a shoo-in for the next Florida gubernatorial race, thanks to a fortunate twist of fate, a wealthy father, and well-connected friends. He thus considers it an advantage when his army reserve unit is called up for a peacekeeping detail in Serbia, where a traumatic experience changes his entire outlook on life. When the campaign begins to heat up, he ditches security and hits the road in a secondhand Winnebago, garishly painted with the Orange Crush logo. Dorsey's oddball crew of characters includes the serial killer Serge A. Storms, of Florida Roadkill fame, and Conrad's political opponent, Gomer "Boo-Book" Tatum. The result is manmade pandemonium, with Conrad outwitting the security guards, playing to the masses, dodging assassination attempts, and leaving a trail of dead bodies in his wake. Dorsey takes this opportunity to laugh heartily at his home state's electoral policies and recent political foul-ups. For most libraries. Thomas L. Kilpatrick, Southern Illinois Univ. Lib., Carbondale
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Dave Barry meets Quentin Tarantino meets hyper-activity
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!

Dorsey Getting Better and Better
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.

Orange Crush
In his latest book, Tim Dorsey takes his cast of assorted Florida lowlifes and psychotics on a political road trip. The gubernatorial campaign is the backdrop for murder, mayhem and assorted amusing mishaps. A mean spirited and shallow candidate experiences a major paradigm shift after his reserve unit is activated causing him to end up in the middle of a bloody mess in the Balkans. Upon his return he takes to the back roads in an orange RV with a mysterious amnesiac/savant speechwriter and a minority-phobic press secretary in an attempt to find out what the regular people really want. While the press obsesses on the most average person in Florida, a serial killer is writing tourism slogans on his victims and a sociopathic developer is bringing NFL football to new lows. Fast and funny with well crafted characters this dark yet lighthearted comedy is a rapid and rewarding read. Although this is somewhat new territory, fans of Dorsey's earlier work will not be disappointed to find that a familiar character lurks in the foreground. This book is a thoroughly enjoyable view of the underbelly of Florida and the cesspool of politics.
Highly recommended.