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There’s just gotta be something in the air in Florida.
Florida authors just tend to be a little wackier than the rest of ‘em. Dave Barry, Carl Hiaassen…you get
the idea. But I think Tim Dorsey takes the cake when it comes to head-spinning
wackiness.
In Orange Crush, Dorsey tells the story of…well, all
kinds of people. The main character is Marlon Conrad, the governor of Florida (but only
because the actual governor was killed in a plane crash with a bunch of hookers). But
back in the days when he was just the lieutenant governor, to cover up for the fact that
not-too-bright Marlon forgot to register for the draft, his advisors advised him to
volunteer for duty. But Marlon’s unit is shipped out to Bosnia, and he comes back a
totally different person. Much to the dismay of his advisors, he’s thoughtful and caring
— and opinionated. When he begins running for re-election, he buys a Winnebago called
Orange Crush and travels around the state with his chief of staff, his press secretary
(who also happens to be a crazed killer with amnesia), and a few other tagalongs and
starts talking honestly about the issues — and the people of Florida are
intrigued.
Orange Crush is insane. Plain and simple, it’s totally
insane. Dorsey obviously has a serious case of ADHD, and he should probably be treated
for it. I hear Prozac works wonders. At times, Dorsey’s advanced ADHD makes the story
absolutely hilarious — like the scene when Marlon’s opponent, Gomer Tatum, challenges him
to wrestle during the WWF’s Raw is War—but sometimes it’s just plain hard to
follow. The story skips all over the place, and it’s difficult to keep track of all the
characters — but, then again, there are so many random characters that it’s hard to care
about any of them anyway.
If you, too, have a serious case of ADHD, which
will allow you to follow along with someone else’s ADHD-inspired ramblings, by all means,
check out Orange Crush. Because if you can follow it, it’s pretty funny — in an
over-the-top, insane way. But the rest of you should be warned to proceed with caution.
Kristin Dreyer Kramer has been writing in some form or another (usually when she was supposed to be doing something else) since the ripe old age of ten—when she, her cousin, and their two Cabbage Patch Dolls formed the Poo Authors’ Club. After a short career in advertising, Kristin got sick of always saying nice things about stuff that didn’t deserve it—so now she spends her days criticizing things, and she’s much happier for it.
Since creating NightsAndWeekends.com in February of 2002, Kristin has spent her life surrounded by piles and piles of books and movies—so many that her office has become a kind of entertainment obstacle course.
As if her writing and editing responsibilities for N&W.com weren’t enough to keep her out of trouble, Kristin also hosts a number of weekly radio shows: Reel Discovery, Shelf Discovery, and On the Marquee. She’s also a proud member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association (CriticsChoice.com), the Central Ohio Film Critics Association (COFCA.org), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS.org), and the Women Film Critics Circle (WFCC.Wordpress.com).
Kristin lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, Paul, and their daughter, Anna. She welcomes questions, comments, and fan mail at kdk@nightsandweekends.com.
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Kristin Dreyer Kramer has been writing in some form or another (usually when she was supposed to be doing something else) since the ripe old age of ten—when she, her cousin, and their two Cabbage Patch Dolls formed the Poo Authors’ Club. After a short career in advertising, Kristin got sick of always saying nice things about stuff that didn’t deserve it—so now she spends her days criticizing things, and she’s much happier for it.
Since creating NightsAndWeekends.com in February of 2002, Kristin has spent her life surrounded by piles and piles of books and movies—so many that her office has become a kind of entertainment obstacle course.
As if her writing and editing responsibilities for N&W.com weren’t enough to keep her out of trouble, Kristin also hosts a number of weekly radio shows: Reel Discovery, Shelf Discovery, and On the Marquee. She’s also a proud member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association (CriticsChoice.com), the Central Ohio Film Critics Association (COFCA.org), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS.org), and the Women Film Critics Circle (WFCC.Wordpress.com).
Kristin lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, Paul, and their daughter, Anna. She welcomes questions, comments, and fan mail at kdk@nightsandweekends.com.
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