The Big Bamboo

Carl Hiassen can rest easy now that Tim Dorsey has taken up the mantle of nuttiest Florida Novelist-- and I mean that in a good way. If you could ever cram the Marx brothers into a narrative, this would be it. Our hero Serge is at his sanest in this eighth foray into the weird world of a remarkably lovable serial killer (his victims are the kind of people most of us would like to strangle). Or he just seems saner this time because he is visiting Hollywood, where he blends well with the local sharks and wackos. I laughed out loud. Great narration. If you like this one, Audible has double-strength Serge in many more novels with no fall-off in quality.

OMG! This is terrific. Narrator, George Wilson is the BEST! I sometimes listen to my books at work and it's so hard to sit there and not laugh out loud! And.. with so many of Tim Dorsey's books there are lots of thought provoking moments! ;-) I listen to them as soon as they come out! This one is excellent!

Another in a series of great books by on of the best authors out there. Serge and Coleman kept me in stitches as Tim showed us the true nature of the entertainment (movie) industry. This was an awesome book.

I'm a fairly recent convert to the insanely magnificent Serge Storms and his permanently wasted sidekick. This time they turn their sights on Hollywood and all hell breaks out. The Serge books are unusual in that you can pretty much take any chapter in any order and find something funny or fascinating without actually understanding the plot. That's perhaps just as well as in some cases (and this is one of them) the plot is so convoluted (and a bit ragged) that actually figuring out what's going on is a challenge. There are still some parts of the plot that I didn't quite follow it's not Shakespeare; I don't really have an excuse, but I have no idea how one of the key characters landed a part as a real Hollywood star in a large movie apparently just to facilitate the twist in the tail. In the end it doesn't really matter, this is a wonderfully acidic take on movies and, as always, more tightly packed with fun and facts than a Peter Jackson premier with an open bar.

Hilarious! The ransom note and phone call alone would justify the buy. Great narration by George Wilson.

Serge Storms, Tim Dorsey's off-the-spectrum Florida psychopath, takes on Hollywood in the eighth entry in his series, with sidekick Coleman still at his side contributing strung-out non sequiturs. If you're a fan of Serge and Dorsey, this may not be his best, but it is still good fun, especially in audio format with George Wilson doing justice as usual to Serge's rants.

The good news with Serge going to Hollywood is the non-stop stream of movie references, much of it familiar to casual moviegoers, some that only hardocre cinephiles will get. He chooses where he wants to be based on movie locations, what he wants to say based on movies quotes, what he wants to do -- including his elaborate murder schemes -- based on what he has seen in movies.

The not so good news is that Serge's rants are fewer and shorter than usual. The best thing about this series is when Serge takes off on rhetorical benders, non-stop torrents of verbal diarrhea that rarely fail to amuse (and even, hidden among the craziness, educate, at least in the sense of learning trivia). Coleman too seems off his game, lending fewer and shorter interjections that are even more irrelevant than usual.

The Hollywood characters Serge skewers are right out of central casting. Probably just what Dorsey wanted in order to satirize them. But nothing new. Would have been nice for them to have deeper back stories and less stereotypical words and deeds. And how it all comes together in the end is rushed, and more contrived than it needs to be.

But I'm just being nitpicky -- this is still a whole lot of fun, and funny, perfect for fans of Serge and Dorsey, probably a good read/listen as well for anyone unfamiliar with them, not going as far over the top as usual. And you certainly don't need to worry about jumping into a long series in the middle -- any connection to previous entries is not requisite for reading this one.

As always I enjoyed another Tim Dorsey book. The stories are interesting. I'm always laughing out loud while listening. My husband and I listen on our snowbird trips to Florida and traveling around Florida so we missed the Florida backdrop a little bit.

His performances greatly enhance the books. His voices are perfect. I love knowing exactly when Serge is talking or rambling, not like it's that hard to tell after a few words though.

I've been plugging away hoping and hoping, as in a bad movie, the story will finally gel and grip me....
I do not understand what is going on and think it may have been decipherable
in print...
Still slogging away, making it a real challenge to follow on daily walks.
Can't wait to finish or maybe just give up and gone on to the next novel!

you got to love Serg and Coleman this series is the best it is very funny the book is very entertaining love it

I almost stopped listening because I kept losing interest. But then I started laughing out loud at the dialogue. After that it was a whirlwind of action, characters, sets and a twisted plot. Loved it! Don't miss out on a great read.