Tim Dorsey
Encyclopedia
Tim Dorsey is an American novelist. His writing style is frequently compared to those of Dave Barry
and Carl Hiaasen
(who both had cameo
appearances in his first book, Florida Roadkill
). Dorsey's books are crime capers in the Florida style pioneered by John D. MacDonald
.
but moved to Florida
at an early age. He grew up in Riviera Beach
, a small town in Palm Beach County just north of West Palm Beach
. Dorsey graduated from Bishop Guertin High School, located in Nashua N.H, in 1979.
He attended Auburn University
, where he became the editor of The Auburn Plainsman
, the student newspaper
. Dorsey graduated in 1983 with a Bachelor's degree
in Transportation. After graduation, he moved to Montgomery, Alabama
, and served as a police reporter for a local newspaper. In 1987, Dorsey relocated to Tampa, Florida
, and became a reporter for The Tampa Tribune
. Until he resigned from the paper in 1999 to write full-time, he worked variously as political reporter, correspondent in the Tribune' s Tallahassee
bureau, copy desk editor, and, finally, night metro editor and news coordinator.
Currently, Dorsey lives in Tampa with his wife and two daughters. He is a Boston Red Sox
fan due to his mother and the nun
s and brothers from Bishop Guertin High School
he attended as a child being from New Hampshire
.
es that render him obsessive
, psychopathic
, schizophrenic
, and frequently homicidal
, but Storms serves as the anti-hero
in Dorsey's works due to his strong sense of moral absolutism
and justice. Serge is quite intelligent, and frequently devises wildly inventive ways of condemning villains (or at least who he perceives as such) to death. His co-pilot in his adventures is an individual known as Coleman who is the exact opposite of Serge. Whereas Serge is high-strung and straight-edge, Coleman is a drug user who goes to extreme lengths to maintain his buzz.
Dave Barry
David "Dave" Barry is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author and columnist, who wrote a nationally syndicated humor column for The Miami Herald from 1983 to 2005. He has also written numerous books of humor and parody, as well as comedic novels.-Biography:Barry was born in Armonk, New York,...
and Carl Hiaasen
Carl Hiaasen
Carl Hiaasen is an American journalist, columnist and novelist.- Early years :Born in 1953 and raised in Plantation, Florida, of Norwegian heritage, Hiaasen was the first of four children and the son of a lawyer, Kermit Odel, and teacher, Patricia...
(who both had cameo
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
appearances in his first book, Florida Roadkill
Florida Roadkill
Florida Roadkill is the first book in the unnamed series of books by Tim Dorsey which were centered on his character Serge Storms. It was published in 1999 by William Morrow and Company, an imprint of HarperCollins....
). Dorsey's books are crime capers in the Florida style pioneered by John D. MacDonald
John D. MacDonald
John Dann MacDonald was an American crime and suspense novelist and short story writer.MacDonald was a prolific author of crime and suspense novels, many of them set in his adopted home of Florida...
.
Biography
Dorsey was born in IndianaIndiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
but moved to Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
at an early age. He grew up in Riviera Beach
Riviera Beach, Florida
Riviera Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, U.S.A. which was incorporated September 29, 1922. Because of where its eastern boundary lies, it is also the easternmost municipality in the South Florida metropolitan area. The population was 29,884 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the...
, a small town in Palm Beach County just north of West Palm Beach
West Palm Beach, Florida
West Palm Beach, is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and is the most populous city in and county seat of Palm Beach County, the third most populous county in Florida with a 2010 population of 1,320,134. The city is also the oldest incorporated municipality in South Florida...
. Dorsey graduated from Bishop Guertin High School, located in Nashua N.H, in 1979.
He attended Auburn University
Auburn University
Auburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts...
, where he became the editor of The Auburn Plainsman
The Auburn Plainsman
The Auburn Plainsman is the student-run newspaper for Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. It has notably received awards for excellence from the Associated Collegiate Press and is the second-most decorated student publication in the history of the National Pacemaker competition.It is published...
, the student newspaper
Student newspaper
A student newspaper is a newspaper run by students of a university, high school, middle school, or other school. These papers traditionally cover local and, primarily, school or university news....
. Dorsey graduated in 1983 with a Bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in Transportation. After graduation, he moved to Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
, and served as a police reporter for a local newspaper. In 1987, Dorsey relocated to Tampa, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
, and became a reporter for The Tampa Tribune
The Tampa Tribune
The Tampa Tribune, published in Tampa, Florida, is one of two major newspapers published in the Tampa Bay area, second in circulation and readership to the St. Petersburg Times. The paper's tagline is "Life...
. Until he resigned from the paper in 1999 to write full-time, he worked variously as political reporter, correspondent in the Tribune
Tallahassee, Florida
Tallahassee is the capital of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, and is the 128th largest city in the United States. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2010, the population recorded by...
bureau, copy desk editor, and, finally, night metro editor and news coordinator.
Currently, Dorsey lives in Tampa with his wife and two daughters. He is a Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
fan due to his mother and the nun
Nun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
s and brothers from Bishop Guertin High School
Bishop Guertin High School
Bishop Guertin is a college preparatory private Roman Catholic high school in Nashua, New Hampshire. It was founded by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart in 1963. The school is located off Exit 4 of the F. E...
he attended as a child being from New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
.
Serge Storms
All of Dorsey's novels feature Serge Storms as the primary character. The character has several coexisting mental illnessMental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
es that render him obsessive
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Obsessive–compulsive disorder is an anxiety disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts that produce uneasiness, apprehension, fear, or worry, by repetitive behaviors aimed at reducing the associated anxiety, or by a combination of such obsessions and compulsions...
, psychopathic
Antisocial personality disorder
Antisocial personality disorder is described by the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, fourth edition , as an Axis II personality disorder characterized by "...a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood...
, schizophrenic
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
, and frequently homicidal
Homicide
Homicide refers to the act of a human killing another human. Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...
, but Storms serves as the anti-hero
Anti-hero
In fiction, an antihero is generally considered to be a protagonist whose character is at least in some regards conspicuously contrary to that of the archetypal hero, and is in some instances its antithesis in which the character is generally useless at being a hero or heroine when they're...
in Dorsey's works due to his strong sense of moral absolutism
Moral absolutism
Moral absolutism is an ethical view that certain actions are absolutely right or wrong, regardless of other contexts such as their consequences or the intentions behind them. Thus stealing, for instance, might be considered to be always immoral, even if done to promote some other good , and even if...
and justice. Serge is quite intelligent, and frequently devises wildly inventive ways of condemning villains (or at least who he perceives as such) to death. His co-pilot in his adventures is an individual known as Coleman who is the exact opposite of Serge. Whereas Serge is high-strung and straight-edge, Coleman is a drug user who goes to extreme lengths to maintain his buzz.
External links
Novels by Tim Dorsey
- Florida RoadkillFlorida RoadkillFlorida Roadkill is the first book in the unnamed series of books by Tim Dorsey which were centered on his character Serge Storms. It was published in 1999 by William Morrow and Company, an imprint of HarperCollins....
(1999), ISBN 978-0061139222 - Hammerhead Ranch MotelHammerhead Ranch MotelHammerhead Ranch Motel is a novel by Tim Dorsey published in 2000. It continues the story, started in Florida Roadkill, of blithe psychopath Serge A. Storms and his pursuit of five million dollars in cash hidden in the trunk of a car...
(2000), ISBN 978-0380732340 - Orange CrushOrange Crush (novel)Orange Crush is Tim Dorsey's third novel, and the first not to star Serge A. Storms as the main character. It is a frequently dark spoof of the politics of Florida and the United States' involvement in the Balkans.-Plot summary:...
(2001), ISBN 978-0061031540 - Triggerfish TwistTriggerfish TwistTriggerfish Twist is the fourth book in Tim Dorsey's as-yet unnamed series of books which were centered on Serge A. Storms. It was published in 2002. The book takes place in the summer of 1997, somewhere in the midst of the events of Florida Roadkill...
(2002), ISBN 978-0061031557 - The Stingray ShuffleThe Stingray ShuffleThe Stingray Shuffle is Tim Dorsey's fifth novel, published in 2003.-Plot summary:Sales of The Stingray Shuffle, a good novel by good novelist Ralph Krunkleton, have soared recently. The book's publishers, not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, mount a publicity blitz culminating in a train...
(2003), ISBN 978-0060556938 - Cadillac BeachCadillac Beach-Plot summary:The year is 1996. At long last, Serge A. Storms has been captured. He is committed to the psychiatric hospital at Chattahoochee, where he patiently tries to explain his views. Serge grows tired of this diversion, however, and escapes once more...
(2004), ISBN 978-0060556945 - Torpedo JuiceTorpedo Juice (novel)Torpedo Juice is Tim Dorsey's seventh novel, published in 2005. As with Dorsey's previous works, the main character is amateur Florida historian and serial killer Serge A. Storms.-Plot summary:...
(2005), ISBN 978-0060585617 - The Big BambooThe Big BambooThe Big Bamboo is the eighth novel by Tim Dorsey featuring the sociopathic anti-hero Serge A. Storms. It was published in the USA in March 2006 and May 2006 in the UK. The plotline follows Serge A. Storms as he follows his recent obsession of Hollywood and movies, in particular the movie The...
(2006), ISBN 978-0060585631 - Hurricane PunchHurricane PunchHurricane Punch is a novel by Tim Dorsey published in 2007. It follows overly zealous serial killer Serge A. Storms, who is tracking hurricanes all over Florida.-Plot summary:Serge is in therapy, coping with the fact he has turned 44...
(2007), ISBN 978-0060829674 - Atomic LobsterAtomic LobsterAtomic Lobster is the tenth novel by Tim Dorsey. It was released January 27, 2008. It follows overly zealous serial killer Serge A. Storms....
(2008), ISBN 978-0060829698 - Nuclear JellyfishNuclear JellyfishNuclear Jellyfish is the eleventh novel by Tim Dorsey. It was released January 25, 2009. It follows overly zealous serial killer Serge A. Storms....
(2009), ISBN 978-0061432668 - Gator A-Go-Go (2010), ISBN 978-0061432712
- Electric Barracuda (2011), ISBN 978-0061876899