Coconut Cowboy: A Novel

A geologist stumbles into some corrupt local politics when he moves to Florida, and his only hope might be the state’s resident trivia fiend, entrepreneur, and homicidal defender of traditional values Serge A. Storms. Along the way, Serge channels the spirit of Easy Rider, picks up a college student writing his thesis based on Serge’s ramblings online, and champions the charm of small-town life as only he can.

Clearly there’s no end to the hilarious and random Floridian facts Tim Dorsey can shoehorn into Serge’s adventures, but Coconut Cowboy makes you wonder if the well of hi-jinks is starting to run dry. I mean, it’s a peculiar read because Serge’s story and the main criminal plot line are completely separate for the vast majority of the novel, as if they were each incomplete chunks of separate novels smacked together. Only a coincidence brings the two storylines together.

That being said, the novel is a brutally effective take-down on small-town America BS and xenophobia, as well as another fine example of the hypocrisy and corruption that Dorsey so gleefully puts in Serge’s cross hairs on a regular basis. Coconut Cowboy is by no means a classic, but it is a lot of fun.