COCONUT COWBOY

Demonstrating that his encyclopedic knowledge of Florida history and his ability to transform obsession into a thing of beauty reach north past Daytona, Serge Storms takes his stoner pal Coleman on a pilgrimage through the Sunshine State’s panhandle.

Completing Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper’s quest for the American dream isn’t for wimps. It takes guts, vision, and a couple of slammin’ high-handlebarred choppers. Serge has plenty of the first, maybe too much of the second…and as for the third, that’s just what Bear Claw, owner of ED’Z DEAD SLEDZ, can provide. Of course Coleman, who can’t quite seem to get the hang of using a kickstand, ends up in the sidecar of Serge’s hog as the two barrel through Chipley and Marianna to Greenville, home of Ray Charles, and ultimately to the banks of the mighty Suwannee. Meantime, Peter and Mary Pugliese have found their version of the American dream courtesy of Maxine, a realtor who sells them a neo-Victorian, complete with second-story porch, in the North Florida town of Wobbly, known for its awesome speed trap and interlocking directorate of brothers, cousins, in-laws, and outlaws serving in every public office imaginable. Mayor Vernon Log invites Peter to join Bo, Jabow, Otis, Clem, Harlan, and Haywood down at Lead Belly’s for ribs, and pretty soon, the two have a working relationship. (After all, a corrupt Florida politician can always use a geologist on his payroll.) Serge and Coleman, joined by Princeton grad student Matt, who finds Serge the ideal research subject, plow eastward, toward a confrontation that’s utterly predictable and totally unforeseeable.

Dorsey’s 19th keeps the body count low but the energy high as he proves again that enough is enough, but too much is plenty.