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Serge A. Storms
Serge A. Storms is the main protagonist in most of Tim Dorsey's novels (and appears in all of them to date). His name is a pun on storm surge. Most often described as "intense" in personality, he is a vagrant with a voracious intellect and an encyclopedic knowledge of Florida history, but prone to periods of "focus" that lead him to commit brutal - and often elaborately planned and staged - acts of violence. Description In most of Dorsey's books, Serge is in his mid-forties. He is described as tall and thin, but muscular, with dark hair, shot through with gray. Serge has been diagnosed with a variety of mental illnesses, and has been prescribed a "cocktail" of drugs to keep him stable. These are effective, but he often refuses to take them, since he dislikes their effects. Free from the drugs' influence, he quickly becomes manic and obsessive about trivial things; he frequently acts as an extremely eccentric tour guide for whoever happens to be handy. Despite his psychologic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Florida Roadkill
''Florida Roadkill'' is a black comedy crime novel by Tim Dorsey, the first in his series centered around the character Serge A. Storms. It was published in 1999 by William Morrow and Company, an imprint of HarperCollins. Plot summary ''Roadkill'' is set in 1997, against the backdrop of that year's World Series in which the Florida Marlins won a stunning upset in Miami, Florida. The book begins ''in media res'', with the discovery of three corpses in South Florida, whose murders are eventually described as the book reveals the events preceding them, starting 11 months before the World Series. Synopsis Intelligent but sociopathic criminal Serge Storms meets up with heartless stripper Sharon Rhodes and brainless drug addict Seymore "Coleman" Bunsen, who become his travelling companions and partners in crime. After one of Sharon's customers, an oversexed orthodontist named George Veale, brags that his hands are insured for $5 million, Serge hatches a plan to defraud the insu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vagrant
Vagrancy is the condition of homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also known as bums, vagabonds, rogues, tramps or drifters) usually live in poverty and support themselves by begging, scavenging, petty theft, temporary work, or social security (where available). Historically, vagrancy in Western societies was associated with petty crime, begging and lawlessness, and punishable by law with forced labor, military service, imprisonment, or confinement to dedicated labor houses. Both ''vagrant'' and ''vagabond'' ultimately derive from the Latin word '' vagari'', meaning "to wander". The term ''vagabond'' is derived from Latin ''vagabundus''. In Middle English, ''vagabond'' originally denoted a person without a home or employment. Historical views Vagrants have been historically characterised as outsiders in settled, ordered communities: embodiments of otherness, objects of scorn or mistrust, or worthy recipients of help and charity. Some ancient sources ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
History Of Florida
The history of Florida can be traced to when the first Native Americans began to inhabit the peninsula as early as 14,000 years ago. They left behind artifacts and archeological evidence. Florida's written history Recorded history or written history describes the historical events that have been recorded in a written form or other documented communication which are subsequently evaluated by historians using the historical method. For broader world his ... begins with the arrival of Europeans; the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León in 1513 made the first textual records. The state received its name from that ''conquistador'', who called the peninsula ''La Pascua Florida'' in recognition of the verdant landscape and because it was the Easter season, which the Spaniards called ''Pascua Florida'' (Festival of Flowers). This area was the first mainland realm of the United States to be settled by Ethnic groups in Europe, Europeans. Thus, 1513 marked the beginning of the Americ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Bronson
Charles Bronson (born Charles Dennis Buchinsky; November 3, 1921 – August 30, 2003) was an American actor. Known for his "granite features and brawny physique," he gained international fame for his starring roles in action, Western, and war films; initially as a supporting player and later a leading man. A quintessential cinematic "tough-guy", Bronson was cast in various roles where the plot line hinged on the authenticity of the character's toughness and brawn. At the height of his fame in the early 1970s, he was the world's No. 1 box office attraction, commanding $1 million per film. Born to a Lithuanian-American coal mining family in rural Pennsylvania, Bronson served in the United States Army Air Forces as a bomber tail gunner during World War II. He worked several odd jobs before entering the film industry in the early 1950s, playing bit and supporting roles as henchmen, thugs, and other "heavies". After playing a villain in the Western film ''Drum Beat'', he was cast in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Death Wish (1974 Film)
''Death Wish'' is a 1974 American neo-noir vigilante action thriller film loosely based on the 1972 novel of the same title by Brian Garfield. Directed by Michael Winner, the film stars Charles Bronson as Paul Kersey, an architect who becomes a vigilante after his wife and daughter are attacked during a home invasion with his wife dying from her wounds. This was the first film in the ''Death Wish'' film series; it was followed eight years later with ''Death Wish II'' and other similar films. At the time of release, the film was criticized for its apparent support of vigilantism and advocating unlimited punishment of criminals. Allegedly, the novel denounced vigilantism, whereas the film embraced the notion. The film was a commercial success and resonated with the public in the United States, which was experiencing increasing crime rates during the 1970s. Plot Paul Kersey is a successful, middle-aged architect and family man who lives happily in Manhattan with his wife, Joann ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Homicide
Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no intent to cause harm. Homicides can be divided into many overlapping legal categories, such as murder, manslaughter, justifiable homicide, assassination, killing in war (either following the laws of war or as a war crime), euthanasia, and capital punishment, depending on the circumstances of the death. These different types of homicides are often treated very differently in human societies; some are considered crimes, while others are permitted or even ordered by the legal system. Criminality Criminal homicide takes many forms including accidental killing or murder. Criminal homicide is divided into two broad categories, murder and manslaughter, based upon the state of mind and intent of the person who commits the homicide. A report ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Justice
Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspectives, including the concepts of moral correctness based on ethics, rationality, law, religion, equity and fairness. The state will sometimes endeavor to increase justice by operating courts and enforcing their rulings. Early theories of justice were set out by the Ancient Greek philosophers Plato in his work The Republic, and Aristotle in his Nicomachean Ethics. Advocates of divine command theory have said that justice issues from God. In the 1600s, philosophers such as John Locke said that justice derives from natural law. Social contract theory said that justice is derived from the mutual agreement of everyone. In the 1800s, utilitarian philosophers such as John Stuart Mill said that justice is based on the best outcomes for the gre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yossarian
:''Also covered in this article are the characters Snowden and Yossarian's tentmates.'' Capt. John Yossarian is a fictional character, the protagonist of Joseph Heller's satirical 1961 novel ''Catch-22'' and its 1994 sequel '' Closing Time''. In ''Catch-22'', Yossarian is a 28-year-old captain in the 256th Squadron of the Army Air Forces where he serves as a B-25 bombardier stationed on the small island of Pianosa off the Italian mainland during World War II. Yossarian's exploits have previously been thought to be based on the experiences of the author. Heller was also a bombardier in the Army Air Corps, stationed on an island off the coast of Italy during the war. Heller later documented in his autobiography "Now & Then" the elements of Yossarian which came from his experiences (specifically the episodes where Yossarian attends to Snowden during the Avignon mission). Heller noted that he derived the name Yossarian from a wartime friend and fellow bombardier, Francis Yohanna ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph Heller
Joseph Heller (May 1, 1923 – December 12, 1999) was an American author of novels, short stories, plays, and screenplays. His best-known work is the 1961 novel ''Catch-22'', a satire on war and bureaucracy, whose title has become a synonym for an absurd or contradictory choice. Early years Heller was born on May 1, 1923 in Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York,. the son of poor Jewish parents, Lena and Isaac Donald Heller, from Russia. Even as a child, he loved to write; as a teenager, he wrote a story about the Russian invasion of Finland and sent it to the New York '' Daily News'', which rejected it. After graduating from Abraham Lincoln High School in 1941, Heller spent the next year working as a blacksmith's apprentice, a messenger boy, and a filing clerk. In 1942, at age 19, he joined the U.S. Army Air Corps. Two years later he was sent to the Italian Front, where he flew 60 combat missions as a B-25 bombardier. His unit was the 488th Bombardment Squadron, 340th Bomb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liberalism
Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for conservatism and for tradition in general, tolerance, and ... individualism". John Dunn. ''Western Political Theory in the Face of the Future'' (1993). Cambridge University Press. . Liberals espouse various views depending on their understanding of these principles. However, they generally support private property, market economies, individual rights (including civil rights and human rights), liberal democracy, secularism, rule of law, economic and political freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and freedom of religion. Liberalism is frequently cited as the dominant ideology of modern times.Wolfe, p. 23.Adams, p. 11. Liberalism became a distinct movement in the Age of Enlightenment, gaining popularity ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tour Guide
A tour guide (U.S.) or a tourist guide (European) is a person who provides assistance, information on cultural, historical and contemporary heritage to people on organized sightseeing and individual clients at educational establishments, religious and historical sites such as; museums, and at various venues of tourist attraction resorts. Tour guides also take clients on outdoor guided trips. These trips include hiking, whitewater rafting, mountaineering, alpine climbing, rock climbing, ski and snowboarding in the backcountry, fishing, and biking. History In 18th-century Japan, a traveler could pay for a tour guide or consult guide books such as Kaibara Ekken's ''Keijō Shōran'' (The Excellent Views of Kyoto). Description In Europe The CEN (European Committee for Standardization) definition for "tourist guide" – part of the work by CEN on definitions for terminology within the tourism industry – is a "person who guides visitors in the language of their choice a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
