History Literature / AtlantaNights

* CoolGuns: An unnamed old man owns a Desert Eagle .44 magnum.

* HeroesWantRedheads: Penelope Urbain and Yvonne Perrin are both red-haired women, although only Penelope hooks up with Bruce, who is probably the closest thing to a hero in the story. Also, Henry had a red-haired mistress.

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: Apparently, penguins are vicious, burrowing predators that live in the Sahara and howl at the moon between hunting sand sharks.

** Rory Edwards, with no explanation. At first, the reader might think that this is just the AnachronicOrder at work, but that would create plot holes of its own. Just to make things even more ridiculous, he dies ''again'' in his final appearance. Whether he actually survived the first attack or this is just another of the novel's deliberate goof-ups is unclear.

* HypocriticalHumor: One character notes that in bad novels set in Atlanta, everything is named after a peach tree. This book is as guilty of that as you can get. To be fair, this isn't that far from the truth.[[note]]Atlanta has [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peachtree_Street at least seventeen streets]] named with variations on Peachtree. The reason for so many streets named "Peachtree" is actually regarded by locals now as somewhat embarrassing: during the UsefulNotes/CivilRightsMovement, a local ordinance was passed that no black families were allowed to reside on Peachtree street, so if a neighborhood wanted to be for whites only it would name its main road Peachtree Street.[[/note]]

* LastMinuteHookup:
** Andrew and Margaret run away to Memphis together in one of the later chapters.
** Bruce and Irene have sex in an office bathroom midway into the book, but it doesn't read as anything other than sex, since . However, in the second-to-last chapter, we learn that she is pregnant (apparently with twins) and they are now a couple. The fact that he is

* ChocolateBaby: In one chapter, it's stated that Bruce's parents were White, but he's Black. The real reason why he's Black and they're White, in addition to what Bruce believed before, is done as absolutely ridiculously as one could possibly give while still obeying the laws of physics and genetics. [[spoiler: his parents are white because he is adopted, and to prevent him from figuring out, they wore kent clothe suits and perms. They also told him that they were light-skinned. His real father was white, and a segregationist senator while his mother was a black maid, who now owns a very large Black hair products company, and because of the weird wording it may be that his father was himself the product of a segregationist senator and his Black maid. Whether that Black maid also opened a haircare company remains to be seen.]]

* NoodleIncident: In Chapter 20, Yvonne briefly is reminded of "the day she boiled the eggs". No further details are given.

* TakeThat: ...as a subtle potshot against [=PublishAmerica=], accusing it of VanityPublishing.

* {{Uninstallment}}: For StylisticSuck, there are two Chapter 12s, and no Chapter 21.
* UnusualChapterNumbers: There are two Chapter 12s, and no Chapter 21.

* WordSaladLyrics: Chapter 34 was generated entirely by computer, namely the [[http://www.critters.org/bonsai/ Bonsai Story Generator]], which was used on the contents of the other (wetware-spawned) chapters.

Thus, led by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_D._Macdonald James D. Macdonald]], a group of scifi and fantasy authors decided to retaliate (as well as test [=PublishAmerica's=] claims) by producing the most unreadable, incomprehensible trainwreck of a non-scifi-fantasy book they could conceive, all under the collective name of "[[PunnyName Travis Tea]]".[[note]]When submitting the book to [=PublishAmerica=], it was done under the real name of somebody who has remained anonymous. "Travis Tea" became the author when the book was later self-published.[[/note]] They would create it, submit it, and see how [=PublishAmerica=] would react. ''Atlanta Nights'' is that book, and guess what? Come December 7, 2004, [=PublishAmerica=] ''did'' take the bait. At least until the authors revealed the hoax on January 23, 2005, after which PA ''very'' quickly retracted their offer after "further review" the next day.

Thus, led by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_D._Macdonald James D. Macdonald]], a group of sci-fi and fantasy authors decided to retaliate (as well as test [=PublishAmerica's=] claims) by producing the most unreadable, incomprehensible trainwreck of a non-sci-fi-fantasy book they could conceive, all under the collective name of "[[PunnyName Travis Tea]]".[[note]]When submitting the book to [=PublishAmerica=], it was done under the real name of somebody who has remained anonymous. "Travis Tea" became the author when the book was later self-published.[[/note]] They would create it, submit it, and see how [=PublishAmerica=] would react. ''Atlanta Nights'' is that book, and guess what? Come December 7, 2004, [=PublishAmerica=] ''did'' take the bait. At least until the authors revealed the hoax on January 23, 2005, after which PA ''very'' quickly retracted their offer after "further review" the next day.

Thus, led by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_D._Macdonald James D. Macdonald]], a group of sci-fi and fantasy authors decided to retaliate (as well as test [=PublishAmerica's=] claims) by producing the most unreadable, incomprehensible trainwreck of a book they could conceive, all under the collective name of "[[PunnyName Travis Tea]]".[[note]]When submitting the book to [=PublishAmerica=], it was done under the real name of somebody who has remained anonymous. "Travis Tea" became the author when the book was later self-published.[[/note]] They would create it, submit it, and see how [=PublishAmerica=] would react. ''Atlanta Nights'' is that book, and guess what? Come December 7, 2004, [=PublishAmerica=] ''did'' take the bait. At least until the authors revealed the hoax on January 23, 2005, after which PA ''very'' quickly retracted their offer after "further review" the next day.

** Irene, too, though she prefers ''[[EverythingsBetterWithPenguins penguin]]'' leather.

* BuxomIsBetter: Irene Stevens, Callie Archer, and Margaret Eastman are all very well-endowed. Funnily enough, it's the chapters written by female writers that tend to play this up more.

* {{Gainaxing}}: Margaret Eastman's GagBoobs do this is every chapter she appears in.

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: Apparently, penguins are vicious, burrowing predators that live in the Sahara and howl at the moon.

As for the book itself, well, it's a [[RandomEventsPlot plotless, rambling pile of nonsense]], riddled with inconsistencies and typos. It focuses on a group of wealthy, good-looking UsefulNotes/{{Atlanta}} socialites who sleep around with each other. Buried underneath it all is a vague storyline: software developer Bruce Lucent accidentally kills businessman Henry Archer in a car collision, and promptly tries to make up for it by courting Callie, Henry's widow, while Detective Andrew Venice attempts to determine whether there's foul play. Beyond that, however, virtually nothing about the plot can be determined that is consistent from one chapter to the next, due to the ''absolutely staggering'' number of internal inconsistencies in the plot.

* AsYouKnow: Between the doctor and the nurse on the first page.

** Rory Edwards, with no explanation. At first, the reader might think that this is just the AnachronicOrder at work, but then, there is absolutely no way that this chapter is set before the one where he died. Just to make things even more ridiculous, he dies ''again'' in his final appearance. Whether he actually survived the first attack or this is just another of the novel's deliberate goof-ups is unclear.

* BeigeProse:

* BuxomIsBetter: Irene Stevens, Callie, and Margaret Eastman are very well-endowed.

* ChocolateBaby: In one chapter, it's stated that Bruce's parents were White, but he's Black. The real reason why he's Black and they're White, in addition to what Bruce believed before, is done as absolutely ridiculously as one could possibly give while still obeying the laws of physics and genetics. [[spoiler: his parents are white because he is adopted, and to prevent him from figuring out, they wore kent clothe suits and perms. They also told him that they were light-skinned. His real father was white, and a segregationist senator while his mother was a black maid, who now owns a very large Black hair products company, and because of the weird wording it may be that his father was himself the product of a segregationist senator and his Black maid. Whether that Black maid opened a haircare company remains to be seen.]]
* ComfortingTheWidow: Bruce's romance with Callie, after her husband was killed in a car crash.

** Bruce steps on an old woman's foot at another restaurant and she yells at him, so he threatens to have her arrested and the waiters give her a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown.

* GenderBender: Isadore Trent is a woman in one chapter, but a man everywhere else. Presumably, his original character sketch didn't specify and one of the writers was unaware that 'Isadore' is normally a male name. This gets what may be a LampshadeHanging later when he is described as "gender-confused".

* ImaginaryFriend: Either that, or it's Henry's ghost.

** Callie is usually a brunette, but inexplicably becomes a blonde in chapter 27.

* TheLawOfConservationOfDetail: Completely averted. The narrative stops dead at several points to inform the reader of irrelevant details like which president founded EMS, the kind of stone used in Bruce Lucent's shower, the color of Yvonne's pupils, and the inner thoughts of a cat and an apartment doorman.

* MeaningfulName: The one named character not featured in the SignificantMonogram below is a waiter called Frederick... the city where [=PublishAmerica=] is located.

* MakingLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces: Yvonne and Isaac get it on under the table at a wedding reception.

* NaughtyNurseOutfit: Implied with Margaret Eastman. It's clear that her nurse's uniform is ''very'' flattering on her, from the reactions of the other characters

* PoliceAreUseless: Venice gets dick-all done.

--->"He took me to UsefulNotes/{{Rome}} where we stood in the light of the Eiffel Tower."[[note]]which is in UsefulNotes/{{Paris}}, nearly ''seven hundred miles'' from Rome. Across a mountain range. And at least one national border. More, if you go through UsefulNotes/{{Switzerland}}.[[/note]].

** Rory Edwards, with no explanation. At first, the reader might think that this is just the AnachronicOrder at work, but then, there is absolutely no way that this chapter is set before the one where he died. Just to make things even more ridiculous, he dies ''again'' in his final appearance. Whether he actually survived the first attack or is just another of the novel's deliberate goof-ups is unclear.

Thus, led by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_D._Macdonald James D. Macdonald]], a group of sci-fi and fantasy authors decided to retaliate (as well as test [=PublishAmerica's=] claims) by producing the most unreadable, incomprehensible trainwreck of a book they could conceive, all under the collective name of "[[PunnyName Travis Tea]]". They would create it, submit it, and see how [=PublishAmerica=] would react. ''Atlanta Nights'' is that book, and guess what? Come December 7, 2004, [=PublishAmerica=] ''did'' take the bait. At least until the authors revealed the hoax on January 23, 2005, after which PA ''very'' quickly retracted their offer after "further review" the next day.

* ChocolateBaby: In one chapter, it's stated than Bruce's parents were White, but he's Black.

--->"They had wild sex."

* HomoeroticSubtext
** Callie and Yvonne enjoy some very sexy FoodPorn in Chapter 26

* PosthumousCharacter: Henry Archer died in a car crash. This is one of the few things that is consistent across the entire book. Whether it was the same car crash in which Bruce was injured is extremely inconsistent