Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 55 (click to see context) from:
* IgnoredExpert: Played for BlackComedy). The endocrinologist hired to study the side effects of a weird brand of combination deodorant/erectile dysfunction remedy (causing unwanted hair growth, a wilder sex drive, skin bulges and other problems) is ignored ''by the lawyer who hired him to make that report''. It takes the lawyer, Brock Richardson, months to even ''read'' the expert brief about the product he is launching a class action suit against and once he does he's too hooked on the sex drive part to stop in spite of the warnings about how much worse it will get.
to:
* IgnoredExpert: Played for BlackComedy).BlackComedy. The endocrinologist hired to study the side effects of a weird brand of combination deodorant/erectile dysfunction remedy (causing unwanted hair growth, a wilder sex drive, skin bulges and other problems) is ignored ''by the lawyer who hired him to make that report''. It takes the lawyer, Brock Richardson, months to even ''read'' the expert brief about the product he is launching a class action suit against and once he does he's too hooked on the sex drive part to stop in spite of the warnings about how much worse it will get.
Changed line(s) 70 (click to see context) from:
* RealityIsUnrealistic: During the development phase of ''Bayou Brethren'', the network tried casting genuine rural pig farmers, but ''"the unsavory auditions [dragged] on for months"'', and eventually the Romberg brothers were cast, because their long, flowing beards and racist banter made them ''look'' enough like Deep South rednecks, while they had just enough education (i.e., they all went to college) to appreciate concepts like punctuality and taking stage direction.
to:
* RealityIsUnrealistic: RealityIsUnrealistic:
** During the development phase of ''Bayou Brethren'', the network tried casting genuine rural pig farmers, but ''"the unsavory auditions [dragged] on for months"'', and eventually the Romberg brothers were cast, because their long, flowing beards and racist banter made them ''look'' enough like Deep South rednecks, while they had just enough education (i.e., they all went to college) to appreciate concepts like punctuality and taking stagedirection.direction.
** The show does its best to make the Nance Brothers' supposed profession - breeding roosters to use their feathers in fly-fishing lures - seem glamorous, but none of the Nance brothers will even approach the rooster farm unless cameras are rolling, ''"because of the stench."'' Matthew/Buck uses his role as the show's star to insist that his handling of actual fowl be kept to an absolute minimum, and that his scenes be shot using CGI whenever possible.
** During the development phase of ''Bayou Brethren'', the network tried casting genuine rural pig farmers, but ''"the unsavory auditions [dragged] on for months"'', and eventually the Romberg brothers were cast, because their long, flowing beards and racist banter made them ''look'' enough like Deep South rednecks, while they had just enough education (i.e., they all went to college) to appreciate concepts like punctuality and taking stage
** The show does its best to make the Nance Brothers' supposed profession - breeding roosters to use their feathers in fly-fishing lures - seem glamorous, but none of the Nance brothers will even approach the rooster farm unless cameras are rolling, ''"because of the stench."'' Matthew/Buck uses his role as the show's star to insist that his handling of actual fowl be kept to an absolute minimum, and that his scenes be shot using CGI whenever possible.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 102 (click to see context) from:
* WeAreEverywhere: To the producers of ''Bayou Brethren'', the show's fanbase can be divided into ''"two distinct segments: those who were cynically amused by the boorish culture of the Nance clan, and those who identified with it"'' - i.e., between educated sophisticates who wink and laugh at the actors' DeepSouth antics, and rural hillbillies who see themselves in those antics. But even Coolman and Amp are unsettled by the fact that Buck seems to have his admirers ''everywhere''. During a joyride aboard the network's private jet over the Keys, Blister proudly shows off his "HAIL CAPTAIN COCK" tattoo, and the ''"prim-looking flight attendant"'' bursts out, ''oh, yeah, baby!"''
to:
* WeAreEverywhere: To the producers of ''Bayou Brethren'', the show's fanbase can be divided into ''"two distinct segments: those who were cynically amused by the boorish culture of the Nance clan, and those who identified with it"'' - i.e., between educated sophisticates who wink and laugh at the actors' DeepSouth antics, and rural hillbillies who see themselves in those antics. But even Coolman and Amp are unsettled by the fact that Buck seems to have his admirers ''everywhere''. During a joyride aboard the network's private jet over the Keys, Blister proudly shows off his "HAIL CAPTAIN COCK" tattoo, and the ''"prim-looking flight attendant"'' bursts out, ''oh, ''"oh, yeah, baby!"''
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* PanderingToTheBase: InUniverse. Matthew Romberg and his brothers Bradley, Henry, and Todd, needed a "makeover" to become the rural Deep South "Nance Brothers", which included having their teeth artificially darkened by a Malibu orthodontist, speech lessons from a Cajun dialect coach, and learning a series of ''"rural skills, as prioritized by the show's Manhattan-born set designer"'', including chewing tobacco, shooting guns and riding motorcycles. The result is less an authentic representation of rural life in the Deep South as a caricature of same, mocked up to pander to the national stereotype of redneck hillbillies. Deconstructed by Hiaasen in an interview about the book:
-->''Being a white guy from the South, I find it amazing that so many TV viewers are enchanted by beards, bad dentistry and moonshine accents. Also there’s this false notion that this is a regional phenomenon, when in fact every state in the union has hardcore rednecks. No exceptions.''
-->''Being a white guy from the South, I find it amazing that so many TV viewers are enchanted by beards, bad dentistry and moonshine accents. Also there’s this false notion that this is a regional phenomenon, when in fact every state in the union has hardcore rednecks. No exceptions.''
Added DiffLines:
* RealityIsUnrealistic: During the development phase of ''Bayou Brethren'', the network tried casting genuine rural pig farmers, but ''"the unsavory auditions [dragged] on for months"'', and eventually the Romberg brothers were cast, because their long, flowing beards and racist banter made them ''look'' enough like Deep South rednecks, while they had just enough education (i.e., they all went to college) to appreciate concepts like punctuality and taking stage direction.
Added DiffLines:
* WeAreEverywhere: To the producers of ''Bayou Brethren'', the show's fanbase can be divided into ''"two distinct segments: those who were cynically amused by the boorish culture of the Nance clan, and those who identified with it"'' - i.e., between educated sophisticates who wink and laugh at the actors' DeepSouth antics, and rural hillbillies who see themselves in those antics. But even Coolman and Amp are unsettled by the fact that Buck seems to have his admirers ''everywhere''. During a joyride aboard the network's private jet over the Keys, Blister proudly shows off his "HAIL CAPTAIN COCK" tattoo, and the ''"prim-looking flight attendant"'' bursts out, ''oh, yeah, baby!"''
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
added image
Added DiffLines:
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/razorgirl.jpg]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 22 (click to see context) from:
-->''An unhurried, unexamined existence looked pretty sweet to Buck. A life free of soggy collard greens, rooster shit, and all those fucking TV cameras in his face."''
to:
-->''An unhurried, unexamined existence looked pretty sweet to Buck. A life free of soggy collard greens, rooster shit, and all those fucking TV cameras in his face."''''
Changed line(s) 48,49 (click to see context) from:
* HorribleHollywood: Lane Coolman and his boss, Jon "Amp" Ampergrodt regard their star clients, the Romburg/Nance brothers as HumanResources that make them all rich, and their RealityShow as a ratings vehicle that benefits from the growing jealousy and resentment between its stars. After Buck Nance disappears in Key West, the network immediately implements plans to film the next episode without him, and Amp has the idea of introducing Buck's formerly-secret mistress as a "character" on the show and encouraging her to transfer her affections to one of the other brothers, to create even more sordid family drama.
-->''Miracle's illicit affair with Junior had added a magic spark of toxicity. During the most recent taping, Buddy had thrown a Dewar's bottle at Junior's head, while Clee Roy had stolen Junior's iPhone to leer at a picture of Miracle's bare ass that Junior had snapped in the outdoor shower. Meanwhile the Nance wives were in a frothing riot of jealousy and spite. It was magnificent television.''
-->''Miracle's illicit affair with Junior had added a magic spark of toxicity. During the most recent taping, Buddy had thrown a Dewar's bottle at Junior's head, while Clee Roy had stolen Junior's iPhone to leer at a picture of Miracle's bare ass that Junior had snapped in the outdoor shower. Meanwhile the Nance wives were in a frothing riot of jealousy and spite. It was magnificent television.''
to:
* HorribleHollywood: HorribleHollywood:
** Lane Coolman and his boss, Jon "Amp" Ampergrodt regard their star clients, the Romburg/Nance brothers as HumanResources that make them all rich, and their RealityShow as a ratings vehicle that benefits from the growing jealousy and resentment between its stars. After Buck Nance disappears in Key West, the network immediately implements plans to film the next episode without him, and Amp has the idea of introducing Buck's formerly-secret mistress as a "character" on the show and encouraging her to transfer her affections to one of the other brothers, to create even more sordid family drama.
-->''Miracle's --->''Miracle's illicit affair with Junior had added a magic spark of toxicity. During the most recent taping, Buddy had thrown a Dewar's bottle at Junior's head, while Clee Roy had stolen Junior's iPhone to leer at a picture of Miracle's bare ass that Junior had snapped in the outdoor shower. Meanwhile the Nance wives were in a frothing riot of jealousy and spite. It was magnificent television.''''
** Not to mention that the whole purpose of ''Bayou Brethren'' was to [[FlashInThePanFad chase the fad]] of ''Duck Dynasty'' popularity and appeal to the racist segment of the population who were upset by ''"the election of [[UsefulNotes/BarackObama a black president]]"''.
** Lane Coolman and his boss, Jon "Amp" Ampergrodt regard their star clients, the Romburg/Nance brothers as HumanResources that make them all rich, and their RealityShow as a ratings vehicle that benefits from the growing jealousy and resentment between its stars. After Buck Nance disappears in Key West, the network immediately implements plans to film the next episode without him, and Amp has the idea of introducing Buck's formerly-secret mistress as a "character" on the show and encouraging her to transfer her affections to one of the other brothers, to create even more sordid family drama.
** Not to mention that the whole purpose of ''Bayou Brethren'' was to [[FlashInThePanFad chase the fad]] of ''Duck Dynasty'' popularity and appeal to the racist segment of the population who were upset by ''"the election of [[UsefulNotes/BarackObama a black president]]"''.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* CelebrityIsOverrated: What Buck Nance realizes by the end of the novel, when he opts to quit ''Bayou Brethren'' and open a music store in Milwaukee. Blister's LoonyFan stalking may have prompted this realization, but Buck was already heartily sick of the show:
-->''An unhurried, unexamined existence looked pretty sweet to Buck. A life free of soggy collard greens, rooster shit, and all those fucking TV cameras in his face."''
-->''An unhurried, unexamined existence looked pretty sweet to Buck. A life free of soggy collard greens, rooster shit, and all those fucking TV cameras in his face."''
Added DiffLines:
* HorribleHollywood: Lane Coolman and his boss, Jon "Amp" Ampergrodt regard their star clients, the Romburg/Nance brothers as HumanResources that make them all rich, and their RealityShow as a ratings vehicle that benefits from the growing jealousy and resentment between its stars. After Buck Nance disappears in Key West, the network immediately implements plans to film the next episode without him, and Amp has the idea of introducing Buck's formerly-secret mistress as a "character" on the show and encouraging her to transfer her affections to one of the other brothers, to create even more sordid family drama.
-->''Miracle's illicit affair with Junior had added a magic spark of toxicity. During the most recent taping, Buddy had thrown a Dewar's bottle at Junior's head, while Clee Roy had stolen Junior's iPhone to leer at a picture of Miracle's bare ass that Junior had snapped in the outdoor shower. Meanwhile the Nance wives were in a frothing riot of jealousy and spite. It was magnificent television.''
-->''Miracle's illicit affair with Junior had added a magic spark of toxicity. During the most recent taping, Buddy had thrown a Dewar's bottle at Junior's head, while Clee Roy had stolen Junior's iPhone to leer at a picture of Miracle's bare ass that Junior had snapped in the outdoor shower. Meanwhile the Nance wives were in a frothing riot of jealousy and spite. It was magnificent television.''
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 53 (click to see context) from:
* MoralMyopia: when Blister, who believes he's being offered a role on the RealityShow Bayou Brethren, starts openly speculating which of his future (fake) brothers' wives is most ''"hot and doable"'', Buck testily reminds Blister that he's married. Buck himself has been cheating on his wife for years, but Blister's open leering is [[EveryoneHasStandards too disgusting even for him]].
to:
* MoralMyopia: when MoralMyopia:
** Lane Coolman gets infuriated every time his wife cheats on him and shares the salacious details, even though he's fully aware she only does it as [[RevengeRomance retaliation for his own infidelities.]]
** When Blister, who believes he's being offered a role on the RealityShow Bayou Brethren, starts openly speculating which of his future (fake) brothers' wives is most ''"hot and doable"'', Buck testily reminds Blister that he's married. Buck himself has been cheating on his wife for years, but Blister's open leering is [[EveryoneHasStandards too disgusting even for him]].
** Lane Coolman gets infuriated every time his wife cheats on him and shares the salacious details, even though he's fully aware she only does it as [[RevengeRomance retaliation for his own infidelities.]]
** When Blister, who believes he's being offered a role on the RealityShow Bayou Brethren, starts openly speculating which of his future (fake) brothers' wives is most ''"hot and doable"'', Buck testily reminds Blister that he's married. Buck himself has been cheating on his wife for years, but Blister's open leering is [[EveryoneHasStandards too disgusting even for him]].
Added DiffLines:
* RevengeRomance: Lane Coolman considers his estranged wife Rachel ''"the undisputed queen of the revenge fuck, in a town[[note]]Los Angeles[[/note]] with many contenders for the title."''
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* TaughtByTelevision: Having watched every single episode of ''Bayou Brethen'' ''"no less than fifty times"'', Blister fancies he knows everything that is important to know about poultry farming, Cajun cooking, stand-your-ground laws, and Islamic extremism, based on Buck or some other character's random comment on the subject.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* TooDumbToLive:
** Merry's accomplice, Juan Zeto-Fernandez, drives a Tesla loaned to him by a fugitive friend; when the car's charger doesn't fit into the electrical socket he's found, he tries to re-shape the plug ends with a pair of pliers, completely ignorant of the adapter ''and'' the instruction manual sitting on the car's backseat. He also happens to be kneeling in a water puddle when he jams the plug into the socket.
--->'''Andrew Yancy''': It takes a special kind of moron to electrocute yourself with a Tesla.\\
'''Rogelio Burton''': A Darwin finalist.
** Martin Trebeaux, having narrowly talked his way out of being executed after supplying faulty sand to a Mafia-operated beachfront hotel, recklessly decides to have a wild fling with the girlfriend of the ''capo'' supervising him. It doesn't end well for him.
** Merry's accomplice, Juan Zeto-Fernandez, drives a Tesla loaned to him by a fugitive friend; when the car's charger doesn't fit into the electrical socket he's found, he tries to re-shape the plug ends with a pair of pliers, completely ignorant of the adapter ''and'' the instruction manual sitting on the car's backseat. He also happens to be kneeling in a water puddle when he jams the plug into the socket.
--->'''Andrew Yancy''': It takes a special kind of moron to electrocute yourself with a Tesla.\\
'''Rogelio Burton''': A Darwin finalist.
** Martin Trebeaux, having narrowly talked his way out of being executed after supplying faulty sand to a Mafia-operated beachfront hotel, recklessly decides to have a wild fling with the girlfriend of the ''capo'' supervising him. It doesn't end well for him.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 3,4 (click to see context) from:
Merry Mansfield, the titular "Razor Girl" is a [[LoveableRogue loveable]] [[TheCon con artist]] who specializes in assisting LoanShark{{s}} or TheMafia in kidnapping deadbeats trying to "skip", by rear-ending their cars on the highway and pretending to have been distracted by giving herself a bikini shave while driving. Unfortunately, her latest job goes awry when she mistakenly rear-ends [[SmoothTalkingTalentAgent talent agent]] Lane Coolman, on his way to manage his star client Buck Nance's live appearance at a bar in Key West. Without Lane present, Buck - the "patriarch" of a RealityShow family of rural Louisiana chicken farmers - badly misjudges his audience and tries to win over the crowd with racist, homophobic jokes, inciting a riot that sends him fleeing for his life.
to:
Merry Mansfield, the titular "Razor Girl" is a [[LoveableRogue loveable]] [[TheCon con artist]] who specializes in assisting LoanShark{{s}} {{Loan Shark}}s or TheMafia in kidnapping deadbeats trying to "skip", by rear-ending their cars on the highway and pretending to have been distracted by giving herself a bikini shave while driving. Unfortunately, her latest job goes awry when she mistakenly rear-ends [[SmoothTalkingTalentAgent talent agent]] Lane Coolman, on his way to manage his star client Buck Nance's live appearance at a bar in Key West. Without Lane present, Buck - the "patriarch" of a RealityShow family of rural Louisiana chicken farmers - badly misjudges his audience and tries to win over the crowd with racist, homophobic jokes, inciting a riot that sends him fleeing for his life.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 33 (click to see context) from:
** Walking to a meeting on the beach without a beach umbrella, he buys a spare from an elderly tourist couple; they would have given it to him for free, but he insists on paying for it.
to:
** Unlike many mafiosos, he has no problem with Key West's ''"gay scene"'', though he draws the line when his girlfriend suggests going into one of the dance clubs.
** Walking to a meeting on the beach without a beach umbrella, he buys a spare from an elderly tourist couple; they would have given it to him forfree, free (even without knowing that he's a mafioso), but he insists on paying for it.
** Walking to a meeting on the beach without a beach umbrella, he buys a spare from an elderly tourist couple; they would have given it to him for
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* CelebrityResemblance: While dazed by painkillers, Yancy remarks that Merry reminds him of Creator/SusanSarandon, on whom he's had a crush ever since seeing ''Film/ThelmaAndLouise''.
Added DiffLines:
* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: Merry claims her last name is Mansfield, ''"[[Creator/JayneMansfield like the actress]]."''
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 19 (click to see context) from:
** Buck Nance is incensed when his brothers continue to film the TV show without him, and use the opportunity to drop all sorts of embarrassing anecdotes on camera. Buck plans to deliver a fiery "sermon" about his brothers' betrayal on the next show - temporarily forgetting that the show's "church" and his title of "deacon" within said church are both completely fake.
to:
** Buck Nance is incensed when his brothers continue to film the TV show without him, and use the opportunity to drop all sorts of embarrassing anecdotes about him on camera. Buck plans to deliver a fiery "sermon" about his brothers' betrayal on the next show - temporarily forgetting that the show's "church" and his title of "deacon" within said church are both completely fake.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 81 (click to see context) from:
* YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame: Buck Nance, the star of ''[[RealityShow Bayou Brethren]]'', has met ''"many white fans who were poor advertisements for a master race"'', his self-proclaimed biggest fan, Blister Krill, is such a vile specimen that Buck starts to question continuing with his TV career; then Blister commits a hate crime that kills an innocent Muslim bystander and stabs a police officer, both based on what he believes are Buck's "teachings." [[spoiler:at the end of the novel, Buck quits television, reverts to his birth name and moves back to his hometown of Milwaukee to open a music store.]]
to:
* YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame: Buck Nance, the star of ''[[RealityShow Bayou Brethren]]'', has met ''"many white fans who were poor advertisements for a master race"'', his self-proclaimed biggest fan, Blister Krill, is such a vile specimen that Buck starts to question continuing with his TV career; then Blister commits a hate crime that kills an innocent Muslim bystander and stabs a police officer, both based on what he believes are Buck's "teachings." [[spoiler:at the end of the novel, Buck quits television, reverts to his birth name and moves back to his hometown of Milwaukee to open a music store.]]]]
----
----
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* IgnoredExpert: Played for BlackComedy). The endocrinologist hired to study the side effects of a weird brand of combination deodorant/erectile dysfunction remedy (causing unwanted hair growth, a wilder sex drive, skin bulges and other problems) is ignored ''by the lawyer who hired him to make that report''. It takes the lawyer, Brock Richardson, months to even ''read'' the expert brief about the product he is launching a class action suit against and once he does he's too hooked on the sex drive part to stop in spite of the warnings about how much worse it will get.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 79 (click to see context) from:
* YouCanKeepHim: Talent agent Lane Coolman is [[AccidentalKidnapping abducted by mistake]], causing him to miss his meeting with his star client, Buck Nance (who inadvertently provokes a riot and flees onto the streets in terror). Once the kidnappers realize they've [[MistakenIdentity grabbed the wrong guy]], one of them is all for killing Lane and dumping his body, but Lane swears that his talent agency will pay a ransom to get him back. The kidnappers let him call his boss - who hangs up on him once it's ascertained that he isn't with Buck and has no idea how to find him.
to:
* YouCanKeepHim: [[YouCanKeepHer You Can Keep Him]]: Talent agent Lane Coolman is [[AccidentalKidnapping abducted by mistake]], causing him to miss his meeting with his star client, Buck Nance (who inadvertently provokes a riot and flees onto the streets in terror). Once the kidnappers realize they've [[MistakenIdentity grabbed the wrong guy]], one of them is all for killing Lane and dumping his body, but Lane swears that his talent agency will pay a ransom to get him back. The kidnappers let him call his boss - who hangs up on him once it's ascertained that he isn't with Buck and has no idea how to find him.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 3,4 (click to see context) from:
Merry Mansfield, the titular "Razor Girl" is a [[LoveableRogue loveable]] [[TheCon con artist]] who specializes in assisting LoanShark or TheMafia in kidnapping deadbeats trying to "skip", by rear-ending their cars on the highway and pretending to have been distracted by giving herself a bikini shave while driving. Unfortunately, her latest job goes awry when she mistakenly rear-ends [[SmoothTalkingTalentAgent talent agent]] Lane Coolman, on his way to manage his star client Buck Nance's live appearance at a bar in Key West. Without Lane present, Buck - the "patriarch" of a RealityShow family of rural Louisiana chicken farmers - badly misjudges his audience and tries to win over the crowd with racist, homophobic jokes, inciting a riot that sends him fleeing for his life.
to:
Merry Mansfield, the titular "Razor Girl" is a [[LoveableRogue loveable]] [[TheCon con artist]] who specializes in assisting LoanShark LoanShark{{s}} or TheMafia in kidnapping deadbeats trying to "skip", by rear-ending their cars on the highway and pretending to have been distracted by giving herself a bikini shave while driving. Unfortunately, her latest job goes awry when she mistakenly rear-ends [[SmoothTalkingTalentAgent talent agent]] Lane Coolman, on his way to manage his star client Buck Nance's live appearance at a bar in Key West. Without Lane present, Buck - the "patriarch" of a RealityShow family of rural Louisiana chicken farmers - badly misjudges his audience and tries to win over the crowd with racist, homophobic jokes, inciting a riot that sends him fleeing for his life.
Changed line(s) 10 (click to see context) from:
* ActorRoleConfusion: Crossed with RealityShow. After being kidnapped, the star of the ''Series/DuckDynasty'' ripoff ''Bayou Brethren'' is literally ''begging'' his StalkerWithACrush to believe him when he says the whole show is an act, that he's not a [[DeepSouth]]ern chicken farmer, he just plays one on TV - without success.
to:
* ActorRoleConfusion: Crossed with RealityShow. After being kidnapped, the star of the ''Series/DuckDynasty'' ripoff ''Bayou Brethren'' is literally ''begging'' his StalkerWithACrush to believe him when he says the whole show is an act, that he's not a [[DeepSouth]]ern [[DeepSouth Deep Southern]] chicken farmer, he just plays one on TV - without success.
Changed line(s) 12 (click to see context) from:
* AmusingInjuries: Benny Krill, a "hopelessly incompetent" burglar earns the nickname "Blister" after backing into a serving bowl of hot soup while trying to burglarize the kitchen of a homeless shelter, causing ''"parboiled, abscessed buttocks"'';
to:
* AmusingInjuries: Benny Krill, a "hopelessly incompetent" burglar earns the nickname "Blister" after backing into a serving bowl of hot soup while trying to burglarize the kitchen of a homeless shelter, causing ''"parboiled, abscessed buttocks"'';buttocks"''.
Changed line(s) 23 (click to see context) from:
** The Romburg brothers, born in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, reinvented themselves as "Buck Nance and the Brawlers", a redneck accordion band, ''"eager to gain a following in the South"'' after becoming ''"disenchanted with the so-called progressive elements on the rise in Wisconsin politics."'' When they are cast as rural chicken farmers in a ''Series/DuckDynasty'' imitation, they undergo a "makeover" to play up to redneck stereotypes: in addition to their long, flowing beards, they are taught to speak with Cajun accents, shoot guns and ride motorcycles, and have their normally shiny teeth darkened and chipped (their director also prohibits them from brushing while the show is being filmed).
to:
** The Romburg brothers, born in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, reinvented themselves as "Buck Nance and the Brawlers", a redneck accordion band, ''"eager to gain a following in the South"'' after becoming ''"disenchanted with the so-called progressive elements on the rise in Wisconsin politics."'' When they are cast as rural chicken farmers in a ''Series/DuckDynasty'' imitation, they undergo a "makeover" to [[PanderingToTheBase play up to redneck stereotypes: stereotypes]]: in addition to their long, flowing beards, they are taught to speak with Cajun accents, shoot guns and ride motorcycles, and have their normally shiny teeth darkened and chipped (their director also prohibits them from brushing while the show is being filmed).
Changed line(s) 27 (click to see context) from:
* Elites Are More Glamorous: InUniverse. Prawney, a hulking African-American bodyguard, is ''"introduced to clients as ex-NFL or ex-military."'' It sounds better than the truth, which is that he used to be a salad chef whose restaurant went bankrupt, DoesntLikeGuns and has never thrown a punch in his life.
to:
* Elites Are More Glamorous: ElitesAreMoreGlamorous: InUniverse. Prawney, a hulking African-American bodyguard, is ''"introduced to clients as ex-NFL or ex-military."'' It sounds better than the truth, which is that he used to be a salad chef whose restaurant went bankrupt, DoesntLikeGuns and has never thrown a punch in his life.
Changed line(s) 30 (click to see context) from:
** When Martin Trebeaux employs the ComfortAnimal scam to get himself and Big Noogie preferred seating on an airplane, Big Noogie calls him ''"the scum of the scum"''; though not a pet lover himself, even Big Noogie is disgusted when, after Trebeaux's fake service dog wanders off, Trebeaux shrugs off the loss and proposes picking up a new one on the way to the airport.
to:
** When Martin Trebeaux employs the ComfortAnimal "comfort animal" scam to get himself and Big Noogie preferred seating on an airplane, Big Noogie calls him ''"the scum of the scum"''; though not a pet lover himself, even Big Noogie is disgusted when, after Trebeaux's fake service dog wanders off, Trebeaux shrugs off the loss and proposes picking up a new one on the way to the airport.
Changed line(s) 43 (click to see context) from:
* HeelRealization: Buck Nance, f.k.a. Matthew Romburg, admits that his father raised him and his brothers to be ''"racist dickheads"'', and is more than happy to accept fame and fortune from his TV role as a redneck chicken farmer, but is genuinely sickened at what his self-proclaimed "biggest fan", Blister, has done to impress him, and realizes that ''"it was one thing to market a television program to attract low-class shit-kickers; it was another thing to ''create'' them."''
to:
* HeelRealization: Buck Nance, f.k.a. Matthew Romburg, admits that his father raised him and his brothers to be ''"racist dickheads"'', and is more than happy to accept fame and fortune from his TV role as a redneck chicken farmer, but is genuinely sickened at what his self-proclaimed "biggest fan", Blister, has done to impress him, and realizes that ''"it was one thing to market a television program to attract low-class shit-kickers; it was another thing to ''create'' '''create''' them."''
Changed line(s) 46 (click to see context) from:
* Karmic Death: The Romburg brothers' vehemently racist father died of a massive heart attack while trying to scrape an "[[UsefulNotes/BarackObama Obama]] For President" sticker off a neighbor's bumper [[SkewedPriorities in the middle of an ice storm]].
to:
* Karmic Death: KarmicDeath: The Romburg brothers' vehemently racist father died of a massive heart attack while trying to scrape an "[[UsefulNotes/BarackObama Obama]] For President" sticker off a neighbor's bumper [[SkewedPriorities in the middle of an ice storm]].
Deleted line(s) 49 (click to see context) :
* LooselyBasedonaTrueStory: ''Razor Girl'' was inspired by the real-life incident of Megan Barnes, who crashed her car on the Florida Overseas Highway after taking her hands off the wheel to shave her bikini zone.
* RippedFromTheHeadlines: ''Razor Girl'' was inspired by the real-life incident of Megan Barnes, who crashed her car on the Florida Overseas Highway after taking her hands off the wheel to shave her bikini zone.
Changed line(s) 72 (click to see context) from:
-->Merry told him to quit moping. "For God's sake, I just showed you my tits."\\
to:
Changed line(s) 74 (click to see context) from:
"Animal!" she snapped, then dissolved to a giggle when she saw his expression. "You don't know what to do with me, do you? I love that!"
to:
"Animal!" she snapped, then dissolved to a giggle when she saw his expression. "You don't know what to do with me, do you? I love that!"that!"''
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
''Razor Girl'' is a 2016 novel by [[OnlyInFlorida Floridian]] humor novelist Creator/CarlHiaasen.
Merry Mansfield, the titular "Razor Girl" is a [[LoveableRogue loveable]] [[TheCon con artist]] who specializes in assisting LoanShark or TheMafia in kidnapping deadbeats trying to "skip", by rear-ending their cars on the highway and pretending to have been distracted by giving herself a bikini shave while driving. Unfortunately, her latest job goes awry when she mistakenly rear-ends [[SmoothTalkingTalentAgent talent agent]] Lane Coolman, on his way to manage his star client Buck Nance's live appearance at a bar in Key West. Without Lane present, Buck - the "patriarch" of a RealityShow family of rural Louisiana chicken farmers - badly misjudges his audience and tries to win over the crowd with racist, homophobic jokes, inciting a riot that sends him fleeing for his life.
Enter disgraced former detective Andrew Yancy, now [[ReassignedToAntarctica working as a restaurant health inspector]], who believes that finding the missing celebrity may be his ticket to reinstatement with the Monroe County Sheriff's Department. Inevitably his path crosses with Merry, with Coolman, and with Buck Nance's self-proclaimed "biggest fan", a dangerously unhinged house burglar named Benny "the Blister" Krill, ''"who's more Buck than Buck could ever be..."''
'''N.B.''' Has nothing to do with "razorgirl" Molly Millions, a recurring character in Creator/WilliamGibson's science fiction novels.
!!Razor Girl contains examples of:
* ActorRoleConfusion: Crossed with RealityShow. After being kidnapped, the star of the ''Series/DuckDynasty'' ripoff ''Bayou Brethren'' is literally ''begging'' his StalkerWithACrush to believe him when he says the whole show is an act, that he's not a [[DeepSouth]]ern chicken farmer, he just plays one on TV - without success.
* AlcoholInducedIdiocy: Buck Nance gulps two Jack & Cokes before going on stage, which makes him forget his lines and prompts his decision to try winning over the crowd with racist, homophobic jokes.
* AmusingInjuries: Benny Krill, a "hopelessly incompetent" burglar earns the nickname "Blister" after backing into a serving bowl of hot soup while trying to burglarize the kitchen of a homeless shelter, causing ''"parboiled, abscessed buttocks"'';
* AsTheGoodBookSays: Busboy Winchell, after finding about $1,200 in cash dropped on the street ($600 if you believe his word), lost it all in a poker game on the same night;
-->'''Winchell''': Man, you can't never win if you don't take a chance. Even the Good Book says so.\\
'''Yancy''': [[DeadpanSnarker I'm pretty sure it doesn't.]]
* BeleagueredAssistant: Lane Coolman, Buck Nance's agent, who also plays the roles of ''"manager, confidante, pimp, shepherd..."''
-->''Buck and his brothers were the agency's hottest clients, a galactic media phenomenon, but they required round-the-clock supervision. Buck in particular could be a runaway train.''
* BelievingYourOwnLies:
** Buck Nance is incensed when his brothers continue to film the TV show without him, and use the opportunity to drop all sorts of embarrassing anecdotes on camera. Buck plans to deliver a fiery "sermon" about his brothers' betrayal on the next show - temporarily forgetting that the show's "church" and his title of "deacon" within said church are both completely fake.
** Brock Richardson, a wealthy class-action attorney whose main activity is hustling potential clients through TV commercials and then referring their cases to practicing attorneys, honestly believes he has the ''"gift of instant empathy"'' and enough powers of persuasion to convince a Mafia ''capo'' to return the diamond engagement ring he had stolen from Richardson in the first place, free of charge. The outcome is predictably humiliating.
* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Believing that the case has been solved and that the proper authorities will be responsible for capturing Benny Krill, Yancy books a flight to Oslo to reunite with Rosa. Then, during a layover in Atlanta, he sees a newspaper article about the Muslim tourist Krill (indirectly) killed, and a picture of the man's widow and children. He cancels his flight and returns to Florida.
* DeepSouth:
** The Romburg brothers, born in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, reinvented themselves as "Buck Nance and the Brawlers", a redneck accordion band, ''"eager to gain a following in the South"'' after becoming ''"disenchanted with the so-called progressive elements on the rise in Wisconsin politics."'' When they are cast as rural chicken farmers in a ''Series/DuckDynasty'' imitation, they undergo a "makeover" to play up to redneck stereotypes: in addition to their long, flowing beards, they are taught to speak with Cajun accents, shoot guns and ride motorcycles, and have their normally shiny teeth darkened and chipped (their director also prohibits them from brushing while the show is being filmed).
** During a break in filming, the show's producers note that South Florida, ''"due to its diversity"'' is one of the markets where the show is least popular, and sends the eldest brother, Buck Nance (f.k.a. Matthew Romburg) to make a public appearance in Key West. Not recognizing the demographic of his audience, he starts telling homophobic and racist jokes, starting a riot that sends him fleeing in terror for his life.
* DidNotThinkThisThrough: Benny "Blister" Krill initially kidnaps his idol, Buck Nance, to get some enforced "one-on-one" time, but later has the idea of blackmailing the producers of Buck's show into adding him as a new character, Buck's long-lost twin brother. Buck and his agent string Blister along, and he remains blissfully unaware that they plan to call the cops on him as soon as the agency signs a new contract doubling Buck's salary.
-->''For all its daring, the plan was also laughably, fatally absurd. Later his mother would tell reporters that it proved she was right about living downwind from the paper mills. All those toxic vapors obviously stewed poor Benny's brain cells. A goddamn squirrel had more sense.''
* Elites Are More Glamorous: InUniverse. Prawney, a hulking African-American bodyguard, is ''"introduced to clients as ex-NFL or ex-military."'' It sounds better than the truth, which is that he used to be a salad chef whose restaurant went bankrupt, DoesntLikeGuns and has never thrown a punch in his life.
* EmbarrassingNickname: Benny Krill earns the nickname "Blister" after scalding his buttocks in a pot of hot soup while trying to burglarize the kitchen of a homeless shelter.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Dominick "Big Noogie" Aeola is probably the nicest Mafia ''capo'' you could ever meet:
** When Martin Trebeaux employs the ComfortAnimal scam to get himself and Big Noogie preferred seating on an airplane, Big Noogie calls him ''"the scum of the scum"''; though not a pet lover himself, even Big Noogie is disgusted when, after Trebeaux's fake service dog wanders off, Trebeaux shrugs off the loss and proposes picking up a new one on the way to the airport.
** Big Noogie retrieves the original service dog himself and adopts it; though he does this mainly to please his girlfriend, he finds himself enjoying the complimentary attention from passers-by in Key West and makes sure to order extra bacon at breakfast for the dog.
** Walking to a meeting on the beach without a beach umbrella, he buys a spare from an elderly tourist couple; they would have given it to him for free, but he insists on paying for it.
* EveryoneHasStandards: LoveableRogue Merry Mansfield spends an evening with the talent agent whose car she purposely crashed into, and watches a Website/YouTube video of his client trying to win over the crowd in a Key West bar with racist, homophobic jokes:
-->'''Merry''': The dude's a total homophobe! Also a bigot.\\
'''Lane Coolman''': There's a culture gap, that's all.\\
'''Merry''': No, it's a ''decency'' gap, Bob! Your client's a flaming a-hole! What's the matter with you? I'm so disappointed.\\
''Coolman had received other morality lectures, though never from a professional criminal.''
* ExcrementStatement: Benny "Blister" Krill, insulted that a California talent agency has sent a vice president instead of the chairman to Florida to negotiate with him, emphasizes his right to ''"respect"'' by taking the proposed deal memorandum, wiping his ass with it, then returning it to the vice president's briefcase.
* ExpectationLowerer: InUniverse. The RealityShow ''Bayou Brethren'':
-->''The show's producers had strategically cultivated a fandom with two distinct segments: those who were cynically amused by the boorish culture of the Nance Clan; and those who identified with it. It was a precarious tightwire.''
* FeetOfClay: Benny "Blister" Krill kidnaps RealityShow star Buck Nance in the expectation that they will become best friends, and is disappointed and confused when Buck insists that his real name is Matthew Romberg and that the show is ''"just a fucking act"''. Blister gets especially confused after Matthew/Buck refuses to join in on Blister's racist tirade to their Cuban limousine driver.
* TheGhost: Buck and Crystal Nance, the stars of the RealityShow ''Bayou Brethren'', have two adult sons who are not interested in appearing on the show, and so are never mentioned while the cameras are rolling. Most of the series' fans have no idea that they even exist.
* HeelRealization: Buck Nance, f.k.a. Matthew Romburg, admits that his father raised him and his brothers to be ''"racist dickheads"'', and is more than happy to accept fame and fortune from his TV role as a redneck chicken farmer, but is genuinely sickened at what his self-proclaimed "biggest fan", Blister, has done to impress him, and realizes that ''"it was one thing to market a television program to attract low-class shit-kickers; it was another thing to ''create'' them."''
* HumanResources: after his restaurant goes bankrupt, salad chef Prawney works out, shaves his head and gets hired as a bodyguard; he DoesntLikeGuns and has never thrown a punch in his life, but is much in demand with his security company's clients, because ''"white celebrities always wanted big, shiny black muscle. It was a status thing."''
* InnocentBigot: Thoroughly {{deconstructed}}. Matthew Romburg and his three brothers were raised by a vehemently racist father, and Matthew acknowledges that he and his brothers are all ''"racist dickheads"'', but defends that they aren't ''"in-your-face racist dickheads"'' - meaning they keep their mouths shut and their heads down unless they're certain it's safe to spout off their bigoted views, either in each other's company or during the phony "sermons" that Matthew (as "Buck Nance") delivers at his RealityShow's phony church to a phony congregation. Buck is horrified when one of these sermons inspires his self-proclaimed "biggest fan", Blister Krill, to commit a hate crime that kills an innocent Muslim tourist, but quickly disclaims any responsibility (''"Hey, I had nothing to do with it."'')
*Karmic Death: The Romburg brothers' vehemently racist father died of a massive heart attack while trying to scrape an "[[UsefulNotes/BarackObama Obama]] For President" sticker off a neighbor's bumper [[SkewedPriorities in the middle of an ice storm]].
* KarmicJackpot: Andrew Yancy notices a stray dog wander into traffic and dashes after it; it turns out to belong to Mafia ''capo'' "Big Noogie" Aeola, who is not a pet lover himself, but is wary enough of his girlfriend's reaction if the dog was lost that he promises Yancy a future favor; Yancy calls it in to finally secure ownership of the lot neighboring his home, on which the previous owners have been trying to build eyesore ''"[=McMansions=]"''.
* KickedUpstairs: After the ''"major disappointment"'' of the pilot episode of the RealityShow ''Bayou Brethren'', the network vice president who thought viewers would find pig farming fun to watch is ''"summarily promoted to a more harmless position."''
* LooselyBasedonaTrueStory: ''Razor Girl'' was inspired by the real-life incident of Megan Barnes, who crashed her car on the Florida Overseas Highway after taking her hands off the wheel to shave her bikini zone.
* LovableRogue: Merry Mansfield, the titular "Razor Girl": her "profession" is deliberately crashing into cars on the highway, distracting their drivers long enough for them to be abducted by loan sharks or mafiosos they owe money to, but all of her "targets" are sleazeballs (even the one she hits by accident), and she is very proud of the fact that she never injures any of them in the crash; when one of her targets is caught with his pet cat for company, she offers to refund her entire fee to the mob if they promise not to hurt it.
* MoralMyopia: when Blister, who believes he's being offered a role on the RealityShow Bayou Brethren, starts openly speculating which of his future (fake) brothers' wives is most ''"hot and doable"'', Buck testily reminds Blister that he's married. Buck himself has been cheating on his wife for years, but Blister's open leering is [[EveryoneHasStandards too disgusting even for him]].
* NoAccountingForTaste: Attorney Brock Richardson represents the plaintiffs in a class-action suit against a ''"combination deodorant and testosterone wipe"''; the defendants included Creator/BenAffleck, who lent his voice to the TV commercials, but Affleck was dismissed from the suit by a judge who happened to be ''"a die-hard fan of ''Film/{{Gigli}}''."''
* PornNames: Several of Hiaasen's female characters adopt "shamelessly porny name[s]", not because they are literally entering the sex industry, but as a way of advertising their sexuality in order to boost their public images; Buck Nance's mistress goes by the ''"porny name of Miracle"'' (her real name is never revealed).
* ThePowerOfLanguage: As part of his act as a RealityShow ''"redneck chicken plucker"'', Matthew Romburg/Buck Nance gives phony sermons at a phony church to a phony congregation; some of his "sermons" are too coarse and racist even for the show, so instead they get bootlegged on Website/YouTube and attract plenty of views from the show's more racist fans. To Matthew/Buck, it is all fake, and he is genuinely horrified when his self-proclaimed biggest fan decides to "impress" him by committing a hate crime that kills an innocent Muslim tourist;
* RecurringCharacter: Several of the supporting cast of ''Bad Monkey'' reappear in ''Razor Girl''. Some characters "recur" by never appearing, but by being mentioned by others in passing.
* RefugeInAudacity: Merry Mansfield, the titular "Razor Girl", has perfected a "signature"' crime, crashing into cars on purpose while holding a safety razor and having her pants partially pulled down, pretending to have been distracted by giving herself a bikini shave ''while driving''. Since her "targets" are always men, they cannot help but be distracted long enough to be snatched by Merry's employers. As she explains to Lane Coolman:
-->'''Coolman''': Why not just wear a super-short skirt for the crash? The snatch-shaving thing, that's pretty twisted.\\
'''Merry''': These days you need more than a great pair of legs, Bob. You need to boggle their little minds.
** Likewise, she is quite upfront with both Coolman and Andrew Yancy about her work as a con artist, knowing that if they try to turn her in, no one would believe them.
* RichInDollarsPoorInSense: Miami attorney Brock Richardson gives his fiancee an engagement ring set with a $200,000 diamond, but since it was originally sized for his previous fiancee, it falls off her finger and is lost almost immediately; naturally he was too lazy or too cheap to insure it.
* RoyalWe: subverted slightly; when a character wants to intimidate another, or dodge responsibility (or both), he or she will often use the Royal "We", claiming to be speaking on behalf of others. Talent agent Jon David "Amp" Ampergrodt, sensing that his subordinate, Coolman, is angling to assume a more prestigious credit on their star client's reality show, tries to reject his request: "Associate producer, that's the best we can do for you."
* SmoothTalkingTalentAgent: Lane Coolman, reality television star Buck Nance's agent, plays every role necessary to keep his client happy (''"manager, confidante, pimp, shepherd"''), but his ''"laser focus"'' on Buck's well-being is strictly limited to his status as Coolman's ''"meal ticket"'';
** When Buck disappears in Key West, Coolman finds the possibility of him being dead less troubling than the possibility that he has found another agent;
** Called to a crime scene to view what he believes is going to be Buck's dead body, Coolman bitterly reflects, ''"Self-destruction was acceptable in show business when your career was tanking, but not while you're starring in America's hottest cable show."''
* SocietyIsToBlame: Subverted. In nearly all of Hiaasen's novels, there is at least one villainous or criminal character whose backstory makes clear that they started out with affectionate parents, good teachers, and no obvious trauma or temptation towards criminality, and yet they become criminals anyway, largely because they are too lazy to pay attention in school or hold legitimate jobs: Benny "Blister" Krill has several siblings with legitimate jobs and healthy lifestyles, but Benny becomes a ''"hopelessly incompetent"'' burglar; his mother claims that his brain was affected from breathing toxic fumes from a paper mill upwind of their home, but none of his siblings seem to have been affected.
* StalkerWithACrush: Benny "Blister" Krill towards Buck Nance (the protagonist describes his infatuation as a ''"man crush"'');
* SubParSupremacist:
-->''Spending time with Benny the Blister had shaken Buck Nance's confidence in the superiority of the white male. He and his brothers had clung to such views since their Romberg youth, warped by their father's fulminations. While redneck stardom had exposed Buck to many white fans who were poor advertisements for a master race, Blister stood out as one of the worst specimens he'd ever met: stupid, reckless, dirty, and delusional. And that's when he was stone sober.''
* TakeThat: ''Razor Girl'' is a swipe at "reality" TV shows and the dangers of rabid fanbases taking said shows too seriously.
* ThereShouldBeALaw: RealityShow star Buck Nance's bootleg "sermons" are too racist to be aired on his show but find their way onto Website/YouTube and are eagerly devoured by the show's hardcore fans, at least one of whom tries to impress Buck by committing a hate crime in Key West that ends with the death of a Muslim tourist. The protagonist, Andrew Yancy, is profoundly depressed that Buck is ''"a septic inspiration to impressionable mouth breathers"'', yet there is no law that will hold him accountable for the actions of his fans.
* TheThingThatWouldNotLeave: Hilariously, gloriously inverted. After one casual dinner date, Merry Mansfield invites herself to stay at Yancy's home. He tries to kick her out once, and she comes back the next day. Being in a relationship (even if his girlfriend is traveling abroad and might not come back), he knows he ''should'' get rid of her, and that if he really tried he ''could'' get rid of her... but he doesn't. The fact that he tries to stay faithful to his absent girlfriend only charms Merry more, and makes her that much more determined to seduce him.
-->Merry told him to quit moping. "For God's sake, I just showed you my tits."\\
"And adorable they are."\\
"Animal!" she snapped, then dissolved to a giggle when she saw his expression. "You don't know what to do with me, do you? I love that!"
* ThisIsAWorkOfFiction: Hiaasen likes to have fun with this trope.
-->''...However, [[RippedFromtheHeadlines true events in South Florida provided the lurid material]] for certain strands of this novel, beginning with the opening scene. The author also wishes he'd dreamed up the part about the giant Gambian pouched rats, but he didn't. Those suckers are real.''
* ViewersAreMorons: InUniverse. The creators of the RealityShow ''Bayou Brethren'', about a family of rural chicken farmers, deliberately target ''"a fandom with two distinct segments: those who were cynically amused by the boorish culture of the Nance Clan, and those who identified with it."'' Both segments seem unaware that the show is entirely fake, and the redneck "Nance brothers" were actually born in a suburb of Milwaukee, attended college, and toured the South as an accordion band before being cast on the show.
* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: A staple of Hiaasen's novels.
* YouCanKeepHim: Talent agent Lane Coolman is [[AccidentalKidnapping abducted by mistake]], causing him to miss his meeting with his star client, Buck Nance (who inadvertently provokes a riot and flees onto the streets in terror). Once the kidnappers realize they've [[MistakenIdentity grabbed the wrong guy]], one of them is all for killing Lane and dumping his body, but Lane swears that his talent agency will pay a ransom to get him back. The kidnappers let him call his boss - who hangs up on him once it's ascertained that he isn't with Buck and has no idea how to find him.
* YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame: Buck Nance, the star of ''[[RealityShow Bayou Brethren]]'', has met ''"many white fans who were poor advertisements for a master race"'', his self-proclaimed biggest fan, Blister Krill, is such a vile specimen that Buck starts to question continuing with his TV career; then Blister commits a hate crime that kills an innocent Muslim bystander and stabs a police officer, both based on what he believes are Buck's "teachings." [[spoiler:at the end of the novel, Buck quits television, reverts to his birth name and moves back to his hometown of Milwaukee to open a music store.]]
Merry Mansfield, the titular "Razor Girl" is a [[LoveableRogue loveable]] [[TheCon con artist]] who specializes in assisting LoanShark or TheMafia in kidnapping deadbeats trying to "skip", by rear-ending their cars on the highway and pretending to have been distracted by giving herself a bikini shave while driving. Unfortunately, her latest job goes awry when she mistakenly rear-ends [[SmoothTalkingTalentAgent talent agent]] Lane Coolman, on his way to manage his star client Buck Nance's live appearance at a bar in Key West. Without Lane present, Buck - the "patriarch" of a RealityShow family of rural Louisiana chicken farmers - badly misjudges his audience and tries to win over the crowd with racist, homophobic jokes, inciting a riot that sends him fleeing for his life.
Enter disgraced former detective Andrew Yancy, now [[ReassignedToAntarctica working as a restaurant health inspector]], who believes that finding the missing celebrity may be his ticket to reinstatement with the Monroe County Sheriff's Department. Inevitably his path crosses with Merry, with Coolman, and with Buck Nance's self-proclaimed "biggest fan", a dangerously unhinged house burglar named Benny "the Blister" Krill, ''"who's more Buck than Buck could ever be..."''
'''N.B.''' Has nothing to do with "razorgirl" Molly Millions, a recurring character in Creator/WilliamGibson's science fiction novels.
!!Razor Girl contains examples of:
* ActorRoleConfusion: Crossed with RealityShow. After being kidnapped, the star of the ''Series/DuckDynasty'' ripoff ''Bayou Brethren'' is literally ''begging'' his StalkerWithACrush to believe him when he says the whole show is an act, that he's not a [[DeepSouth]]ern chicken farmer, he just plays one on TV - without success.
* AlcoholInducedIdiocy: Buck Nance gulps two Jack & Cokes before going on stage, which makes him forget his lines and prompts his decision to try winning over the crowd with racist, homophobic jokes.
* AmusingInjuries: Benny Krill, a "hopelessly incompetent" burglar earns the nickname "Blister" after backing into a serving bowl of hot soup while trying to burglarize the kitchen of a homeless shelter, causing ''"parboiled, abscessed buttocks"'';
* AsTheGoodBookSays: Busboy Winchell, after finding about $1,200 in cash dropped on the street ($600 if you believe his word), lost it all in a poker game on the same night;
-->'''Winchell''': Man, you can't never win if you don't take a chance. Even the Good Book says so.\\
'''Yancy''': [[DeadpanSnarker I'm pretty sure it doesn't.]]
* BeleagueredAssistant: Lane Coolman, Buck Nance's agent, who also plays the roles of ''"manager, confidante, pimp, shepherd..."''
-->''Buck and his brothers were the agency's hottest clients, a galactic media phenomenon, but they required round-the-clock supervision. Buck in particular could be a runaway train.''
* BelievingYourOwnLies:
** Buck Nance is incensed when his brothers continue to film the TV show without him, and use the opportunity to drop all sorts of embarrassing anecdotes on camera. Buck plans to deliver a fiery "sermon" about his brothers' betrayal on the next show - temporarily forgetting that the show's "church" and his title of "deacon" within said church are both completely fake.
** Brock Richardson, a wealthy class-action attorney whose main activity is hustling potential clients through TV commercials and then referring their cases to practicing attorneys, honestly believes he has the ''"gift of instant empathy"'' and enough powers of persuasion to convince a Mafia ''capo'' to return the diamond engagement ring he had stolen from Richardson in the first place, free of charge. The outcome is predictably humiliating.
* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Believing that the case has been solved and that the proper authorities will be responsible for capturing Benny Krill, Yancy books a flight to Oslo to reunite with Rosa. Then, during a layover in Atlanta, he sees a newspaper article about the Muslim tourist Krill (indirectly) killed, and a picture of the man's widow and children. He cancels his flight and returns to Florida.
* DeepSouth:
** The Romburg brothers, born in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, reinvented themselves as "Buck Nance and the Brawlers", a redneck accordion band, ''"eager to gain a following in the South"'' after becoming ''"disenchanted with the so-called progressive elements on the rise in Wisconsin politics."'' When they are cast as rural chicken farmers in a ''Series/DuckDynasty'' imitation, they undergo a "makeover" to play up to redneck stereotypes: in addition to their long, flowing beards, they are taught to speak with Cajun accents, shoot guns and ride motorcycles, and have their normally shiny teeth darkened and chipped (their director also prohibits them from brushing while the show is being filmed).
** During a break in filming, the show's producers note that South Florida, ''"due to its diversity"'' is one of the markets where the show is least popular, and sends the eldest brother, Buck Nance (f.k.a. Matthew Romburg) to make a public appearance in Key West. Not recognizing the demographic of his audience, he starts telling homophobic and racist jokes, starting a riot that sends him fleeing in terror for his life.
* DidNotThinkThisThrough: Benny "Blister" Krill initially kidnaps his idol, Buck Nance, to get some enforced "one-on-one" time, but later has the idea of blackmailing the producers of Buck's show into adding him as a new character, Buck's long-lost twin brother. Buck and his agent string Blister along, and he remains blissfully unaware that they plan to call the cops on him as soon as the agency signs a new contract doubling Buck's salary.
-->''For all its daring, the plan was also laughably, fatally absurd. Later his mother would tell reporters that it proved she was right about living downwind from the paper mills. All those toxic vapors obviously stewed poor Benny's brain cells. A goddamn squirrel had more sense.''
* Elites Are More Glamorous: InUniverse. Prawney, a hulking African-American bodyguard, is ''"introduced to clients as ex-NFL or ex-military."'' It sounds better than the truth, which is that he used to be a salad chef whose restaurant went bankrupt, DoesntLikeGuns and has never thrown a punch in his life.
* EmbarrassingNickname: Benny Krill earns the nickname "Blister" after scalding his buttocks in a pot of hot soup while trying to burglarize the kitchen of a homeless shelter.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Dominick "Big Noogie" Aeola is probably the nicest Mafia ''capo'' you could ever meet:
** When Martin Trebeaux employs the ComfortAnimal scam to get himself and Big Noogie preferred seating on an airplane, Big Noogie calls him ''"the scum of the scum"''; though not a pet lover himself, even Big Noogie is disgusted when, after Trebeaux's fake service dog wanders off, Trebeaux shrugs off the loss and proposes picking up a new one on the way to the airport.
** Big Noogie retrieves the original service dog himself and adopts it; though he does this mainly to please his girlfriend, he finds himself enjoying the complimentary attention from passers-by in Key West and makes sure to order extra bacon at breakfast for the dog.
** Walking to a meeting on the beach without a beach umbrella, he buys a spare from an elderly tourist couple; they would have given it to him for free, but he insists on paying for it.
* EveryoneHasStandards: LoveableRogue Merry Mansfield spends an evening with the talent agent whose car she purposely crashed into, and watches a Website/YouTube video of his client trying to win over the crowd in a Key West bar with racist, homophobic jokes:
-->'''Merry''': The dude's a total homophobe! Also a bigot.\\
'''Lane Coolman''': There's a culture gap, that's all.\\
'''Merry''': No, it's a ''decency'' gap, Bob! Your client's a flaming a-hole! What's the matter with you? I'm so disappointed.\\
''Coolman had received other morality lectures, though never from a professional criminal.''
* ExcrementStatement: Benny "Blister" Krill, insulted that a California talent agency has sent a vice president instead of the chairman to Florida to negotiate with him, emphasizes his right to ''"respect"'' by taking the proposed deal memorandum, wiping his ass with it, then returning it to the vice president's briefcase.
* ExpectationLowerer: InUniverse. The RealityShow ''Bayou Brethren'':
-->''The show's producers had strategically cultivated a fandom with two distinct segments: those who were cynically amused by the boorish culture of the Nance Clan; and those who identified with it. It was a precarious tightwire.''
* FeetOfClay: Benny "Blister" Krill kidnaps RealityShow star Buck Nance in the expectation that they will become best friends, and is disappointed and confused when Buck insists that his real name is Matthew Romberg and that the show is ''"just a fucking act"''. Blister gets especially confused after Matthew/Buck refuses to join in on Blister's racist tirade to their Cuban limousine driver.
* TheGhost: Buck and Crystal Nance, the stars of the RealityShow ''Bayou Brethren'', have two adult sons who are not interested in appearing on the show, and so are never mentioned while the cameras are rolling. Most of the series' fans have no idea that they even exist.
* HeelRealization: Buck Nance, f.k.a. Matthew Romburg, admits that his father raised him and his brothers to be ''"racist dickheads"'', and is more than happy to accept fame and fortune from his TV role as a redneck chicken farmer, but is genuinely sickened at what his self-proclaimed "biggest fan", Blister, has done to impress him, and realizes that ''"it was one thing to market a television program to attract low-class shit-kickers; it was another thing to ''create'' them."''
* HumanResources: after his restaurant goes bankrupt, salad chef Prawney works out, shaves his head and gets hired as a bodyguard; he DoesntLikeGuns and has never thrown a punch in his life, but is much in demand with his security company's clients, because ''"white celebrities always wanted big, shiny black muscle. It was a status thing."''
* InnocentBigot: Thoroughly {{deconstructed}}. Matthew Romburg and his three brothers were raised by a vehemently racist father, and Matthew acknowledges that he and his brothers are all ''"racist dickheads"'', but defends that they aren't ''"in-your-face racist dickheads"'' - meaning they keep their mouths shut and their heads down unless they're certain it's safe to spout off their bigoted views, either in each other's company or during the phony "sermons" that Matthew (as "Buck Nance") delivers at his RealityShow's phony church to a phony congregation. Buck is horrified when one of these sermons inspires his self-proclaimed "biggest fan", Blister Krill, to commit a hate crime that kills an innocent Muslim tourist, but quickly disclaims any responsibility (''"Hey, I had nothing to do with it."'')
*Karmic Death: The Romburg brothers' vehemently racist father died of a massive heart attack while trying to scrape an "[[UsefulNotes/BarackObama Obama]] For President" sticker off a neighbor's bumper [[SkewedPriorities in the middle of an ice storm]].
* KarmicJackpot: Andrew Yancy notices a stray dog wander into traffic and dashes after it; it turns out to belong to Mafia ''capo'' "Big Noogie" Aeola, who is not a pet lover himself, but is wary enough of his girlfriend's reaction if the dog was lost that he promises Yancy a future favor; Yancy calls it in to finally secure ownership of the lot neighboring his home, on which the previous owners have been trying to build eyesore ''"[=McMansions=]"''.
* KickedUpstairs: After the ''"major disappointment"'' of the pilot episode of the RealityShow ''Bayou Brethren'', the network vice president who thought viewers would find pig farming fun to watch is ''"summarily promoted to a more harmless position."''
* LooselyBasedonaTrueStory: ''Razor Girl'' was inspired by the real-life incident of Megan Barnes, who crashed her car on the Florida Overseas Highway after taking her hands off the wheel to shave her bikini zone.
* LovableRogue: Merry Mansfield, the titular "Razor Girl": her "profession" is deliberately crashing into cars on the highway, distracting their drivers long enough for them to be abducted by loan sharks or mafiosos they owe money to, but all of her "targets" are sleazeballs (even the one she hits by accident), and she is very proud of the fact that she never injures any of them in the crash; when one of her targets is caught with his pet cat for company, she offers to refund her entire fee to the mob if they promise not to hurt it.
* MoralMyopia: when Blister, who believes he's being offered a role on the RealityShow Bayou Brethren, starts openly speculating which of his future (fake) brothers' wives is most ''"hot and doable"'', Buck testily reminds Blister that he's married. Buck himself has been cheating on his wife for years, but Blister's open leering is [[EveryoneHasStandards too disgusting even for him]].
* NoAccountingForTaste: Attorney Brock Richardson represents the plaintiffs in a class-action suit against a ''"combination deodorant and testosterone wipe"''; the defendants included Creator/BenAffleck, who lent his voice to the TV commercials, but Affleck was dismissed from the suit by a judge who happened to be ''"a die-hard fan of ''Film/{{Gigli}}''."''
* PornNames: Several of Hiaasen's female characters adopt "shamelessly porny name[s]", not because they are literally entering the sex industry, but as a way of advertising their sexuality in order to boost their public images; Buck Nance's mistress goes by the ''"porny name of Miracle"'' (her real name is never revealed).
* ThePowerOfLanguage: As part of his act as a RealityShow ''"redneck chicken plucker"'', Matthew Romburg/Buck Nance gives phony sermons at a phony church to a phony congregation; some of his "sermons" are too coarse and racist even for the show, so instead they get bootlegged on Website/YouTube and attract plenty of views from the show's more racist fans. To Matthew/Buck, it is all fake, and he is genuinely horrified when his self-proclaimed biggest fan decides to "impress" him by committing a hate crime that kills an innocent Muslim tourist;
* RecurringCharacter: Several of the supporting cast of ''Bad Monkey'' reappear in ''Razor Girl''. Some characters "recur" by never appearing, but by being mentioned by others in passing.
* RefugeInAudacity: Merry Mansfield, the titular "Razor Girl", has perfected a "signature"' crime, crashing into cars on purpose while holding a safety razor and having her pants partially pulled down, pretending to have been distracted by giving herself a bikini shave ''while driving''. Since her "targets" are always men, they cannot help but be distracted long enough to be snatched by Merry's employers. As she explains to Lane Coolman:
-->'''Coolman''': Why not just wear a super-short skirt for the crash? The snatch-shaving thing, that's pretty twisted.\\
'''Merry''': These days you need more than a great pair of legs, Bob. You need to boggle their little minds.
** Likewise, she is quite upfront with both Coolman and Andrew Yancy about her work as a con artist, knowing that if they try to turn her in, no one would believe them.
* RichInDollarsPoorInSense: Miami attorney Brock Richardson gives his fiancee an engagement ring set with a $200,000 diamond, but since it was originally sized for his previous fiancee, it falls off her finger and is lost almost immediately; naturally he was too lazy or too cheap to insure it.
* RoyalWe: subverted slightly; when a character wants to intimidate another, or dodge responsibility (or both), he or she will often use the Royal "We", claiming to be speaking on behalf of others. Talent agent Jon David "Amp" Ampergrodt, sensing that his subordinate, Coolman, is angling to assume a more prestigious credit on their star client's reality show, tries to reject his request: "Associate producer, that's the best we can do for you."
* SmoothTalkingTalentAgent: Lane Coolman, reality television star Buck Nance's agent, plays every role necessary to keep his client happy (''"manager, confidante, pimp, shepherd"''), but his ''"laser focus"'' on Buck's well-being is strictly limited to his status as Coolman's ''"meal ticket"'';
** When Buck disappears in Key West, Coolman finds the possibility of him being dead less troubling than the possibility that he has found another agent;
** Called to a crime scene to view what he believes is going to be Buck's dead body, Coolman bitterly reflects, ''"Self-destruction was acceptable in show business when your career was tanking, but not while you're starring in America's hottest cable show."''
* SocietyIsToBlame: Subverted. In nearly all of Hiaasen's novels, there is at least one villainous or criminal character whose backstory makes clear that they started out with affectionate parents, good teachers, and no obvious trauma or temptation towards criminality, and yet they become criminals anyway, largely because they are too lazy to pay attention in school or hold legitimate jobs: Benny "Blister" Krill has several siblings with legitimate jobs and healthy lifestyles, but Benny becomes a ''"hopelessly incompetent"'' burglar; his mother claims that his brain was affected from breathing toxic fumes from a paper mill upwind of their home, but none of his siblings seem to have been affected.
* StalkerWithACrush: Benny "Blister" Krill towards Buck Nance (the protagonist describes his infatuation as a ''"man crush"'');
* SubParSupremacist:
-->''Spending time with Benny the Blister had shaken Buck Nance's confidence in the superiority of the white male. He and his brothers had clung to such views since their Romberg youth, warped by their father's fulminations. While redneck stardom had exposed Buck to many white fans who were poor advertisements for a master race, Blister stood out as one of the worst specimens he'd ever met: stupid, reckless, dirty, and delusional. And that's when he was stone sober.''
* TakeThat: ''Razor Girl'' is a swipe at "reality" TV shows and the dangers of rabid fanbases taking said shows too seriously.
* ThereShouldBeALaw: RealityShow star Buck Nance's bootleg "sermons" are too racist to be aired on his show but find their way onto Website/YouTube and are eagerly devoured by the show's hardcore fans, at least one of whom tries to impress Buck by committing a hate crime in Key West that ends with the death of a Muslim tourist. The protagonist, Andrew Yancy, is profoundly depressed that Buck is ''"a septic inspiration to impressionable mouth breathers"'', yet there is no law that will hold him accountable for the actions of his fans.
* TheThingThatWouldNotLeave: Hilariously, gloriously inverted. After one casual dinner date, Merry Mansfield invites herself to stay at Yancy's home. He tries to kick her out once, and she comes back the next day. Being in a relationship (even if his girlfriend is traveling abroad and might not come back), he knows he ''should'' get rid of her, and that if he really tried he ''could'' get rid of her... but he doesn't. The fact that he tries to stay faithful to his absent girlfriend only charms Merry more, and makes her that much more determined to seduce him.
-->Merry told him to quit moping. "For God's sake, I just showed you my tits."\\
"And adorable they are."\\
"Animal!" she snapped, then dissolved to a giggle when she saw his expression. "You don't know what to do with me, do you? I love that!"
* ThisIsAWorkOfFiction: Hiaasen likes to have fun with this trope.
-->''...However, [[RippedFromtheHeadlines true events in South Florida provided the lurid material]] for certain strands of this novel, beginning with the opening scene. The author also wishes he'd dreamed up the part about the giant Gambian pouched rats, but he didn't. Those suckers are real.''
* ViewersAreMorons: InUniverse. The creators of the RealityShow ''Bayou Brethren'', about a family of rural chicken farmers, deliberately target ''"a fandom with two distinct segments: those who were cynically amused by the boorish culture of the Nance Clan, and those who identified with it."'' Both segments seem unaware that the show is entirely fake, and the redneck "Nance brothers" were actually born in a suburb of Milwaukee, attended college, and toured the South as an accordion band before being cast on the show.
* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: A staple of Hiaasen's novels.
* YouCanKeepHim: Talent agent Lane Coolman is [[AccidentalKidnapping abducted by mistake]], causing him to miss his meeting with his star client, Buck Nance (who inadvertently provokes a riot and flees onto the streets in terror). Once the kidnappers realize they've [[MistakenIdentity grabbed the wrong guy]], one of them is all for killing Lane and dumping his body, but Lane swears that his talent agency will pay a ransom to get him back. The kidnappers let him call his boss - who hangs up on him once it's ascertained that he isn't with Buck and has no idea how to find him.
* YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame: Buck Nance, the star of ''[[RealityShow Bayou Brethren]]'', has met ''"many white fans who were poor advertisements for a master race"'', his self-proclaimed biggest fan, Blister Krill, is such a vile specimen that Buck starts to question continuing with his TV career; then Blister commits a hate crime that kills an innocent Muslim bystander and stabs a police officer, both based on what he believes are Buck's "teachings." [[spoiler:at the end of the novel, Buck quits television, reverts to his birth name and moves back to his hometown of Milwaukee to open a music store.]]
