Heart Seizure

February 24, 2003
It seems an unlikely setup for a laugh riot, but this satirical novel by Fitzhugh (Pest Control) kicks off with hero Spence Tailor's mother, Rose, on her deathbed in Los Angeles, at the top of the list for a heart transplant. Just when a heart finally comes in, it turns out that the president needs it, too, and the FBI prepares to whisk the organ to Washington, D.C. But Spence has had it with endless delays. The scruffy 39-year-old is an embattled do-gooder lawyer who's just been dumped by his girlfriend; his nerves are already frayed, and he's not about to let anyone get away with the heart—especially
not the president. So he and his stodgy banker brother, Boyd, don ski masks, evade FBI agents, distract the surgical resident (by pulling her scrubs down) and steal the heart. Thus begins a zany cross-country chase whose L.A.-Washington axis allows Fitzhugh to skewer both politicians and celebrities, not to mention TV newshounds, HMOs, soccer moms and other features of contemporary life. He builds a complex plot with dozens of believable—if broadly drawn—characters, most of whom share the same two traits: deep political or family commitments contradicted by self-serving impulses. The humor occasionally devolves into slapstick and corny jokes (a drug designed to treat erectile dysfunction is called Mycoxaflopin), yet much of the novel is genuinely funny (especially a memorable description of political jockeying at a suburban parents' association meeting). While Fitzhugh's perspective is definitely left of center, his satiric eye spares no one. Agent, James Vines. 6-city author tour.(Mar. 18)FYI:Film rights to Fitzhugh's earlier novels
Cross Dressing and
Pest Control have been sold to Universal Pictures and Warner Brothers, respectively.

March 1, 2003
Anyone who considers the cudgel the weapon of choice in satire's armory should welcome Fitzhugh's latest. Here he grafts jibes at the healthcare industry and the political circus onto his old interest in organ transplants (see Organ Grinders). When a Hollywood stunt man with a rare blood type dies, his heart is up for grabs. Just as feisty senior Rose Tailor's heart transplant is getting underway, FBI/CIA goons swoop down via helicopter in an effort to snare the organ on behalf of their President; he's been seen on TV having what is spun as a "fainting spell" but is really a heart attack. Rose's sons then flee across the desert with their drugged mother in tow, the heart throbbing away in some futuristic device and a physician at the ready. Forced to commandeer a whole string of improbable vehicles along the way, they pick up an LAPD officer, a white, teenage Rastafarian, and a Mormon basketball team. Meanwhile, the whole unruly mob is tracked by two thugs belonging to Sen. Peggy Check, a rival presidential candidate. If the whole thing smacks of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, that's probably no accident. Rousing, lightweight fun-just don't expect Voltaire. For larger public libraries and wherever Fitzhugh's other novels are popular.-Bob Lunn, Kansas City P.L., MO

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