Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Courtesy of Teens Read Too, 14 Oct 2006
Right after I finished KING DORK, the debut novel from author Frank Portman, I sat down to write my review--and stared at my computer for fifteen very long minutes wondering exactly how to explain this book. KING DORK will do that to you--leave you speechless, not quite sure of how to put what you feel into words. I guess if I could only use two words to describe this book, I would choose "wonderfully odd."
If I met Tom Henderson in real life, and had a one-minute conversation with him, I would undoubtedly wonder 1) what the hell this guy was talking about, or 2) what the hell I was talking about when talking to him.
Yes, it's that kind of a book. A story that starts with the simple task of Tom trying to find any old copy of THE CATCHER IN THE RYE and instead finding a marked-up, footnoted, annotated, high-lighted version his dead father once owned. It all goes downhill--or over the proverbial edge--from there.
I've decided that there's simply no other way to accurately describe this book. I can't give you a plot outline without giving away the entire story, so you'll simply have to pick up a copy of KING DORK for yourself. I guarantee you won't be disappointed, and I can also guarantee that you'll never find better band names than Baby Batter, Ray Bradbury's Love-Camel, The Mordor Apes, or We Have Eaten All the Cake. Just as you'll never find a better one-liner than "Talk Won Ton to Me, You Crazy Asian Superstar."
And that's all I've got to say about that.
Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Very Funny , 13 Jan 2008
Twisty book - it is often very, very, funny and the whole Catcher in the Rye myth slaying is highly commendable. Musical references make sense, reveal someone with the right musical inclinations, which does not spoil anything in my opinion. Overall this is an enjoyable read with a touch of a let down towards the end though.
Oh it is also very inventive in places.
3 star only because of the ending.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing book that keeps you guessing, 4 Mar 2009
I got this for christmas and it's a fantastic read. Frank Portman has a great way with words and has obviously taken a course in 30 days to a more powerful vocabulary.
The characters are as well described as you would expect from a 14 year old boy who doesn't really talk all that much. The great thing about this book, as I've said in my title, is that it keeps you guessing right up to the end of the book and after - but in a good way. When I was about 1/3 of the way through it, I was thinking "What the hell is this about?" and really, it's just about the trials and (devil head) tribulations of a 14 year old social misfit.
Definitely a book for everyone who likes music and a good old mystery
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by Stephen Chbosky
by Frank Portman
by Stefan Zweig
by Erlend Loe
by Andre Dubus III
