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The young hero of Frank Portman’s bizarre novel King Dork claims early on that he’s no big fan of the classic Catcher in the Rye. In fact, he has little respect for adult or teen members of what he calls “the ‘Catcher’ cult,” a group obsessed with the book and its “anti-establishment” message. However, King Dork actually kind resembles Catcher in that it focuses on a screwed up young kid and the weird ways he tries to make sense of the world.
Of course, Holden Caulfield wasn’t wrestling with the suspicious death of his father, or forming a bunch of short-lived rock bands with his painkiller-popping best buddy. Nor did he embark on a series of surreal sexual adventures with girls, most of them based on mistaken identity.
Indeed, Portman’s book is pretty much its own beast. His protagonist, Tom Henderson, is a sophomore at perhaps the most ineffectual high school in all of literature. He is, as the title implies, at the bottom rung of the social ladder. He has a pretty humiliating nickname and only one friend.
The book charts how Tom’s life changes, as he tries to learn more about his late dad, who died in a car wreck that might not have been what it seemed. King Dork is absurd yet true in depicting the detachment and hopelessness a lot of teens feel. It also does a pretty good job of depicting how horribly kids
can treat one another.
King Dork is dark and bizarre, but it’s funny and does hit some very real notes. Portman has an ear for dialogue and his writing is smart and infectious.
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King Dork