King Dork

By: Frank Portman

Narrated by: Lincoln Hoppe

Tom Henderson (a.k.a. King Dork, Chi-mo, Hender-fag, and Sheepie) is a typical American high school loser until he discovers the book, The Catcher in the Rye, that will change the world as he knows it. When Tom discovers his deceased father's copy of the Salinger classic, he finds himself in the middle of several interlocking conspiracies and at least half a dozen mysteries involving dead people, naked people, fake people, ESP, blood, a secret code, guitars, monks, witchcraft, the Bible, girls, the Crusades, a devil head, and rock and roll. And it all looks like it's just the tip of a very odd iceberg of clues that may very well unravel the puzzle of his father's death and, oddly, reveal the secret to attracting semi-hot girls.

Being in a band could possibly be the secret to the girl thing, but good luck finding a drummer who can count to four.

©2006 Frank Portman (P)2006 Random House, Inc. Listening Library, an imprint of the Random House Audio Publishing Group

Critic reviews

"The author's biting humor and skillful connection of events will keep pages turning." (Publishers Weekly)
"This dazzling novel will linger long in readers' memories." (School Library Journal)

A Hit for Any Age

I couldn't love this book more! I am an adult but when I read the description of this book I thought, "why not?" I was so glad I did!
You can't help but fall in love with the main character: his trials and mishaps that shuttle you back to the that age and his obervations that make you want to giggle behind your hand.
The narrarator captured the attitude and personality of the character and the feel of the book perfectly.
This is definately a repeat listen.

YA lit for Adults, too

I checked out King Dork to see if it might be something my teenage son might like, and ended up loving it myself. The bumbling teenager that I was long ago was suddenly present front and center, radar out for slights and bullies, longing for validation, convinced that life has no meaning outside of friends and music, and desperate for sexual experience of any kind. Took me right back there, and helped me remember that being a teenager is still the hardest time of life. It's amazing that any of us survive. Frank Portman has told a story that will resonate with teenagers, and with anybody who has ever been a teenager.

A blast

This book was a blast! A fun look at adolescent and high school society from the perspective of a high school student as he moves through the trials, tribulations and discoveries of adolescence, with a sarcastic, tounge-in-cheek analysis of various family and peer events and relationships. I was ready to give the book to my high-school son, which it seemed to describe almost perfectly, until I came to the casual sex. Nonetheless it was a fun, entertaining "read" that as a former high school nerd myself I could relate to and laugh at. Listen to this one when you need to relax and laugh a bit. Both my wife and I found ourselves laughing out loud, and continue to make references and share favorite anecdotes of the book with each other.

I felt this in my soul

Awhile back, I was interviewing a punk band on my radio show and they all said that King Dork inspired them. So, I added it to the long list of books to read. When I had finally gotten around to it, I couldn't stop. It took me back to being an awkward 15 year old in high school. The weekly band name changes and clandestine meet ups with girls that I had no business messing around with. This book is a must read.

Very Good.

this story was great.. found myself making up band names according to my day to day situations.. the main character was a cool kid..

a gem of a novel

What an absolute delight this audio book is! I don't give out five stars lightly, but this work deserves it. I'm well into middle age, but King Dork made me feel like a teenager again. A wonderful smart protagonist brought to life by the perfect reader. You'll be in stitches. An added plus to the audio version is a short interview with the author, who also performs a few songs he wrote for King Dork. All in all, a gem.

A little slow but enjoyable

It's been a couple of months since I listened to it. I remember enjoying it. I know who the character was. I remember interactions with characters and being pleased with it's cultural insights. The band and album names were a terrific running joke.

Does it matter that I cannot, for the life of me, remember the main plot conflict or it's resolution or anything about the end of the story?

As I struggle, amused, to really dredge it out of my lame, old brain, I really can't remember.

But, I have finally recalled that he did have an epilogue that he introduced with a joke about the uselessness of an epilogue and then ran on *forever*. It's as if he was playing a practical joke. For the very first time, about half way through, I put my player on double speed. It was still too long.

Maybe that flushed the ending out of my brain. I don't know.

Still, it had fun language. Nice character interactions. A good view of the culture. You will be happy to have read it. I am.

But, take it from me. You will not be worse off if you completely skip the epilogue. I know. A shocking recommendation but, you can literally just go on to your next book and have missed nothing you care about.

CH 1965

I couldn't imagine myself making it through high school without this book
honestly changed my life forever

Good but raunchy

I bought this to listen in the car with my age 12 and 15 boys. The frank talk about oral sex and sex in general was surprising to me.

I guess it didn't hurt them, but rate this one R. It's not PG-13.

N

mixed reaction

This is a contemporary American bildungsroman with a mystery motif and a lengthy review of 'Catcher in the Rye'. There's plenty of 'shock' language, which may be an accurate reflection of today's HS student for all I know. Tom (King Dork) clearly is a precocious boy in many respects, although still filled with the usual confusions of adolescence. His best friend is addicted to hard liquor and stealing antidepressant medications from Tom's mother. The student social world at Tom's HS comes across as a kind of Baghdad of warring factions. The faculty have arrested development that keeps them in the 1960s. Lincoln Hoppe does an excellent job of telling the story. I found myself more interested in how the matter of the death of Tom's father would play out. To my disappointment, this theme is unresolved, and we never know the truth of the matter. The ending is very strange. It consists of Tom reading a long list of terms more or less relevant to the storyline, and supplying his own post-modern definitions. I thought the ending did not contribute to the storyline, which ends rather abruptly with Tom recessing into a philosophical haze while his best friend falls into a drug/alcohol stupor. A good knowledge of rock bands from the 1960s through the 1990s is needed in order to understand many of Tom's comments.