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Dec 16, 2009

Amy rated it:

i may be the only one, but i found this book alienating and insulting.

hey young dork dudes, be inspired! start a band and you'll get more blowjobs from bitchy sluts! yay!

young dork ladies: looking for an author that actually takes the time to write fleshed-out, multi-layered female characters that don't fall into one of three or four exhaustively exploited stereotypes? stay the fuck away.

it's been a while since i threw a book down in disgust. Frank Portman ( More...

11 comments like (22 people liked it)

Nov 07, 2008

Jackie "the Librarian" rated it:

This book started out so strong, and so funny, I loved it. And then, the plot kicked it, and the relationships between Tom and the girls he meets were so stupid and unbelievable, it ruined the book for me. I feel betrayed by the direction the book took - instead of focusing on the feelings Tom had for his dead father, and the mystery of the notes in his father's old books, the book instead strays into shallow hookups and cynical attitudes toward relationships. I think I wouldn't have such disdai More...

15 comments like (7 people liked it)

Oct 05, 2007

Jacey rated it:

Man, I really wanted to like this book, it came highly recommended. However, the more I tried, the more I failed. Or maybe the author (sorry MrTX) failed. It strikes me that he had these really(?) great ideas but when it came to actually working them out on paper, they just didn't work. Or perhaps it's that his really great ideas didn't actually poke above the grass of teenage tedium until the final chapter or two, when you finally get the a-ha moment. It was abrupt and startling and I felt a More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Aug 10, 2007

Kate rated it:

I had mixed feelings about King Dork. Namely, I loved the concept, but wasn’t so hot on the execution. Tom is a funny, smart, self-deprecating narrator, and his cynical acceptance of his status as a loser is painfully true to life. With Tom's honest observations at its core, King Dork is novel in that it honors the central nerd by refusing to attribute easy YA conventions to him; for example, in any other book, Tom would find an ally in Holden Caulfield, rather than rolling his eyes at the " More...

1 comment like (5 people liked it)

Mar 31, 2008

Jennifer rated it:

This book is most likely to appeal to that sub-set of teenage boys who are painfully smart, horribly socially awkward, oppressed by the high school social hierarchy, who find refuge in rock and roll fantasies. Them, or the adult men who used to be them. The plot is flimsy at best and the obscure music references are likely to put off a lot of readers. However, Portman does manage to touch on some big themes of family and growing up without ever being sappy or offering easy answers. Unlike mo More...

1 comment like (5 people liked it)

Jun 02, 2010

K.D. rated it:

Frank Portman's King Dork is about Tom Henderson,, a sophomore student in a US high school. Wiki defines dork as quirky, silly and/or stupid, socially inept person, or one who is out of touch with contemporary trends. Often confused with nerd and geek, but does not imply the same level of intelligence.

The story is very simple: Tom, a.k.a., King Dork, Chi-Mo (short for child molester, there is a funny story about this that made me laugh), Hender-fag, Hender-pig or Hender-fuck, is very More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Feb 06, 2011

Tony rated it:

Rip the lid off it, this book was so good.

Basically...it's about being in high school, which sucks anyways. The main character of the book (he has many nicknames, we're gonna' call him King Dork) is a misfit geeky punk kid who pals around with another geeky punk kid. They are desperately trying to start a band and are constantly coming up with names and albums for the band (a great running gag), but also they are just trying to survive in high school. Sound generic and some parts More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 21, 2008

bibliogrrl rated it:

I liked it, but really Dr Frank? Why do you need to mess up the minds of adolescent teenage boys more than they already are?

The narrator of the book is funny and engaging. But the portrayals of women in this book fall into 2 classifications:

The saints - moms and sisters

or

The sinners - everyone else, also known as the blow job machines.

It's pretty annoying.

I'm the least OMG FEMINIST ALL MEN ARE EVVIIILLLL girl ever, but if More...

4 comments like (5 people liked it)

Dec 14, 2008

Neil rated it:

I'm very conflicted about this book. The end is a mess, with many plot lines resolved awkwardly in a long-winded epilogue and some plot lines not resolved much at all. The book, at least its narrator (although I would argue more than its narrator), is sexist, with females consistently represented as dysfunctional and mostly there for the sexual pleasure of males. I would argue as well that its view of teenage society goes too far. Don't get me wrong, I think the average high school is a messed u More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 03, 2008

Jane rated it:

It all began with a band--or to be more accurate--an almost band. They hardly practice, can't sing or play instruments, and change their name and logo at least 10 times a week--sometimes even in the same day! This is height of the book for me, especially since the blurb on the back cover practically shouted that it had much to do with music.

What the book also dealt with in enormity was Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, which unfortunately I had not read. I don't know much about More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 11, 2008

Chris "Stu" rated it:

I'm not exactly sure why this book is classified as "Young Adult" literature, other than it's about teenagers in high school, and, thus, must be for kids.

But this book is really quite good. The narrator is probably one of the ten best narrators I've read, up there with _High Fidelity_ and _Lolita_ and _Middlesex_ in terms of having a distinctive voice and being incredibly readable.

The plot takes a couple of turns that strain believeability, but I was really on b More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 21, 2007

Jennie rated it:

An excellent anti-Catcher, pro rock-and-roll novel that is hilarious.

It also contains such passages as this:

"I should mention that Catcher in the Rye is this book from the fifties. It is every teacher's favorite book. The main guy is a kind of misfit kid superhero neamed Holden Caulfield. For teacher he is the ultimate guy, a real dream boat. They love him to pieces. They all want to have sex with him and with the book's author, too, and they'd probably even try to d More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Aug 13, 2007

tammy rated it:

i really wanted to like this book, but i just couldn't. overall it was a decent waste of time, but it's only saving grace was that it was well written and witty. the storyline is confusing and not very plausible. the conclusion didn't happen until the very last chapter, was somewhat abrupt, and left much to be desired, like the author was like "oh shit, i have to finish my story in the next ten pages". the main character is slightly irritating but still manages to be entertaining (much More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jul 23, 2007

dirt rated it:

Written by a guy from the Mr. T Experience. I lost my Mr. T Experience album long ago, but I recall the lyrics being saccharine sweet and stuck in a 9th grade mentality. Imagine extending a M.T.E. song into a whole book and you end up with King Dork, which is not your typical high school memoir because it doesn't suck.

This book is about Tom. Naming your rock band and designing album covers is the most important part of being in a band and Tom excels at this. He also tries to ge More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 16, 2011

Lucy rated it:

i liked a lot of this book. parts of it were very funny (particularly the french class conversation, that reminded me of conversations my friend and i had when we knew very little french, but were still trying to speak only french, or at least franglais and glossary at the back is almost worth a read on its own). i liked its anti-catcher in the rye stance a lot (i so do not get why that's supposed to be such a great book). it was definitely a book for boys, though. hmm, i'm writing these reviews More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 26, 2007

Patrick rated it:

Like a great hit single, King Dork is filled with catchy hooks, memorable lines, and lots of attitude. While the big overarching plot stretches credibility, it is the details that make King Dork one of the most enjoyable reads for/about teens. Tom Henderson is your basic high school grind who dreams of forming a band with his best friend, but is also dealing with the hard reality of life at home, at school, in his past, and in his lack of love life. The voice is perfect, with small details such More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Kristy rated it:

I liked this book a lot at first. The story is, in many ways, charming. But by the end, i concluded that the frequent amount of blow jobs and other sexual activities portrayed as happening among high school kids was entirely unrealistic. At least among the high school kids I knew.
It's a damn shame, too, because this book was very funny and I started out really liking it. But every girl he encounters can't wait to give him a blow job, and I dont know, wishful thinking on the part of the au More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 12, 2009

Jaemi rated it:

Tom Henderson’s life is full of unusual trials, chief among them, perhaps, being the unfortunate nickname thrust upon him in seventh grade. As if it weren’t bad enough that he’s a geek, and has only one real friend, and that’s only really because of the alphabet.

His father died when he was young, his mother is in a constant self-induced state of unawareness, his step-father tried too hard, and his sister seems to have alternate personalities. School is even worse.

After the ac More...

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Dec 20, 2008

Stephanie rated it:

JUST as literary heroes who sacrifice themselves for the greater good are usually described as Christ-like, so are disaffected teenaged narrators of young adult novels inevitably compared to Holden Caulfield of coming-of-age classic The Catcher In The Rye.
In King Dork, writer Frank Portman attempts to crawl out of Holden's shadow by having his 14-year-old protagonist Tom Henderson declare his disdain from the start for the "misfit kid superhero" towards whom all his teachers m More...

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Oct 05, 2011

MCOH rated it:

Dear Tom (a.k.a. King Dork, Chi-Mo, Henderpig, etc.) -

Yesterday, my son turned 15. He requested books for his birthday, and I picked this one up at the University Bookstore in Seattle. I thought maybe the two of you would have something in common - you're contemporaries, both learning how to survive the modern American public high school experience. But wow - I am so glad I read your story before wrapping it up and handing it over. 'Cause it turns out you are not an influence I More...

7 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 20, 2011

Dave rated it:

King Dork, besides being a great band name in its own right, is about 4/5 of a great novel. Narrated in the first person pov, it follows the exploits of Chi-Mo (among other, other- and self-appointed monikers), a suburban teen whose disaffectedness with his social betters and, particularly, with their (devil-head) ostentatious and (devil-head) obsequious (devil-head) genuflections to Salinger's most famous work (he refers to them as the "Catcher cult") gets him into one scrape after an More...

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May 10, 2011

Leslie rated it:

King Dork is a near-perfect YA book. The narrator is engaging, acerbic, hilarious, and totally relatable for anyone who ever was a punky freak at the high-school level. Thank God this book is in the first person. There are two mysteries here that require sleuthing, both around identity: one is a mystery of marginalia in Tom’s deceased father’s teen book collection, one is around a disguised mod girl he made out with at a party. Tom is preoccupied not only with individual identities but generatio More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

May 06, 2011

Joe rated it:

King Dork is a great novel of teenage alienation and enlightenment. Though the main character (and the author by extension) mock Catcher in the Rye endlessly, the novel is clearly crafted from Salinger's mold though with contemporary authenticity.

Tom Henderson, the King Dork, is a high school loser with only one friend, a whacko mother and step-father, and zero prospects on the female horizon. When he unearths his late father's collection of high school novels, Tom begins reading the More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 14, 2011

Rachel rated it:

King Dork is the coming of age story of Tom Henderson in his sophomore year of high school. As a student, Tom is disengaged. He has exactly one friend and focuses the majority of his time playing in his band and searching for answers to his father’s death that occurred six years prior to the time frame of the novel. Ultimately, the premise of the novel is Tom’s search for identity in what he believes to be a confusing and cruel world.

Personally, I did not expect to enjoy the novel as m More...

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Feb 14, 2011

Kristy rated it:

If you're looking for a "high school book" with more sarcasm than self-pity, this is it. Rather than being anti-Catcher, this is more anti-Perks of Being a Wallflower, another Salinger-inspired book. Perks and King Dork both have a lot going on in the "high school issues" department, but Chbosky seems to be for more sensitive readers than myself. If Chi-Mo and Charlie met, I think Chi-Mo would mock (or knock) him senseless. Portman's characters are believable and hilarious, a More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 26, 2011

Sawyer added it

I love the points that Dr Frank gets across in King Dork. I, myself, being a dork in school, and at home, find Tom Henderson very relateable. But what I find most interesting about the book, is that most teenage girls thought it very stereotypical and sexist. I, for one, being of the female gender, found King Dork to be exseptionally truthful and inspiring.

He discribes the bullies in all their "glory", along with the most popular girls and the most average of teenagers. I More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 23, 2011

Jackson rated it:

This was the first book I’ve read all year. Considering that it’s January 23 and I’m not in school or working right now, and considering the fact that it was pretty short, that seems kind of pathetic.

On to my actual review of the book though, I loved it! I would have given it 5 stars, but the ending was maybe a little weak and not all I hoped for to wrap up such an exciting book, and also the female characters were a bit one-dimensional. But I loved it.

It had a lot of e More...

0 comments like

May 14, 2010

Stevecrandell rated it:

This is a very funny book, in a gym locker nerd-nightmare kind of way. 10th grader Tom “King Dork” Henderson spends most of his time in rock n roll fantasy, inventing bands with names like Green Sabbath and The Underpants Machine. His less-musical fantasies involve not getting beaten up, and sex: all very understandable.

Tom’s vocabulary is a disturbing mix of erudition, profanity, and more raunch than I can appreciate. 21st century skills for the Holden Caulfield set. The entire boo More...

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Apr 17, 2010

David rated it:

One of my favorite excerpts:

"Oh, wait: I should mention that Catcher in the Rye is this book from the fifties. It is every teacher's favorite book. The main guy is a kind of misfit superhero named Holden Caulfield. For teachers, he is the ultimate guy, a real dreamboat.. . .It changed their lives when they were young. As kids, they carried it with them everywhere they went. They solemnly resolved that, when they grew up, they would dedicate their lives to spreading The Word More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 21, 2009

Abby rated it:

Really 3.5 stars, for reasons discussed below. I'm glad I gave this a chance, after reading Andromeda Klein first, which I think is much weaker. This book is funny and smart, and made me laugh out loud many many times. The narrator, 15-year-old Tom Henderson and his best (and only friend) Sam Hellerman are perfectly realized high school rock-geek losers. They're social outcasts at their high school and they're in a band (which is basically just an excuse to come up with cool band names, logos, a More...

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