Interview with Frank Portman, Author of King Dork - Page 3

Were you like Tom, always coming up with new band names? I know I was though more in college than high school.

Yes, this is one of the few areas where Tom's imaginary life and my "real" one mirror each other pretty closely.

What was high school like for you?

Unmitigated, relentless horror.

How did this book come about?

This guy who was a fan of my band as a kid grew up and became a literary agent. He suggested I try writing a novel and I gave it a shot and he sold it to Random House. So I became a novelist.

Where did the idea for a YouTube book preview come from? Are you surprised at how much traffic it has received?

That was the brainchild of Andrew Krucoff, who organized a blog tour for the week of the book's release. (The links to the tour thing are in this post, if you'd like to see.) Krucoff is a proven traffic generator, so actually I'm not surprised at all.

What are you working on next?

My second novel is called Andromeda Klein. I'm also working on some songs for a future rock and roll album

I love all the music references, like this one: "Just think what a better world we would have if David Bowie had never met Brian Eno. That was the worst tragedy of the twentieth century." Are those opinions you share that you decided to add into the mix?

I'm glad you like Tom's musical references. They're not necessarily my opinions, though I do like a lot of the same stuff that he mentions. The one you quote in your question is actually an observation by Tom's friend Sam Hellerman, and in this case I'm with Tom: David Bowie's collaboration with Brian Eno falls well short of being the worst tragedy of the twentieth century.

At times this book reads like something for young adults that can be in a library. Then I get to details about blowjobs and think, hmm, maybe not. Was that a concern at all?

You'd be surprised at what you can find in libraries these days.

You write, after your criticism of The Catcher in the Rye: "Reading books can be a lot of fun when they're not the same ones that they make you read over and over and over till you want to shoot yourself. Is that your attitude toward reading?

It's been a long time since anyone has ever forced me to read anything, but I don't think I'd like it any more now than I did as a kid. On the other hand, I do re-read things I like over and over. I've probably read The Inimitable Jeeves over a dozen times, and I'm still alive, so I guess wanting to shoot yourself varies with circumstances.

Article Author: Scott Butki

Scott Butki was a newspaper reporter for more than 10 years before making a career change into education.

He is an in-house media critic, a recovering Tetris addict and a proud uncle.

Visit Scott Butki's author page — Scott Butki's Blog