Thumbsucker

by Walter Kirn and Kristian Lutze

Book Overview

This eighties-centric, Ritalin-fueled, pitch-perfect comic novel by a writer to watch brings energy and originality to the classic Midwestern coming-of-age story.Meet Justin Cobb, "the King Kong of oral obsessives" (as his dentist dubs him) and the most appealingly bright and screwed-up fictional adolescent since Holden Caulfield donned his hunter's cap. For years, no remedy--not orthodontia, not the escalating threats of his father, Mike, a washed-out...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385497091
• ISBN13: 9780385497091
• Release Date: October 1999
• Publisher: Anchor Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Read it in ONE SITTING!

So, I saw the tralier for Mike Mills' film adaptation of this book a few weeks ago and decided that since I live in North Louisiana and I probably won't get to see the film until it comes to DVD (unless I drive a few hundred miles to an independent theater), that I would buy the book. So, I ordered it and it came in the mail on a Saturday afternoon. Given that my life is pretty boring altogether, especially in the Summer, I unwrapped it, opened it up, and dived in. And, I kid you not, I did not stop reading until I was done. From the first paragraph, scratch that...the first LINE, I was hooked. Now, I will admit that I am a sucker for a good coming of age, Holden Caulfield-esque novel, but this one really surpassed my expectations. As an English major and hopeful writer (fingers crossed), I found this to be one of the most thoughtful, insightful, dramatic, and darkly humorous novel's I've ever read. I think Walter Kirn did a fantastic job of portraying his characters as authentic specimens and I am extremely jealous of his writing style altogether. All in all, I would recommend this book to anyone with and open mind and an afternoon to spare, because they won't be able to put it down.

Thumbs Up

This was a great read. The characters are hilarious, with my favorites being Mike and Grandma. I'll be buying more of Walter Kirn.

Go ahead, read it

It won't take long. Kirn has an ability to describe situations, conversations and emotions explicitly without going into great detail or boring the reader. A great read for a young man in the process of finding himself. It teaches that maybe, part of maturity is understanding and accepting one's immaturities.

Splendid writing: warm and funny

Walter Kirn may very well be the American counterpart to Nick Hornby (About a Boy, High Fidelity, etc.), which is to say, his fiction is that perfect combination of hilarious and poignant, always vivid and believable and yet full of truly weird moments and eccentricities that can only be generated at the core of a nuclear family. A great novel. Give us more.

Truly superb. A minor classic.

This is an impressive book, a book that is generous of spirit. It ranks with Jim Harrison's The Road Home and Don DeLillo's Underworld among the best novels of the past two years, though it is painted on a much smaller canvas. It is heartbreakingly funny and Kirn's ear is extraordinary. I laughed out loud about once a page. What struck me most was this: How can a book that is so intelligent tell a story in a way that is so unpretentious and charming? In other words, this book evidences both brain and heart. A minor classic--along the lines of David Gates's Jernigan or James Salter's Light Years.