Though it's fairly old news at this stage (that's what happens when I
update the site so rarely!), I just had to put something about Dr. Frank's
awesome new book Andromeda Klein. You can order it from Amazon
or fine bookstores everywhere. Frank has also released a 7" to accompany the
book with two brand new songs, out now on Jealous Butcher records. Check out
Interpunk for the
special red vinyl limited edition. Both the book and the songs are great, and
I can't reccommend them enough!
With the release of the book, Frank's been doing lots of reading and
performance events all over the country. I'm still in the middle of the very
slow process of rebuilding the website, so check out Frank's blog for the up to date
information!
4/15/06--
There's a few random things that I didn't get to in my news update the
other day. First off, Andrew Krucoff,
the guy who organized Dr. Frank's virtual book tour, made a trailer for King Dork:
The next thing is that Dr. Frank's demo cd Eight
Little Songs, is now available on
iTunes and eMusic.
There are demo versions of some songs that ended up on
Yesterday Rules, as well as a few
// Yesterday Rules, as well as a few
that aren't available on anything else. If you don't own it already, you
really need to get it!
Finally, Dr. Frank has a spiffy new
webpage, which has some King Dork content, reading/show information,
etc. Frank's blog is still the
best source of MTX and King Dork news, though the website is a good resource
and is definitely worth checking out. If you're into the whole myspace thing,
both Dr. Frank and
MTX now have profiles.
The MTX one doesn't seem to have much activity, but Dr. Frank sends out
announcements and stuff on his. Plus, who wouldn't want to be Dr. Frank's
friend?! While you're over there, you can also
be my friend, if you're so
inclined.
Oh yeah, I nearly forgot to remind you not to forget that Dr. Frank will
be on the radio tonight playing and talking and stuff. Go to the shows page for the specifics. And
buy
Dr. Frank's book!!!
4/13/06--
Greetings everyone! There's a ton of excellent news this week, including
the fact that I've started updating the site again! You may be wondering
what spurred the sudden return after more than two years of inactivity.
Let's just say I was inspired by my feverish excitement over the next news
item (which won't really be news to those of you who follow Dr. Frank's
blog)...
King Dork, the debut novel by Frank Portman (better known to all of
us as Dr. Frank), came out on Tuesday!!! I've read it and I have to
say, he's really outdone himself this time.
Rather than try to write my own review (both because I don't have time at
the moment and because I'm no literary critic), I'll just rip off some
reviews/blurbs I like:
"This book is for you if you're in a band or wish you were, if you loved
or hated Catcher in the Rye, if you like girls or are one, if you've ever
spoken Francais or Franglais, or if your high school has or had a dumb
mascot. Basically, if you are a human being with even a vague grasp of
the English language, King Dork will rock your world."
--John Green, author of Looking for Alaska
"Frank Portman's King Dork is the best novel I've ever read about high
school. (And it's not just about high school, of course, but that kind of
thematic reductionism makes for a snappier opening sentence, so.) Kurt
Vonnegut said that 'high school is closer to the core of the American
experience than anything else I can think of,' which is true as far as
it goes, but I prefer Portman's take, delivered at the beginning of his
novel: 'High school is the penalty for transgressions yet to be specified.'
Goddammit, you can say that again. The most shocking thing about King Dork
is that it's Portman's debut novel; he writes with a natural grace and a
charming, unique sense of humor that most authors never achieve, even
after several books."
One thing I'll add is this: The greatest strength of King Dork (in my
opinion) is that Frank manages to capture emotions and experiences in a way that
is elegant, real, and humorous without ever being condescending or
belaboring the point. It's a quality I've always admired in Frank's
songwriting, so I was thrilled to see that he could pull it off in
novel form. Which is not to say that the story isn't fantastic in
and of itself, because it is. Smart, engaging, surprising, and
hilarious. I laughed out loud, in public, on more than one occasion
while reading it.
You can order King Dork at a number of places online, including
Lookout,
Amazon,
Powell's, and
Barnes and Noble. Or pick it up at the brick and mortar bookseller of your choice (and
make sure to complain if they're not carrying it!).
As an extra treat for fans of the band, there are new songs to go
along with the book. King Dork's protagonist is in a band and writes
songs throughout the course of the novel, which Dr. Frank recorded
as bonus material for the
audio
book. You can hear a couple on the
Amazon page
for King Dork and as part of Dr. Frank's virtual book tour (details on
the shows page .
Which brings us to the next piece of news. As if King Dork coming
out weren't exciting enough, there's all sorts of fun King Dork
related stuff going on. The first event, going on
this week, is the aforementioned virtual book tour. The basic idea
is this: each day a different blog hosts an "appearance" by Dr. Frank
with an mp3 of Frank reading from King Dork, a Q & A type thing, and
a song. It's pretty neat. The links are on the virtual book tour page. In addition to the internet
appearances, Dr. Frank has several Bay Area readings/shows coming up
in the next month. Those of us who don't live in CA will have to
content ourselves to listen to Frank on
Pirate Cat Radio this
Saturday, April 15th, at 6pm. Head over to the shows page to get the full story.
There's a bunch of other random bits of news I was going to add, but
I think I'll have to save them for tomorrow. Stay tuned. And
buy
Dr. Frank's book!!!
