The Dork of Cork [Paperback]

Chet Raymo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1994

When Frank, an Irish dwarf, writes a personal memoir, he moves from dark isolation into the public eye. This luminous journey is marked by memories of his lonely childhood, secrets of his doomed young mother, and his passion for a woman who is as unreachable as the stars.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"Begin with beauty," commands the opening sentence of this powerful novel, suffused with a 19th-century Romantic sensibility; its trite, although heartfelt, closing plea--"Hold me"--encapsulates the narrative's shift in focus from wide-ranging contemplation to the personal realization of love. Set in Cork, Ireland, this philosophic, imaginatively plotted tale is narrated by Frank Bois, a 43-year-old dwarf who has just completed a semi-autobiographical book. In a rambling internal dialogue he reminisces about the events his volume covers: his birth after WW II; his emotionally distant mother, who took many lovers; and his early decision to sublimate his sexuality (after a prostitute told him, "Be gone, ye little dork") by immersing himself in a passion for the moon and stars. Frank interrupts the chronological narrative with personal meditations, some about his writing career; he considers his book a literary freak show, knowing that people are amazed by his appreciation of beauty because, to them, he represents ugliness. Raymo ( In the Falcon's Claw ) so skillfully manipulates the author-within-an-author narration that it's easy to forget that Frank is a fictional entity. His unique, epiphanic and bluntly truthful story forces a reconsideration of the beautiful and the grotesque.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

In this novel, Raymo, author of In the Falcon's Claw: A Novel of the Year 1000 ( LJ 1/90), explores alienation--how it can be induced by religious belief, emotional trauma, or physical disability. His protagonist, Frank Bois, resident of Cork, Ireland, is 43 years old and 43 inches tall when we meet him. Frank has lived his adult life cut off from all meaningful human contact. Awash in self-pity over his size, unable to believe in the existence of God, Frank finds solace in observing the heavens and worshiping from afar the physical beauty of women. Through a series of flashbacks, often humorous, we learn of the mishaps that have shaped Frank's life, from his conception aboard an American troopship at the end of World War II to the death of his mother. The opportunity to have his celestial observations published takes Frank to London, where his preconceptions about God, women, and himself are challenged. Raymo has created a character we can all empathize with and for whom we care. This thoughtful, humorous novel is recommended for larger collections.
- Robert J. Andrews, Duluth P.L., Minn.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (April 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446670006
• ISBN-13: 978-0446670005
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 1 x 7.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #914,329 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Retreive this from oblivion and enjoy...., April 16, 2004

By 

James T. King (Chagrin Falls, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Dork of Cork (Paperback)

Chet Raymo's "The Dork of Cork" follows the night sky ruminations and meanderings of Frank Bois, diminutive bastard son of Bernadette Bois, an ambiguously sympathetic character whom you`ll either love to hate or hate to love. She is of a most rare beauty and a rarer-yet ethos and morality, particularly where she and her dwarf son have ended up: in manically-embattled Christian Ireland (and briefly in the dusty Bible Belt of America.)

Trapped in his absurd dwarfism and his mother's life of amoral hedonism, Frank takes us along on his life-long quest for existential value and a platonic ideal of beauty. This duality is made all the more profound, poignant, and ironic by the stark contrast between mother and son wherein each complements the other in a sort of yin-yang template of who we all are. Where one is grotesquely stumpy and grounded in his life, the other is breathtakingly aquiline and ethereal in hers. Yet for each, the essence of self belies the exterior image and hones in on the narrative's excellent opening directive: "Begin with beauty." Mr. Raymo, for his part, does, then maintains its presence to the tale's satisfying conclusion.

Narrative gems like this, "discovered" after a decade's wait on the shelves, again remind me: Good literature waits for us as long as necessary.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book will stay in my heart forever., May 12, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dork of Cork (Paperback)

Every now and then a book gives me a glimpse into the meaning of life. Marquez did it for me in Love in the Time of Cholera, Proulx did it in The Shipping News, Guterson did it in Snow Falling on Cedars. When asked to describe what I mean, I can only say that these are books about "Everything." With his lyrical writing and beautiful characters, Raymo has given me another glimpse into The Everything. Ironically, there aren't enough stars to convey my feeling for this book.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yes, it makes you think. You have been warned., April 13, 1998

By 

Prembone, Administrator of True Elton Worship... (a group of Elton worshipers rolling about on the lawn singing Rocket Man) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dork of Cork (Paperback)

I stumbled across The Dork of Cork purely by chance. I was at my local library, researching dwarfism, and this novel popped up amidst the nonfiction titles in the list. What the hey, I took a look, scanned the description on the back cover. Ireland. Hmmm. That resonated with my love of things Celtic.

I opened and started skimming the first chapter. That was it. I borrowed it, read it thoroughly, argued with it (and Frank!) all the while, and got a few long journal entries and a decent poem written as a result of my labors. And, of course, I went out and bought a copy of my own.

I guess there are some people whose idea of a good time is to just read a book, not to be philosophically engaged by one and analyze the blessed thing to death. But if you are, like myself, one of the latter, do yourself a favor and read The Dork of Cork. It's beautifully written, to boot.