The Dork of Cork

This is the story of Frank Bois, a dwarf, 43 inches tall and 43 years old. He has written, and published the story of his life, intermingled with his love of astronomy and this changes his life, forcing him out into the world where he has to confront, more often than not, his own prejudices and preconceived opinions. The novel moves back and forth between Frank describing his life, and viewing it through the memoir that he has written. His is an unusual life: his mother was a teenage stowaway in an American troop ship at the end of the war, who "gave her favours", as they say, to all who desired them in the hold of the ship, and out of which unions, emerged Frank. She, Bernadette, is discovered in the ship and put off in Ireland, where show more she escapes from the authorities and starts her own life. Bernadette is a finely drawn character: scarred by the murder o her father by the Germans, and the madness of her mother that followed, she seems to have adopted a philosophy of life that celebrates only the here and now, with great gusto for carnal pleasures, but no desire, or no capacity, to form more lasting relationships. This plays havoc with more than one man in her life. Frank, writing from the perspective of his 43 years, tries to understand his mother and the strange relationship he had with her, finds solace in the stars, and falls in love with the image of beauty, first in the physical attractiveness of women (forever out of his reach given his deformity: even a prostitute tells him to "Fuck off, you little dork"), but then with a deeper concept of beauty as synonymous with being, despite the imposed societal standards of what constitutes beauty. Frank marries in the end-with Emma, daughter of his mother's first lover and supporter in Ireland, and a woman who has had her own difficult life; despite her physical beauty, Emma finds it impossible to establish relationships of her own and lives in an unreal world of unfulfilled religious fervour, but because of her beauty, and unworldliness, an unscrupulous leche takes advantage of her. In the end, Emma and Frank find tenderness and love with each other, and so establish their own "beauty", having come at the physical representation of it from such different ends.

I liked Frank, and Bernadette, and the host of other characters that populate this novel. Frank tends to get a little preachy about the inequities of the treatment of the physically deformed and how they do not fit at all with the modern, manufacture images of today's developed societies; almost a tad melodramatic in a few places. But this aside, I like the book, and the story, and the point being made about the glorious individuality of every person that is there, beneath the layers of manufactured life. show less

Years ago I watched an Irish movie called Frankie Starlight and loved it. A few years later, I discovered that it was based on a book by Chet Raymo called The Dork of Cork. It’s about a dwarf who grows to manhood and publishes a book, called Nightstalk, based on his observations of the stars. It’s also about his slightly mad French mother, an Irish immigration officer who loves them both, and Frankie’s journey to find acceptance and love. It’s a sweet story of love and redemption that will stay with the reader long after the last page is turned.

The Dork of Cork is actually Francois Bois (Frankie for short) who is 43 years old and 43 inches in height. As a child Frankie would wander the streets of Cork (where he lived with his mother, Bernadette) after dark and take in the sights and sounds of night. At the opening of this book, Frankie has just published a book of his travels & astronomical observations mixed in with memoirs & philosophical waxings called Nightstalk. In The Dork of Cork we get a glimpse of what's in Nightstalk, with the exception that in Nightstalk, the names have been changed to keep them fictional.

The story is SO good that I read every word of it very slowly. It is about Frankie's life and that of his mother Bernadette; the other characters in the story were show more all a major part of Frankie & Bernadette's life as well. Each played a different role in both of their lives; each had something meaningful and lasting to contribute to Frankie as a child which helped to form his adult years.

I am definitely going to reread this one...very philosophical, funny, tragic all at the same time. I very highly recommend it. You really must spend some time thinking about this one once you've finished it. show less

Frank Bois, a forty-three-year-old dwarf living in Cork, Ireland, becomes a literary celebrity after penning his autobiography, a work that reveals his fascination with the stars, his love for an unattainable woman, and the story of his haunting, lonely life.

Raymo, Chet. The Dork of Cork. Warner Books, New York, 1993.