Humor Book Reviews
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
By Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
I’m a huge Jane Austen fan, one of the snobby ones who notices when the costume designer in
the movie adaptation of Mansfield Park uses a style of gown that is two years out of fashion for
the time. I appreciate Austen’s wit and commentary, the way she portrays the idle upper class. I
adore her female characters, women who are trapped within strict social restraints, trying to
make the best out of their lot in life. And the history contained in one of Austen’s novels is
humbling.
But add zombie bloodbaths to the mix and you’ve got yourself a book.
Seth Grahame-Smith bastardizes Janie’s most famous story so deliciously that it’s hard to put
down. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is, of course, the story of spirited, martial-arts-trained
Elizabeth Bennet and her four sisters, who, along with their mother, rejoice at the arrival of new
meat in their village of Meryton—namely, Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy, handsome and wealthy
bachelors in want of a wife. The arrogant, ill-mannered, and incredibly sexy Darcy finds himself
drawn to our Lizzy Bennet, but can she be civil to him long enough to solicit a marriage
proposal? Or will the newly risen corpses of England’s long dead prevent happily ever after?
Spattered with blood, brains, and full dance cards, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is exactly
what it sounds like—Jane Austen’s masterpiece, with katanas.
—Emma Gingold
King Dork
By Frank Portman
A secret code, ESP, and rock and roll are just three of the things making Tom Henderson’s life
weird lately. Add to that the tortures inflicted on him by the Catcher Cult (adults who worship
Holden Caulfield), a possible conspiracy related to his father’s death, and the agonizing decision
of what to name his band, and it’ll be a wonder if he makes it through sophomore year alive. And
that’s not even taking into account the complex mystery of how to get a girl to look at him.
King Dork is a frank, and occasionally crass, look into the mind of a high school boy. Tom is
blatantly sarcastic, and his cynical opinion of almost everything is sure to get a reader laughing.
Though the plot is convoluted, at times reminding one of a bizarre noir film in which Humphrey
Bogart is replaced by a slouching slacker in an ironic army coat, the realistic and well-drawn
characters will keep a reader invested. Tom is a very real character with some serious flaws, yet
he manages to remain likable and sympathetic throughout the novel.
But by far the best (and funniest) element of King Dork is its consideration of that singular
cultural phenomenon that is high school. The book mocks a high school environment which,
while exaggerated, is extremely recognizable. No matter what group you belonged to in high
school, you’ll see facets of your experience reflected and satirized in Tom’s world of
incomprehensible French class conversation and the “jabbering, half-human/half-beast
replicants” who are his peers.
Flirting with the ridiculous and the serious in equal measure, King Dork is an incredibly funny
and enjoyable read, with nuanced and realistic characters, crazy plot twists, and an ending that
satisfies even as it tantalizes.
—Krista Ahlberg
