Jack in the Box

by William Kotzwinkle

A witty and nostalgic novel that traces Jack Twiller's zany transition from a 1940s comic-book identity to a typical American youth of the Fabulous Fifties, which is to say completely warped.

Genres: Fiction, Novels

268 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

William Kotzwinkle is a two-time recipient of the National Magazine Award for Fiction, a winner of the World Fantasy Award, the Prix Litteraire des Bouquinistes des Quais de Paris, the PETA Award for Children's Books, and a Book Critics Circle award nominee. His work has been translated into dozens of languages.

Reviews

[Nils Visser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some authors can really pull off nostalgia for a childhood in times gone and draw you in completely. This is one of those books.

[Ketan Shah]

A quirky coming of age novel. If you enjoyed this you might like Chris Fuhrman's The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys and Mikael Niemi's Popular Music

[Ralph Carlson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's Kotzwinkle, it has to be good. Love all his books.

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Off-beat little episodes of growing up as a horny boy in the 50's. I'm a big fan of the movie Book Of Love, based upon this book. It was interesting to see how the movie was pieced together based on the material here, but as usually is the case when I love the movie for years before reading the book... I like the movie better. :)

[Nate · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is probably my least favorite Kotzwinkle so far, and I didn’t finish Dr. Rat, the concept was interesting but too painful. Pretty mediocre compared to his other works, but a perfect description of adolescent boyhood.

[AutomaticSlim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started stronger than it ended, but I'm gonna look for as much kotz as I can get

Round up 4

[Kurt · Rating 4 out of 5]

William Kotzwinkle is a very talented writer. He swerves around the trite and obvious, even when writing about subjects that seem like cliches. He doesn't overstate symbols or linger for poignancy. He just writes it and keeps rolling, allowing the reader to be the one to pause or reflect, if they choose to. His "Elephant Bangs Train" a collection of short stories, is a favorite of mine. In this book "Book of Love", what seems on the surface to be a simple coming of age in a small town in the fifties book, is told in such a lively and engaging manner, that the story has some weight that caused me to reflect on it much more than if it were written by a lesser storyteller. The writing has a great rhythm to it, almost as if it was dashed off, and it probably was, but the flow of the story and the characters themselves feel natural in a way keeps the story entertaining and the people in it as if you know them. The book seems a little bit "for the boys", if you ask me, and I can see the sexuality as being a little redundant, at least, and maybe Kotzwinkle let's himself go to the point of preoccupation. Then again, maybe not. For as the book rolls on to its conclusion, what really seems to be the main theme of the book is contained in the characters' preoccupation with sexual thoughts and feelings, and their lack of conquests; unfulfilled desires. The things they, and all of us, want in our lives, our hopes and dreams, particularly when we are young and trying on different personae, the wishes that someone, anyone, will understand us, all of us reaching for something that shouldn't be intangible, or so difficult, always seems to be just out of reach. (Spoiler alert)
Just as when Twiller is riding with his prom date, hoping to score, in his dad's nice, new Chevy, after having dropped off his own car with broken headlights, a cushion that gives him rashes, a top that won't go up and is held together by chicken wire, sometimes it's the recognition that even if something is a mess, if we fit in it, and realize that we do, that's the important thing. Unfortunately, sometimes it's awakened too late.

[Aimee Warrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book when I was a kid.