Dunkoff

by Sam Wade

Harry Dunkoff is a teenager growing up in the 90s. He hates school, and he doesn't want to get a job. He drinks and does drugs. He lies and steals. From Memphis to Key West to Boston, he makes one dumb move after another.

189 pages, Paperback

Published March 23, 2022

About the author

Sam Wade was born in Memphis,Tennessee. At the age of 16, he dropped out of high school. Now he's a high school teacher.

Reviews

[Jackie · Rating 1 out of 5]

don’t waste your money

I received the book as a free giveaway. The book doesn’t really have a climax. Nothing really happens and it just ends. I kept reading thinking something has to happen……and nothing

[MELISSA CORTEZ · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was not my kind of book. But it was well written

[Aleister Crowley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dunkoff. A very naughty boy. Fucks up every time. I like it!

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

[Dana Radtke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book did a great job of capturing teenage angst.

[Lana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read. Kind of like Catcher in the Rye.

[F.E. Beyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harry Dunkoff is 16 years old and runs away from home. This is a chronicle of his misadventures. It’s an episodic book that I enjoyed immensely.

Wade creates entertaining quirky characters and settings that are easy to visualise—most writers can't do that!

Sam Wade’s influences come through loud and clear. Harry moving from one disaster to another reminded me of Nathaniel West’s A Cool Million. His stay at a homeless colony on an island in Florida resembled Lost Memory of Skin but without the wordiness. I’m never keen on narrators who are wannabe writers, a la Arturo Bandini, but it didn’t bug me too much here.

The novel is set in the 90s. I wonder if a teenager could travel across the US taking drugs and picking up casual work these days? Taking drugs I guess yes.