Book Review
Thumbsucker *** By Walter Kirn Anchor Books 1999 Thumbsucker is a clever, funny coming-of-age novel in which protagonist Justin Cobb throws himself from one obsession into the next with the unwaning enthusiasm that only teenagers have. As the title suggests, thumb sucking is the first, and Justin explains why: “It was the only thing I had always done. Even breathing did not go back to the womb. Being part of a circle of shoulder, arm, hand, mouth, connected me to myself. This circle is what I tried to break the summer I turned fourteen.” With the help of hypnosis and his dentist, an aging hippie-Freudian, Justin overcomes his oral fixation by page 18, only to replace it with a succession of others. Girls and substance abuse are the obvious choices, followed by a less likely teenage fascination with the speech team, fly-fishing, and Mormonism. The quickness with which Justin experiments and drops one habit for another occasionally makes the book seem like a parody of adolescence in time-lapse, but if you get past the burlesque, it is a truly rewarding read that has much more to offer. As Justin is too smart and hyperactive to stay with any bad habit for too long, ultimately it is his troubled relationship with his family, primarily with his father, that is the central theme of the novel. Justin’s father, Mike, initially appears an over masculine cartoon character — a tough-talking, tobacco-chewing, venison-hunting bully, who refers to his family as “you people.” As Mike slowly drops his macho mask, Justin discovers that he himself may actually be the stronger one. “I’d hoped we’d be strong together, not just one of us,” he says, disillusioned. “I hadn’t planned on being strong alone.” In a world in which the parents seem to be even more troubled than their children — with a father who laments the professional football career he never had and a mother who secretly dreams of winning a date with Don Johnson — Justin’s voice rings both fresh and wise. At times precocious and manipulative, he’s not always a likable character, but, then again, what teenager is? In the end, it is Justin’s voice, as well as the idiosyncrasies of his family, who seek salvation in camping trips or by joining the Church of Latter-Day Saints, that make this novel stand out from countless others that deal with the difficulties of growing up. <<<