Boy Wonder - James Robert Baker

When I first ventured out on to the internet back in the summer of 1997, I felt the need to create an alter ego. I didn’t want to use my real name, but I also wasn’t intending to create a monster, and turn into some weird psycho internet guy. So there I was, venturing out onto a newsgroup for the first time, wanting to post a message, but needing a name for myself. Could I think of one? Of course not. Then, I remembered a book I had previously read and loved, and that was this book, ‘Boy Wonder’, by James Robert Baker. The main character in the book was called ‘Shark Trager’ and hence that became my new ‘internet’ persona ...  Read the complete review

Like most people who love this book I read it by accident really, picking it up in a seconds shop, thinking it was about something different. To say I was pleasantly surprised as I finished it 10 feverish hours later, would be an understatement. But it would take many readings to fully appreciate the many levels of irony, that Boy Wonder functions on. A fictionalised biography of Shark Trager, a monstrous film producer, narrated in addictive chunks by his bizarre family, friends, lovers and enemies; it works as an original character study and laugh-out-loud assault on the movie biz. Basically the whole book is a series of wicked movie parodies as Trager's ...  Read the complete review