Return to Book Page Full review in The Globe and Mail Bonk on the Head By John-James Ford AVAILABLE 0-88971-204-2 Nightwood Editions 5.5 x 8.5 · 282 pages Paperback · $20.95 June 2005 "Bonk on the Head is a tour of duty and a tour de force." - Mark Anthony Jarman "[An] assured, often disturbing debut." - Jim Bartley, The Globe and Mail "Hemingway, Mailer, Joseph Heller, Tobias Wolff - Americans have a long rich tradition of writing about the military, but very few Canadians have picked up the torch. John-James Ford tackles the mysteries of the military in stunning style, and reveals the rage, the sex, the hazing, the hatred, and the physical transformation of young recruits at Royal Military College. Bonk on the Head is a tour of duty and a tour de force." -Mark Anthony Jarman "[An] assured, often disturbing debut... Ford negotiates the labyrinth of emotions with prose that enters the mind... simply and powerfully, like all the things it evokes: volcanic anger, sorrow, aching regret... Ford couldn't be more attuned to the tragic potential in petty resentments and the inability to express love." -Jim Bartley, The Globe and Mail "Using a manic, hilarious, and cheerfully vulgar style, Ford recounts the coming-of-age of Verbal Kempt, the son of a well-known army colonel and grandson of a D-Day veteran... Bonk on the Head is entertaining. Ultimately, Verbal Kempt learns that the price of living up to the expectations of the Kernel is that he must, in effect, become him. Readers must decide for themselves whether he goes through with it." -K. Gordon Neufeld, The Calgary Herald "With its combination of warmth, humour and brutal honesty, Bonk on the Head is just the book to shake CanLit from its safety harness." -Chris Robinson, Ottawa XPress "Verbal Kempt is Holden Caufield for a new generation." -Ottawa Life "...delves deeply into the reality of a military education and, as such, is a finely drawn, often unsettling book." -Andrew Armitage, The Sun-Times "...[B]eautifully and fully written... Bonk on the Head would be enjoyable to those interested in military tales but equally enjoyable to those who prefer tales of the psyche... a pleasure to read." -Sondra Fowler, Reader Views “…a finely drawn, often unsettling book.” —Andrew Armitage, The Sun Times “Ford, a Foreign Service Officer, spins a debut novel ripe with genuine humour and horror, detailing the sordid history of a dysfunctional family and the viciousness of Military College through the eyes of a young man...But the honesty and wit of [main character Verbal Kempt's] inevitable self-destruction carries and engages throughout Bonk on the Head, leaving the reader lingering on the questions of what exactly is a good solider.” —Aaron Tucker, The Danforth Review "[A]n accomplished first novel...the writing is hilarious, vivid, and moves with an energetic narrative thrust that makes for compulsive reading...Ford's brand of humour is never short of entertaining. For all this dithering, bad behaviour, and self-abuse, Herbert (Verbal) Kempt is a credible and memorable character...Despite the title, there is wisdom here. I'll be interested to see where John-James Ford takes us next." —Ian Colford, The Fiddlehead