On R. J. Fox’s ‘Tales from the Dork Side’

Fox’s collection of narrative essays is charming while still conveying important lessons to bullies, the bullied, and the bystanders.

R. J. Fox
Nonfiction | Essays
92 pages
6” x 9”
Perfectbound Trade Paperback
Review Format: Paperback
ISBN 978–1597096034
First Edition
Fifth Avenue Press
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Available HERE
$9.99

There are some stories that can’t help but to break your heart while still compelling you to smile or laugh with understanding empathy. Tales from the Dork Side by R. J. Fox is full of those stories. Drawing from his experiences as a too-small, too-skinny, too-awkward kid, Fox has compiled a collection of thirteen essays that will compel you to believe that resilience will always triumph over unkindness.

Young Bobby was the target of bullies as long as he could remember. While many of the essays are light-hearted, they don’t discount the severity of the merciless teasing, harassment, and even physical endangerment that Bobby encountered.

In “Tree Hugger,” Bobby introduces a constant theme in the book: Bullies are masterful manipulators that will give false hopes and make empty promises to ensure their victim’s suffering.

“Some kids spend warm afternoons in the safe confines of a tree house. For one afternoon, at the tender age of nine, I had the luxury of spending mine tied to a tree.”

(p. 14)

A sports fanatic with zero athletic skill, a hopeful trendsetter sporting a Sea-Monkeys necklace to school, and a Bugle Boy clothing model who never got the appreciation or respect from his peers that he anticipated, Bobby has a constant inability to make careful choices about who to trust and befriend.

In “Prank Call,” Bobby recounts the time the neighbor boys, remembered not by their names but as “ne’er-do-wells,” suggested prank calling the front desk of the police station. Even though Bobby knows it’s a bad idea, he goes along with it anyway out of desperation for their approval and friendship:

“For many reasons, my parents weren’t too thrilled with my new social circle. As much as my parents hoped I could make some friends, they at least maintained a certain level of standards. Nerds and dorks were fine. Burgeoning criminals, not so much.”

(p. 56).

While many readers may shake their heads at Bobby’s lack of foresight, we can’t help but to cheer for him for his unconditionally kind heart and blind loyalty. Even when the police show up at his house that evening, he accepts the blame and offers apologies, rather than tattling on the ne’er-do-wells across the street.

The universal truth about bullies is they hone in on our greatest sensitivities and exploit them. For young Bobby, he could ignore the teasing about his Sea-Monkeys necklace, being peer-pressured into adolescent misbehaviors, even shrugging off the public rejection from the cute girl he crushed on. However, he couldn’t shake the attacks on his alleged bad breath or his speech impediment.

Yet, there is some hope and kindness in Bobby’s childhood. He befriends his Taiwanese neighbor and classmate Tzu who stays in his life through adulthood then inevitably betrays him, proving that some bullies don’t reveal their true selves until they are old enough to know better.

Despite his reoccurring role as a self-proclaimed social outcast, you can’t help but to root for the underdog and cheer when something, anything, goes right in his life. Tales from the Dork Side is a charming collection of narrative essays that still conveys an important lesson to the bullies, the bullied, and the bystanders.