 First edition cover | |
| Author | Walter Kirn |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Anchor Books |
Publication date | November 1999 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 300 pp (hardback edition) |
| ISBN | 0-385-49709-1 (hardback edition) |
| OCLC | 40776731 |
| 813/.54 21 | |
| LC Class | PS3561.I746 T48 1999 |
| Followed by | Up_in_the_Air_(novel) (2001) |
Thumbsucker is a 1999 novel by Walter Kirn. [1] [2] It was adapted into a film of the same name by Mike Mills in 2005. [3]
Kirn's novel tells the story of Justin Cobb, a Minnesota teenager whose family experiences a broad spectrum of dysfunction. Father Mike is a washed-up college football star with a militaristic and unemotional attitude inspired by his former coach. Mother Audrey, a nurse, is struggling to accept how her life has wound down. Younger brother Joel simply does everything he can to fit in and seem normal.
Amidst pressures to stop sucking his thumb, 14-year-old Justin turns to unorthodox dentist Perry Lyman who attempts to use hypnosis to remedy the problem with limited success: the thumb sucking disappears, but other problem habits arise to take its place. Justin starts behaving oddly, and his condition is 'identified' as attention deficit disorder by his school and he is consequently prescribed Ritalin. The drug appears to help the problem for a time, but this is merely a stop-gap whilst Justin's (and indeed his family's) real problems remain at large. When Justin gives up Ritalin he turns to drugs, sex, and religion to combat his problems. Eventually deciding that he's had enough of this life, Justin returns to Perry Lyman who reminds him that we all have flaws, the goal is not to fix them, but to live with them. With this message in mind, Justin is sent off to be a Mormon missionary in New York, and winds up sucking his thumb again, at the expense of drugs and sex.
Kids is a 1995 American coming-of-age drama film directed by Larry Clark in his directorial debut and written by Harmony Korine in his screenwriting debut. It stars Leo Fitzpatrick, Justin Pierce, Chloë Sevigny, and Rosario Dawson, all in their film debuts. Set in 1995, Fitzpatrick, Pierce, Sevigny, Dawson, and other newcomers portray a group of teenagers in New York City. They are characterized as hedonists, who engage in sexual acts and substance abuse, over the course of a single day.
A pacifier is a rubber, plastic, or silicone nipple substitute given to an infant or toddler to suckle upon between feedings to quiet its distress by satisfying the need to suck when it does not need to eat. Pacifiers normally have three parts: an elongated teat, a handle, and a mouth shield which prevents the child from swallowing or choking on it.
Cloudsplitter is a 1998 historical novel by Russell Banks relating the story of abolitionist John Brown.
Matthew Colin Taibbi is an American author, journalist, and podcaster. He has reported on finance, media, politics, and sports. A former contributing editor for Rolling Stone, he is the author of several books, former co-host of the Useful Idiots podcast, and publisher of the Racket News on Substack.
"Brother's Little Helper" is the second episode of the eleventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 3, 1999. In the episode, Bart floods the school gymnasium and the schoolyard, which prompts the school's principal Seymour Skinner to diagnose Bart with ADHD. Bart is prescribed a psychostimulant drug called Focusyn, and initially starts paying more attention to his studies. After a while however, Bart starts turning psychotic and is convinced that Major League Baseball is watching over the people of Springfield.
Thumbsucker or thumb sucking may refer to:
Thumbsucker is the soundtrack to the film of the same name, which is based in the novel of the same name by Walter Kirn. It was released on September 13, 2005, under the Hollywood Records label. It was originally intended to be created by Elliott Smith, but after his death in 2003, The Polyphonic Spree was chosen to complete it when director Mike Mills attended a performance of theirs and was impressed. Three tracks by Smith remain on the release.
The Wood is a 1999 American coming-of-age comedy drama film directed by Rick Famuyiwa and starring Omar Epps, Richard T. Jones and Taye Diggs. It was written by Famuyiwa and Todd Boyd.
No Country for Old Men is a 2005 novel by American author Cormac McCarthy, who had originally written the story as a screenplay. The story occurs in the vicinity of the Mexico–United States border in 1980 and concerns an illegal drug deal gone awry in the Texas desert back country. Owing to the novel's origins as a screenplay, the novel has a simple writing style that differs from McCarthy's earlier novels. The book was adapted into a 2007 Coen brothers film of the same name, which won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
Stephen Gaghan is an American screenwriter and director. He is noted for writing the screenplay for Steven Soderbergh's film Traffic, based on a Channel 4 series, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, as well as Syriana which he wrote and directed. He also wrote and directed the thriller Abandon and the family film Dolittle, and directed the drama Gold.
Thumb sucking is a behavior found in humans, chimpanzees, captive ring-tailed lemurs, and other primates. It usually involves placing the thumb into the mouth and rhythmically repeating sucking contact for a prolonged duration. It can also be accomplished with any organ within reach and is considered to be soothing and therapeutic for the person. As a child develops the habit, it will usually develop a "favourite" finger to suck on.
Walter Norris Kirn is an American novelist, literary critic, and essayist. He is the author of eight books, most notably Up in the Air, which was made into a film of the same name starring George Clooney.
Mission to America is a novel by American novelist Walter Kirn.
Thumbsucker is a 2005 American independent comedy-drama film written and directed by Mike Mills in his feature directorial debut. The film stars Lou Taylor Pucci, Tilda Swinton, Vincent D'Onofrio, Kelli Garner, Benjamin Bratt, Vince Vaughn, and Keanu Reeves. The plot focuses on Justin Cobb, a teenager in suburban Oregon, as he copes with his thumb-sucking problem, romance, and his diagnosis with ADHD and subsequent experience using Ritalin. The screenplay was adapted from the 1999 Walter Kirn novel of the same name. Swinton also served as an executive producer.
Sasha Valentine is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Nathalie Emmanuel. Sasha first appeared on-screen on 17 July 2006 as part of the newly introduced Valentine family. Sasha has been at the centre of many high-profile storylines including use of recreational drugs, a heroin addiction and a subsequent overdose, prostitution, a victim of a series of violent attacks, portraying a gangster's moll and binge drinking. In March 2010, Paul Marquess announced that 11 characters are to depart the show which included Sasha. Although it was initially reported Emmanuel was axed, Ricky Whittle confirmed she had planned to leave at the end of her contract. Emmanuel left in 2010 and was later credited on 1 December 2010 for a flashback episode.
Twelve is a 2010 teen crime drama film directed by Joel Schumacher from a screenplay by Jordan Melamed, based on Nick McDonell's 2002 novel of the same name. The film follows a young drug dealer whose luxurious lifestyle falls apart after his cousin is murdered and his best friend is arrested for the crime. It stars Chace Crawford, Rory Culkin, Curtis Jackson, Emily Meade, and Emma Roberts.
The Virginity Hit is a 2010 American found-footage comedy film directed by Huck Botko and Andrew Gurland, produced by Adam McKay and Will Ferrell, and starring Matt Bennett, Zack Pearlman, Jacob Davich, Justin Kline and Nicole Weaver. The film itself is a series of videos on a teenager's attempt to lose his virginity, being recorded from cell phones to video cameras. Most of the cast used their own names for their characters.
Attila Hazai was a popular Hungarian writer. He is best known for his local version of American Psycho called Budapesti skizo (1997). At the time of his death, none of his works had been translated into English.
Joyland is a novel by American writer Stephen King, published in 2013 by Hard Case Crime. It is King's second book for the imprint, following The Colorado Kid (2005). The first edition was released only in paperback, with the cover art created by Robert McGinnis and Glen Orbik. A limited hardcover edition followed a week later. The novel was nominated for the 2014 Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original.
The Shannon family is an American family whose members are best known for their involvement in reality television. The family first appeared on TV in 2011, when June "Mama June" Shannon and her at-the-time five-year-old daughter, Alana "Honey Boo Boo" Thompson, appeared on the TLC series, Toddlers & Tiaras. The family then got its own spin-off show in 2012 on TLC, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. After cancellation, the show was reconstituted as Mama June: From Not to Hot in 2017 on We TV. It has since been rebranded Mama June: Road to Redemption and Mama June: Family Crisis.
 | This article about a 1990s novel is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. See guidelines for writing about novels. Further suggestions might be found on the article's talk page. |