My introduction to Korman’s works was the 39 Clues back in 2009. Yes you read that correctly, his hundredth book. Mid Last year, in the summer of 2022, Korman published his 100th book. I believe it was originally published in 1980, and there appears to have been seven editions between then and 1991 in English and an edition in German in 1984. This book is one of the few of the 100 volumes from Gordon Korman that I have found looks to be currently out of print. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to pop my Dorchester Mellon tape into my cassette player, put on my head phones, and pay close attention to some amazing drum work. Would I want it any other way at all? Not on your life. Wish-fulfillment adolescent fantasy? You bet your drumsticks.

I love it, and I love 'em all, even some two decades after I first read this book. From the titular Potter, who proclaims himself 'The Most' in an early introduction to mild-mannered flute-guy ('that's 'flautist!'') roommate Adam Webb to world-famous, yet cursed, movie star BiBi Lanay, her gorilla of a security guard Charlie, and her eternally optimistic publicist Claire, Korman covers all the bases for a set-'em-up-and-knock-'em-down bevy of gags which rely on the kids knowing everything and the adults in charge being completely incompetent. Korman's true writing gift is his characters, and he's no slouch in that department here. 'Who Is Bugs Potter?' is what every school-age kid wishes his field trips would turn into without the police investigations and looming detentions which menace us in the real world.

It brings back memories of class trips from grade school and high school, the trouble we managed to get into, and the laughs shared along the way. Of the books Korman has written aimed at younger readers, as opposed to his teen fiction like 'Don't Care High' or 'Son of Interflux', this is my absolute, hands-down favorite. Indulge yourself in some Pottermania from a time before anyone know the name J.K. On the other hand, if you enjoy killing an hour or two in an amusingly-realized fantasy world that looks bizarrely like the one outside your front door, yet odd enough to allow the afore-mentioned craziness free reign, then come right on in. If you can't abide the ridiculous, put down the book-Bugs Potter is not for you. Movie stars walking around with single bodyguard escorts, two-bit thugs who get chance after chance to pull off the theft of the century, and a no-name nobody getting to rock out with all of his favorite bands simply by donning a mustache and walking through the front door of a bar where no one gets carded: these are the sorts of absurdities one must overlook when reading a Gordon Korman book. Yes, like nearly all of Korman's YA reads, 'Who Is Bugs Potter?' is completely implausible.

Son of Interflux by Gordon Korman