Character Analysis
Norton is John and Lorraine's classmate, a mean guy who steals electronics and sells them illegally. John compares him to an amoeba (3) and a caveman (9). He was there the day that Lorraine first prank-called Mr. Pignati. What are Lorraine and John doing hanging out with this creep, anyway? Norton lurks in the background for much of the novel; he suspects that Mr. Pignati has valuables and threatens John that he is going to break into Mr. Pignati's house. He makes good on this threat when he crashes the party and smashes Mr. Pignati's pig collection.
John makes an attempt to analyze Norton's problems and connect them with his childhood: when he was little, Norton played with dolls, and the kids' teasing caused him to "go berserk around the age of ten" (9). During his freshman year, Norton was also caught shoplifting from a supermarket, but his entire haul was a bag of marshmallows. Now his nickname is "the Marshmallow Kid," which enrages him (9).