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Mar
18
Book Review & Giveaway: Captain Freedom by G. Xavier Robillard
2009 at 8am Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky
Recently published February 2009 by HarperCollins
I can’t possible summarize this book with any kind of conciseness, so here’s how the publisher describes G. Xavier Robillard’s first book, Captain Freedom: A Superhero’s Quest for Truth, Justice, and the Celebrity He So Richly Deserves:
Freedom’s fifteen minutes are over!
Software pirates! Mostly extinct dinosaurs! Giant barbarians! Crooning criminals! Captain Freedom’s beat them all, saved the world, and looked fantastic doing it—but he couldn’t fend off middle management.
The Superhero lifestyle is all that Captain Freedom has ever known. What’s he supposed to do now? Enter politics? Write a children’s book?
Freedom’s in a bad way and he’s only a stint in rehab away from a lifetime of celebrity reality shows. But with the guidance of his new life coach, maybe Freedom can stumble in a new direction—even if it means having to make peace with his parents . . . or finally commit to a single long-term archenemy.
Simply put, this is a hilarious tongue-in-cheek imagining of the life of a Superhero in the 21st century, and it’s all told by the Superhero himself.
Basically, Captain Freedom, a middle-aged Superhero whose powers include flying, superhuman strength, and the ability to predict the weather with uncanny accuracy, has been let go from his long-time gig with Gothic Comix because sales of his comic book are in decline. As the marketing folks tell him:
The market favors graphic novels about losers…We can’t compete with indecipherable but adorable manga.
The situation has him “angry enough to toss a car across the street,” but he’s “not warmed up, and that’s just begging for a back injury.” Floundering for a way to continue his career, Captain Freedom sets out to write a memoir, but first, he must delve into the psychology of why he’s never found an archenemy or figured out the truth about how he became super (his “origin story,” as they call it in the business). In his search for self-awareness and a cure for his dying career, Freedom picks up a sidekick, a life coach, and his very own line of Superhero fashions, and he still manages to time travel back to the past to prevent future crimes and fall victim to an identity theft scam masked as an online dating service.
Freedom saves the world no less than three times—that’s more than his mentor Chief Justice achieved—and fights pirates (the kind who illegally copy and sell software, music, and DVDs, not the kind who look like Jack Sparrow) and breaks the world record for foiling bank robbery attempts, but he still lacks direction.
There’s a moment in the life of every Superhero when he comes to the zenith of his career. He’s traveled back in time; he’s been killed and re-animated; he’s battled his evil doppelganger; he’s been considered for induction into the Hall of Justice; he’s finished reading Atlas Shrugged. Where to go from there?
After consuming a little too much at a party and thoroughly embarrassing himself, Freedom is forced to do the necessary stint in celebrity rehab, and it’s a-okay by him because “my tolerance for drugs will be lower, so my habit will be cheaper.” See what I mean, folks? Not your average Superhero.
When Freedom decides that the perfect way to get some positive PR is to write a children’s book, he decides it must be nonfiction because
There aren’t enough nonfiction children’s books out there. Fiction itself is a form of lying, and that’s not an appropriate message for youngsters.
Another trip before the Comics Code Authority, a trip to Area 51 (which is a nightclub and prison all wrapped up into one), and a few discoveries about his true background later, Freedom decides to (what else?) run for governor of California. His slogan? “Keep Freedom Free.” Of course.
Though the entire book is chock full of humorous cultural references and social satire (see yesterday’s Tuesday Teasers for a few more examples), the section on politics and the election is spit-coffee-all-over-the-page funny. And true. Which is the scary (and wonderful) part.
I really enjoyed this romping satire, and I think it was a great “get out of your box” selection. Imagine if Chuck Klosterman, Joel McHale, and the folks who write VH1′s Best Week Ever combined their snarkiness and observational powers and bound them all up into a middle-aged man wearing a leotard and cape, and you’ve got Captain Freedom.
This book is satirical but not at all heavy. It’s a quick, light read, and I’m thrilled to have 5 copies to give away, courtesy of HarperCollins. If you’d like to win a free copy of this book (and who wouldn’t?) leave a comment below and tell me, if you were a Superhero, what one superpower would you most want to have? Any ideas for your Superhero name?
The contest is open to readers in the U.S. and Canada. Entries will be accepted until 11:59pm Eastern, next Wednesday, March 25th.
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[...] Book Review & Giveaway: Captain Freedom by G. Xavier Robillard [...]
Hmmm…I think my superpower would be invisibility, so I could sneak around anywhere I wanted.
I’m hoping I’m eligible since my mailing address is still a US address even though I’m not physically in the US… if I’m not eligible, just ignore my comment
Given my current situation, I’d love to be able to teleport, fly and read books for my master’s degree at lightning-speed (with impeccable reading comprehension!). That way I could go back to the US whenever I wanted without paying astromical airfare prices, fly over all the gorgeous landscape here and finish this silly degree ASAP.
I can’t think of a good superhero name. I hope I would come up with something good if I actually was a superhero!
hmmm….If I were a superhero my power would be to fly and become invisible. I’m like to be able to go wherever, whenever and be sneaky about it!
Sounds like a pretty hilarious book!
I would most want to be able to fly, or at least “think” myself to another location. My name would be “Super G”
Thanks for the chance to win this book — it sounds like a lot of fun!
If I were a superhero, my ability would be not to sleep (so I can get more reading in!). A name…hmmm.. ReaderGirl? SleeplessWoman?
i would definitely choose flying for my superpower. other superpowers kind of freak me out. x-ray vision could cause some really awkward situations, as could reading people’s minds.
the smnw secretary once called me to the office as “kristen zoo-cat,” which i have never really lived down. maybe i will embrace it and be ms. zoo-cat or something.
I thought about it for a moment, and like most others I would like to be invisible. Invisibility would have its benefits for sure. But then I thought about mind-reading. Wouldn’t that be great! But that might also be a burden. You would have to know exactly what people thought of you.
For this reason, I would take being unbreakable, like Bruce Willis in the movie of the same name. You would never have to fear physical confrontation, and you could impress with nose dives into pavement. Heroic! I’d call myself Sarge.
Of all the skills I’d love to have, speed would probably be my top choice! To be able to quickly get from one place to another if there was a problem, or help people by running at top speed down the street — or just be able to get to work/appointments on time when I’m running late! — would be awesome! I would probably go by Ms. Sugar Spice, a name I somehow acquired at work… haha. But I think it fits!
Thanks for the chance, Rebecca! This looks interesting, and I know my boyfriend would love it, too!
writing.meg [at] gmail.com
[...] to the Book Lady’s Blog. You should go there anyway, because she’s a nice lady who reads. On this page you will read [...]
I would want the power to fly! I can’t come up with a snappy name off the top of my head.
i would want the power to heal and i think i will go with the “fixer” thanks for the giveaway
I would love to be invisble. My character would be the Invisble Woman.
Thanks for the giveaway!
kimspam66(at)yahoo(dot)com
I’d want to fly. Umm, Superfly?
No idea on what name I would have but I would have the power of reading minds. I think that would so cool to know what everybody was thinking.
My superpower would be to instantly conjure up any book…that way I wouldn’t have to wait for the UPS man, or for ARCs to actually be published and widely available.
As far as my name goes, since my last name is Powers (seriously), I think I’m set.
i would love the super power to be invisible. My superhero name….simple….divaqueenie!
No idea for a superhero name, but I’d love to have the ability to time travel! I’d love to win this for my comics-obsessed fiance.
Thank you for offering this giveaway! eyeslikesugar [at] gmail [dot] com.
The ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound or maybe x-ray vision. Not sure.
I would want to be able to change into any shape.
I would love to read this.
Thanks
Aha, let me activate my super stink! With SS, I am able to make criminals gasp for clean air and quickly lose consciousness, so, you see, I’m a way better superhero than silly old Superman.
Oh, and my supername is Pewey Le Poo!
Looks like a great read
[...] Enter to win one of five copies of Captain Freedom by G. Xavier [...]
I am not sure what my name would be but my power would be to do my housework in a flash. I hate Sunday afternoons because of it. If that was my super-power I would never have to stop reading except to sleep.
Thanks
Deebie
Having a power over anything in particular is always an interesting concept, and none more intriguing that having a power to control and/or travel through time
I think the super power I would most like is the ability to make people more cheerful and less depressed. (Depresssion is a downer.) Maybe a name like the Prozac Girl with my sidekick, Xanax the wonder dog.
I would like the power to instantly open blister packs without injury. This power will stimulate the economy, improve our healthcare system, and possibly save souls. My power would save people hours of time (thus freeing them for more productive activity, like actually using the product formerly trapped in plastic or working to earn money which they will spend on purchasing items sealed in blister packs), trips to the emergency room for having sliced open major blood vessels in a fruitless attempt to penetrate packaging material (thus taking a burden off our hospitals and our insurance), and saving up their allotment of curse words for more deserving targets such as their children or their lack of coffee filters (thus keeping them out of hell).
Minor powers would include the ability to stir all-natural peanut butter without slopping oil all over the side of the jar and brokering world peace.
“carefulwhatyouwishforman” You guess at the power.
I’d like the superpower not unlike a Point-Of-View gun, this would allow me to always consider the perspective of a walrus or other comically flippant sea creatures. I find the perspective of a walrus to be refreshing and often derive enlightenment from it.
[...] Boys)79. Bookeywookey (The Talented Mr. Ripley)80. The Book Lady’s Blog (Her Last Death)81. The Book Lady’s Blog (Captain Freedom & Giveaway)82. The Book Lady’s Blog (Safer)83. Just One More Book! Children’s Book Podcast [...]
[...] Recently Reviewed Supergirls Speak Out The Purity Myth My Little Red Book Safer Captain Freedom [...]