I'm going to pimp Mike McMullen's humorous memoir I, Superhero. Yes, I know, free comic book day is over and they never wrote a comic about the Amazing Whitebread, but they should. After all, he wears tights so that we won't have to. And he's a helluva nice guy.
I met Mike at the DFW Writers Conference He was on a nonfiction panel that I attended. Afterwards, I saw him in the hall and said, "Hey, where can I buy your book?" And being a total Super-d-duper nice guy, he handed me a copy for FREE. Yes, that's right, ladies and gentleman, I celebrated Free Comic Book Day way before all ya'll. What is the lesson learned in this little scenario? Is it Superheroes do nice things for needy people who can't afford to buy books? NO. The lesson learned here is that Mike needs to stop giving away his book. People need to buy it. Like from here.
And why do people need to buy it? I'll tell you why.
McMullen has a wonderful self deprecating wit and absurd sense of humor that made me laugh out loud. Not many can do this, so McMullen is in good company with David Sedaris and Mary Roach who've made me look like a lunatic in public spaces while reading their wacky tales from real life.
The set up of the book is that McMullen wants to become a Superhero for his son, "The Biscuit." Here's a little excerpt about Mike's poor food choices and the love of his life.
I get the little one, you can call him "Biscuit," and give him a big good afternoon hug before flopping him down on the changing table. I open the diaper and have to swallow the chunk of cookie in my mouth to force the vomit back down. At this point one thing is abundantly clear: feeding a fourteen-month-old fish sticks at every meal for a week, no matter how much he likes them, was a grievous strategic error. It's what I would imagine a fishing boat would smell like if the entire crew had died of dysentery and drifted a few weeks before being found. If fatherhood can be compared to a war, this diaper is Normandy...
So, we learn that McMullen has a few flaws (what good Superhero doesn't?), that he has a killer sense of humor and that he has the support of his family in this crazy scheme. The rest of the book, Mike hits the road and meets several members of the Real Life Superheroes. Mike dares to say what most of us think and for that I applaud him. His writing style is conversational and fun. After I finished the book, I felt really proud to have met him. And now I want my book signed. I wonder if he has an Amazing Whitebread signal, like Batman? Perhaps I could burn my toast and he'd come running to scrape the crusty blackened bits into the sink, or maybe I could just contact him on his blog.
Anyway, in addition to enjoying a fun read, I also used his random superhero name generator. Ready? This is the Mischieviously Tall Sea Sponge signing out.