SO, WHAT'S THE BOOK ABOUT?

I'm tired of living in a world without original literary novels about superheroes. And, frankly, I'm tired of books about "people like you and me." There's a moral war going on in literature, and the side I've chosen is H.P. Lovecraft's. Drawing from the absurd, from a well of dreams, this side concludes that wow, man, life consists of dreadful forces...that often win. Good people do things that are unspeakably irrational: psychoanalysis, religious sanctuary, and the comforts of family have throughout man's existence done very little to stamp out dread, disappointment, and villainy. The collusion of vengeance and moral superiority is at the heart of The Superhero's Closet. It's that contest that interests me. More specifically, it's the fights you lose that make for interesting reading.

A fairly standard narrative convention looks something like this: protagonist faces an insurmountable obstacle (of any shape, size, or quality) and by the end overcomes it, or at least comes to peace with it. But what if protagonist doesn't overcome it? What if protagonist doesn't come to peace with it?

The Superhero's Closet is a fairy tale for grown-ups. Some of its subject matter, even by today's standards, jangles against the sides a popular art more commercially disposed to redemption and the innate goodness of man. The luxury I have as a novelist is that I can plumb the inner life until I'm blue in the face, which a visual medium, by its nature, will not tolerate.

The question is, do superheroes have an inner life worth exploring? I think they do, no more or less than Holden Caulfield or Tyrone Slothrop. The answer is, depends on what kind of inner life you're talking about?

I don't think I answered the question, "So, what's the book about?" That would have been too easy.

Here's the dust-jacket blurb:

When the first superhero went public during World War II, the world responded with wonder. We treated the original superhero like a famous writer or singer, heaping on him the riches of international celebrity. Others came after him, as noble, as mighty. Committed to a fate that set them apart from normal humans, the new superhumans eventually became as natural as pop stars.

Today, long after the retirement of the original superhero, hundreds of extraordinary individuals grapple with their place in society. Are they heroes? Villains? Are they volatile or do they contribute to the betterment of mankind?

Lain Grey is just such a person, but at 16, he’s far less moved by his budding powers than he is by sexuality, or his natural mother, who died when he was an infant.

And there are others. Kathleen, the young woman who channels dead philosophers through her dog. Or Vernon Hood, the most powerful man alive, who ducked out of public life to raise normal kids.

Then, there’s Geoffrey Gilman, the original superhero himself, who’s finding that retirement is an uncomfortable stepping stone to the grave. In more ways than one.

Enter The Superhero’s Closet, where secrets, lies, and the shadows of the past fester, giving life to new dangers, new villains, and tragic surprises for everyone.