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From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain

by Minister Faust (Goodreads Author)

3.2 of 5 stars 3.20 · rating details · 225 ratings · 44 reviews

“An outlandish, outrageous tour de force by the most innovative prose stylist in the field.”
–Robert J. Sawyer, author of Hominids

They’re Earth’s mightiest superteam–and dysfunctional as hell.

OMNIPOTENT MAN–a body with the density of steel, and a brain to match

THE FLYING SQUIRREL–aging playboy industrialist by day, avenging krypto-fascist by night

IRON LASS–mythology’s great...more

Paperback, 416 pages

Published January 30th 2007 by Del Rey

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(showing 1-30 of 445)

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Feb 05, 2012 Zeo rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics-and-meta

This book reliably gets compared to "Soon I Will Be Invincible", which I feel is kinda inappropriate. Grossman's novel was an homage. It wasn't there to do anything new, and do nothing new is exactly what it did: it was silly, made jokes we already knew, made the punches we've seen in comics we've read put out by publishers who are still recycling those same ideas over and over in an industry that is terrified of doing anything different so they just get people who are very talented technically...more

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Nov 15, 2009 David rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I finished reading From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain by Minister Faust on Shabbat evening, and it was good. This is thoroughly odd book: the premise is that this is a self-help book which has been written by the therapist of a group of superheroes whose internal neuroses are tearing them up - the supervillains have all been defeated in the so-called Götterdämmerung battle, you see, and the organization (analogous to the Avengers or Justice League) is not-quite purposeless at this time.

There is a...more

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Jul 30, 2011 Jim rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: gothamcitypubliclibrary-fiction, cb-novels-superhero-noncomic

The Notebooks of Dr. Brain chronicles the therapy sessions of the superhero team, F*O*O*J - The Fantastic Order of Justice. While the book is hilarious, it digs deep into topics that many writers have trouble finessing.

Meet The Flying Squirrel, Omnipotent Man, Iron Lass, X-Man, Brotherfly, and Power Grrrl, as they tackle racism, sexism, relationships, all while Dr. Eva Brain helps them work through their issues with each other, superheroing, and the world around them.

Minister Faust is an amazing...more

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May 03, 2011 Daniel Roy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: satire, superheroes

A clear departure from Minister Faust's first novel, "Dr. Brain" demonstrates an incredible range from the author. The novel is at once a hilarious satire of superheroics and psychology, and a complex, multi-layered analysis of the forces at work in our own world.

The novel reads like a self-help book for superheroes, which allows its fictional and eponymous author to deconstruct the superhero mythos in a way barely hinted at in Moore's Watchmen. At the same time, Faust infuses these failed, flaw...more

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Feb 12, 2011 Raq rated it 1 of 5 stars

I loved Coyote Kings. I pretty much hated this book. At over halfway through, there was no discernable plot, and no character I cared about at all...it was more "if one of these characters survives, will I be OK with that? If so, which one?"

I think partially my dislike is because Faust wrote it from the perspective of the most annoying character. Which is saying a lot. Maybe she's only the most annoying because the reader's forced to be in her head, and forced to spend every moment with her; may...more

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Nov 03, 2009 Josiah rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009

this was a fun read though i didn't like it as well as The Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad. it did a good job of capturing the modern psych comic and mythological, incestuous nature of comic heroes and villains interrelations. however like any deconstructionist work, i periodically doubted the merits of reading it rather than drawing my own conclusions. in fact i was frequently motivated to stop reading and pick up a comic instead--reminiscent or inspired. and the constant references,...more

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Feb 13, 2007 Erin rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Comic book fans and conspiracy theorists

Ok, maybe not actual conspiracy theorists, but if you've ever been accused of being one, you'll enjoy this novel. Never has a book kept me so totally in the dark about how it was going to end, yet still managed to have a proper, satisfying (well, frustrating, but REAL) conclusion.

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Jun 28, 2012 Alex Klimkewicz rated it 5 of 5 stars

From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain packs a superhero-sized punch. Artfully combining a comic self-help book geared towards hyper-sapiens seems like a great idea that would be entertaining standing on its own, but what makes this book such a joy to read is author Minister Faust's fantastic prose. Perhaps you will be taken a bit aback by the over-the-top language and unique character dialects, as I initially was, but I would urge the reader to stick with it, and you will be pleasantly rewarded with t...more From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain packs a superhero-sized punch. Artfully combining a comic self-help book geared towards hyper-sapiens seems like a great idea that would be entertaining standing on its own, but what makes this book such a joy to read is author Minister Faust's fantastic prose. Perhaps you will be taken a bit aback by the over-the-top language and unique character dialects, as I initially was, but I would urge the reader to stick with it, and you will be pleasantly rewarded with things like this: Inheriting a lugubriously legendary legacy impossible to leap above, but no longer possessing a substantial-enough organizing objective (or “mythic narrative”), the F*O*O*J's workplace dysfunction soon became a matter of public record (24) and a stunning departure from the factionalizing and the fractious fracas factory of the previous day (33).

The story deals with an especially dysfunctional group among the Fantastic Order of Justice, including billionaire industrialist The Flying Squirrel, hard as steel, yet dumb as rocks Omnipotent Man, Norse-she-warrior Iron Lass, the racially motivated X-Man, bisexual pop sensation Power Grrrl, and the walking and talking stereotype of The Brotherfly. All of the characters are riffs of better known superheros like Batman, Wonder Woman, Spiderman, but the ways that the characters interact in this narrative is definitely not juvenile. The story deals with sensitive topics like racism, sexism, and the struggles between rich and poor as well as young and old.

The main struggle is actualized in the fight between The Flying Squirrel and X-Man for control of the F*O*O*J. Although The Flying Squirrel is painted as an elitist and a racist – with outbursts like “Can you believe the nerve of that nattering negro nimrod?” said Mr. Piltdown to no one and everyone. “He's exploiting the death of our leader to advance his own political career! He's a goddamned polyp inside the colon of propriety!” (126). Of course X-Man, a homophobe, and a sort of jacked-up caricature of Malcom X, is hardly the model of sensibility, as he leads a maniacal investigation against the others in his investigation to find out who is responsible for the death of F*O*O*J founder Hawk King.

All the while our heroes are psychoanalyzed by narrator Dr. Brain, therapist to the super-powered, who often breaks from the narrative to give the reader juicy bits of wisdom, such as Trauma always reactivates the entire unexamined repository of unprocessed misery in the psychemotional cache, much in the way that the flatulence of a diseased colon is particularly fetid given the abundance of undigested organic material in its crevices. Our narrator does help most of the heroes become self-actualized hyper-humans, but for a few the ending is tragic. In the end this book shows what happens when one becomes totally consumed by their convictions, and loses sight of group-cohesion rather than personal pride.

Read it!

There are too many great excerpts from this novel, but I think that my favorite is just a real short line. Silence sandpapered a minute off the clock (229). Very good.(less)

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Jan 24, 2009 Todd rated it 4 of 5 stars

A superhero novel written in the style of a self-help book for caped crusaders...I know, but trust me, it works. If you're even marginally familiar with superheroes, you won't have to stretch your imagination too far to recognize who the fictional heroes are based on (especially the big three). But the book is far more than a parody, the characters are all flawed with various degrees of narcissism, racism, sexism, and just about every other "ism" you can come up with -- but it's not played for l...more

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Jun 26, 2008 vladimir rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people who like chewing glass; clueless fanboys.

My essential ethos with book recommending has been to let bad book fall into the obscurity they so richly deserve--any kind of attention a terrible book gets fans that spark of interest in it... and there are so many good books out there deserving of attention and praise.
So, I hardly (I think never) rate a book 1 star. I just leave it off the radar-you won't know I even read it.

But in the case of this book I have to make an exception.

Having read the delightful "Soon I will be Invincible" by Aust...more

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Nov 19, 2009 Jason Pettus rated it 2 of 5 stars

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com:]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegal.)

I've mentioned this before, but for those who missed it and still don't know, the 1980s and '90s saw within science-fiction the development of what's now known as the "Dark Age;" informed equally by punk and postmodernism, it was a time of brooding introspection in the genre, when such traditional ster...more (Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com:]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegal.)

I've mentioned this before, but for those who missed it and still don't know, the 1980s and '90s saw within science-fiction the development of what's now known as the "Dark Age;" informed equally by punk and postmodernism, it was a time of brooding introspection in the genre, when such traditional stereotypes as superheroes were psychologically examined to determine both the reason for their existence in the first place and in which ways these stereotypes could be cracked in our contemporary times. And sometimes this resulted in serious projects, such as Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, one of the seminal titles of this period that helped inspire the term "Dark Age" to begin with; but what has lasted much longer is the compulsion to create comedic material out of such fodder, from classic movies like The Specials and Mystery Men to Austin Grossman's recent and delightful Soon I Will Be Invincible. And now we have yet another example, absurdist author Minister Faust's From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain, which essentially covers the same ground as all the rest -- bored, petulant super-neurotics turn on each other once all super-crime has been vanquished, thus necessitating New Age psychiatric help lest they go too crazy and lose their lucrative commercial endorsements -- albeit to his credit, Faust inventively ties his particular look at this milieu metaphorically to the fate of the US after the end of the Cold War, giving us a confused and increasingly spoiled group of superfriends in the face of a complete lack of supervillains in their egotistical, entitled, all-powerful lives.

But there's a problem with this book, a big problem, which is that once Faust makes his metaphorical point, he has almost nothing else of originality to say; and so how he fills the rest of the novel is by having his utterly banal one-note characters endlessly spout tiresome dialogue reinforcing the one note of their personalities (a Britney Spears superhero who always talks in Valley-speak, a black superhero who always talks like Superfly, &c.), along with an infinite amount of petty arguments within the group therapy sessions constantly being forced on them by their superiors throughout the book. It's essentially 25 pages' worth of story surrounded by 375 pages of corny punchlines (and for ample proof of this, see the unbelievable 165 chapter and subchapter titles [yes, I counted:], every single one of which consists of a bad pun involving superheroism); or if you prefer, it's Alan Moore's Watchmen as rewritten by a playground full of 12-year-olds. Dr. Brain unfortunately misses its satirical mark by a wide margin, and it's my recommendation today that you skip it altogether.

Out of 10: 5.8(less)

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Apr 23, 2008 Ryan rated it 4 of 5 stars

I approached this book with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. On one hand, the idea of superheroes undergoing therapy is interesting, and great for comedic potential, but in the wrong hands, it could be a terrible foray into stereotypes and too-broad humour.[return]Thankfully, the author managed to avoid all of that, creating a book that is simultaneously a critique and love letter to comic book heroes, while at the same time lampooning self-help books as well, and providing some contempo...more

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Dec 09, 2011 Lumpenprole rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, borrowed, fantasy, science-fiction

Amusing premise, cute twists on superhero and villain stereotypes, and even more amusing pokes at pop psychology. Unfortunately this one seemed to fall apart in the last fifty pages. The plot became increasingly confused, and confusing, ceased being amusing and candidly became a chore to finish up. Which is a pity, since the first 200 or so pages had more than their share of chuckles.

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Aug 11, 2011 Ketan Shah added it

I found the book hard to get into at first,due to the narrators rather florid style,but it picks up after a while. There's some nice comic book references too. ("Crisis of infinite dearths","Cosmicus and the Gold Glider").And some surprisingly relevant political allegories towards the end. If you enjoyed this,you might like "Soon I Will Be Invincible" by Austin Grossman.

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Mar 28, 2013 Kyle rated it 2 of 5 stars

It was OK, the ending felt really forced. Of the books I've read in this genre (Confessions of a D-List Supervillain, Soon I Will Be Invincible) this was definitely the weakest.

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Mar 25, 2009 Robert rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction-recent

This book has several entertaining and interesting moments, but its ending leaves much to be desired. Toward the end the book takes a strange twist that may alienate many readers, though the climax is not really very surprising.

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Aug 11, 2009 Joe Informatico rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: superheroes, science-fiction, racism, psychology

A brilliant satire on superheroes--Faust's prose crackles with wit and a deep understanding of his subject matter. But underneath the parody of caped crusaders and pop culture, a deep political commentary can be unearthed like the contents of the Hawk King's Blue Pyramid. Highly recommended, and now I really want to seek out Faust's first novel, "The Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad".

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Oct 13, 2012 Tarek Elnaccash rated it 5 of 5 stars

Hysterically funny, with very dark humor. I think this will appeal to anyone who loves the cartoon series 'The Boondocks'. It will help if you grew up with comics and cartoons (transformers, marvel comics etc.)

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Apr 30, 2009 Cassie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Not what I was hoping for. I don't think I'll finish this book, actually. I only got through the first 30 pages or so. If you want a tongue-in-cheek superhero novel, read Soon I Will Be Invincible.

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Apr 22, 2013 Shannon Appelcline rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: superhero

Fun characters and good post-modern super-hero action, offset by terrible, terrible psycho-babble and an unsatisfyingly unreliable narrative. Overall, still good, but could have been a lot better.

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Feb 23, 2013 John Comerford rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is the book every kid from Cleveland wanted to write but didn't. The central concept is interesting, but Minister Faust doesn't stop with simply that interesting idea. He develops an interesting story that will keep readers reading while he gives them some interesting and off-the-wall ideas about psychology and the sociology of pop culture. His one attempt at political commentary is either a call to freedom or merely a clever interpretation of current events, depending on what you think he'...more

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Aug 01, 2010 Alesia rated it 2 of 5 stars

Started out interesting, but dragged on too long, and with too much of the idiomatically written dialog for my tastes. Knaw wa imyn? Jes sayin'.

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Jul 09, 2010 Dave rated it 2 of 5 stars

Psychotherapist to no-longer-in-demand superheroes. Sounded fun, but snarky in the extreme, couldn't convince myself to care. Didn't get far.

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Jun 03, 2012 Patricia rated it 4 of 5 stars

It was a good read.I found myself engrossed in the story and characters. Although it did not end how I thought it should have, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

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Jun 13, 2010 Elizabeth rated it 1 of 5 stars

This is the first book in my life that I've given up on, but it was too painful and annoying of a read to be worth my time.

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May 12, 2010 Jack rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: absurd, fantasy

I wanted to like this a lot more than I actually did. The bummer ending didn't help.

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Jan 16, 2010 Michael Hall rated it 1 of 5 stars

Some of the most irritating characters and dialogue I've ever encountered. Stay Away.

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Oct 29, 2008 Mayet rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: sure

Fausts' sophomore novel, to the Cayote Kings. Here Minister Faust makes commentary on the socioeconomic, cultural, political and racial issues of todays society by using classic super hero archetypes. Characters everyone would recognize from both DC and Marvel comics, but with considerably more issues. And while he pokes fun of and creates decidedly more flawed versions of these characters, at the same time he pays homage to all comics and great hero's. A good read, though the divisiveness and h...more

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Sep 17, 2008 Proditor rated it 1 of 5 stars

I learned that it's possible to do a worse job than Mark Millar in deconstructing the heroic genre.

In fact, I disliked this book so much, I'm tempted to ruin the ending by giving away the BIG surprise, but nah, I'll spoiler it.

Spoiler:

After basically making mock of the entire genre and all associated with it, it then lets the bad guy win. It lets him completely and utterly destroy the good guy down to disgracing his name and legacy forever. Seriously, I wanted to find the author and punch him a...more

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Jul 27, 2011 George rated it 4 of 5 stars

If you love comics, you'll love this.

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About Minister Faust

Minister Faust is a long-time community activist, writer, journalist, broadcaster, public speaker and martial artist in several disciplines.

Minister Faust refers to his sub-genre of writing as Imhotep-Hop--an Africentric literature that draws from myriad ancient African civilizations, explores present realities, and imagines a future in which people struggle not only for justice, but for the stars...more

More about Minister Faust...

Books by Minister Faust

The Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad

The Coyote Kings, Book One: Space-Age Bachelor Pad

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