Alina Bronsky; trans. by Tim Mohr
Alina Bronsky’s Just Call Me Superhero, translated from the German by Tim Mohr, is told through the strong narrative voice of seventeen-year-old Marek. It is a compelling coming-of-age story in which the narrator learns about self-acceptance and the value of human connection.
Marek’s face has been badly disfigured by an attack from a Rottweiler. His facial scars make it difficult for him to smile. He is very self-conscious about his looks, wears dark glasses to hide behind his disfigured face, and refuses to look at himself in the mirror. He disrespects his divorced mother, shows no sympathy for her, and addresses her by her first name. When his mother tricks him into a joining a support group for young people with disabilities, Marek more fully reveals his nature. He is cynical, resentful, self-absorbed, homophobic, insensitive, callous, irreverent, and tactless. He is also intelligent, observant, and very funny.
Referring to the support group as “the cripple group,” Marek coolly assesses each of its members, including the leader whom he facetiously dubs “The Guru.” His attention is immediately drawn to a young, beautiful woman in a wheel-chair. As much as he resents the group, he agrees to join them on a week-long bonding retreat organized by the Guru. But when he receives news of his father’s sudden death, Marek is forced to cut short the retreat to attend his father’s funeral.
Forced to help with the arrangements of his father’s funeral, Marek steps outside of himself and begins to show growth. He attends to the needs of his mother, young step-mother, and six-year-old step brother. He displays genuine concern for others, and is especially solicitous towards his mother and young step brother. He is shocked when his support group unexpectedly shows up to pay their respects. It slowly dawns on him that although people, including his young step-brother, may initially recoil at seeing his face, they ultimately move beyond his appearance and accept him for what he is and not for the way he looks. The novel concludes with Marek removing his dark glasses and looking at his reflection in the mirror.
The novel explores an age-old theme: how much of our identity is tied up with the way we look? Marek learns people may initially judge you by your physical appearance, but, ultimately, how you look withers in significance to how you treat others. Alina Bronsky gives the theme a refreshingly new treatment by injecting laugh out loud humor, vivid imagery, keen observations, nimble pacing, well-developed characters, and a narrator who comes to recognize who we are is defined by the love we show for others.
A compelling coming-of-age story and a delightful read.
Highly recommended.