Superpowers: A Novel [Paperback]

David J. Schwartz (Author)

Book Description

Release date: June 10, 2008

Madison, Wisconsin: In the summer of 2001, five college juniors wake up with . . . not just a hangover, but superpowers. . . .

Jack Robinson: Grew up on a farm, works in a chem lab, and brews his own beer. Age: 19. Superpower: SPEED.

Caroline Bloom: Has a flair for fashion design and a mother who’s completely out of touch. Works as a waitress for a lunatic boss.
Age: 20. Superpower: FLIGHT.

Harriet Bishop: Studied violin, guitar, and piano . . . and was terrible at them all. Now writes about music for the campus paper.
Age: 20. Superpower: ­INVISIBILITY.

Mary Beth Layton: Is managing a 3.8, but feels like she’s working three times as hard as the people around her.
Age: 20. Superpower: STRENGTH.

Charlie Frost: Has an anxious way about him, and always looks like he’s on day 101 of his most recent haircut.
Age: 20. Superpower: TELEPATHY.


But how do you adjust to an extraordinary ability when you’re an ordinary person? What if you’re not ready for the responsibility that comes with great power? And how do you keep your head in a world that’s going mad?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Schwartz borrows heavily from classic comic books in this eager-to-please but unsatisfying debut. After five college friends wake up after a night of partying to discover they have superpowers, they band together as the All Stars, supernatural crime fighters straight out of Madison, Wis. From there, the plot packs few surprises: the team—Charlie, Jack, Harriet, Mary Beth and Caroline—embark on dozens of good Samaritan adventures. While it's entertaining enough (in a pulpy way) for a while, characters remain mostly static, and the narrative never attains any sort of urgency, so that by the time 9/11 comes into play—and, regrettably, it does—the text reads like an ill-considered parody. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School—Five college students in Madison, WI, drink some home brew together one May evening in 2001 and the next morning they each have a new power. One can fly, one is superstrong, one can run faster than the eye can see, one can become invisible, and one can read minds. They spend some time learning about the limits of their superpowers, but, eventually, they decide to use their newfound abilities to do what they can to help society—stopping crimes, solving crimes, rescuing those in danger, and so on. The premise of this first novel sounds lighthearted, and there certainly are funny moments. But Schwartz seems more interested in the confusing and difficult aspects of having such talents. He doesn't worry about how the powers came to be, or why each person got his or her particular one. Instead, he asks: Whom do you tell? How do you conduct an ordinary life? What is the difference between being a crime fighter and being a vigilante? What are these new powers doing to one's physical and psychological well-being? This is a thoughtful but entertaining novel, with interesting characters. It is respectful of the genre of the superhero comic book, while taking the concept in a different direction.—Sarah Flowers, Santa Clara County Library, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 377 pages
• Publisher: Broadway (June 10, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307394409
• ISBN-13: 978-0307394408
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,263,368 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the home of Ice Palaces and steamy hot summers. When I was seven, I played with Star Wars figurines with my friend Matt. Since neither of us had yet seen the movie, we made up stories about the characters while having only a vague idea of who they were. Later, I read the Marvel adaptation and then saw the movie.

I speak adequate Norwegian, poor Spanish, and have forgotten 85% of the eight years of French that I took. I can sing but not play guitar, at least not well. I used to play tuba. I prefer kids and dogs to most adults. I am 42 now, and after some time in Chicago and Madison I live back in Saint Paul, where I hope to remain. I still make up stories about characters, but now I get to decide who they are.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars ok June 25, 2008

By Nat Zorach

Format:Paperback

Let me start off by saying that this was an entertaining read. The characters (while neither very developed nor very interesting) are pretty plausible, the premise of the story is interesting enough, and the editorial intervention of observer Marcus Hatch is priceless.

There are some major structural problems with the story. My biggest problem is that the characters are too similar for the reader to be able to easily differentiate them. No sooner do we get introduced to the characters does Schwartz start jumping around (each character has their own third person narrative) and it often becomes extremely difficult to tell who's doing what and why. Too many names thrown around, too few differences or idiosyncrasies.

Dialogue also sometimes seems contrived in a television serial sort of way-- somewhat unnatural, unproductive filler. I'm not sure what the characters are trying to achieve.

The story develops nicely. Essentially, the All-Stars, the superpower-endowed heroes (or antiheroes?) find they have neither a know-how for being superheroes, nor a society which can afford to let them roam free. Schwartz effectively develops this quandary through the climax, an extremely confusing combination of events with dozens of different characters in which the All-Stars finally come to terms with the fact that neither they nor their society can handle their superpowers.

[POSSIBLE SPOILER WARNING] The concluding chapter(s) of the book is interesting, though, because it makes us wonder about the nature of truth. Who knows what is real and what isn't real? The escapades of the All-Stars are plausible and enjoyable from an entertainment standpoint, but the concluding editorial section makes us think twice-- perhaps about the whole story. In some ways I think this ending makes the book, but then again, I feel bad that we have to wait through a hundred and fifty pages before we get there.

Solid entertainment, but too scattered and loose to be a great masterpiece of literature.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining, thoughtful, and moving August 6, 2008

By Eric D. Honaker

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is one of those books that makes me wish I could put in half-star ratings. I am not ready to go 5 stars (it was amazing!) with this book, but it's definitely superior to other books I'd consider four stars.

I recently read and reviewed Soon I Will Be Invincible, another superhero novel. Superpowers is almost the conceptual inverse of that book.

This novel dealt in a sober and realistic way with what would happen to a group of friends who suddenly developed superpowers. There are no supervillains, no secret pacts with the police commissioner, no mighty halls of justice. Just five friends, lost, confused, and trying to deal with something they don't understand. The group decides to do what they can to help their city, but they're just as human as the rest of us, and their actions end up with real consequences.

The author doesn't reject comic book convention so much as he ignores it completely. Despite the fact that the world as described is clearly impacted by comics (Several well known DC and Marvel properties are mentioned in character discussions), I never felt like there was a list of comic book tropes to be trashed or followed. The story seemed like a logical progression of events as they would unfold. Assuming, of course, that they possessors of these powers decided to help people rather than rob banks or get rich on the talk show circuit. :)

The book's climax was gripping, moving, upsetting, and wonderful.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, but not really all that good either August 11, 2009

By David MCNETT

Format:Kindle Edition

This is a genre I usually enjoy and I wanted to love this book but reading it left me cold. The story meanders around for a few hundred pages and then sort of fizzles out with no real conflict ever introduced or resolution achieved. In the absence of a compelling story arc I'd expect to see a strong focus on characterization and dialog but the novel falls even flatter on that front. The multitude of characters are one-dimensional with few distinctions. I found it difficult to keep track of who was who. They experience no growth over the plot arc and the dialog is adolescent and shallow. Quick read, and had its high points, but on the whole I found it lacking.