Just Call Me Superhero

By Alina Bronsky and Tim Mohr

The acclaimed author of Broken Glass Park brings her “warmth, humor and sharp observational eye” to a disfigured teenager’s coming of age in Berlin (Kirkus Reviews).

Once a handsome teenager, seventeen-year-old Marek is left badly disfigured after a Rottweiler attack. Now his mother sends him to a support group for young people with physical disabilities—what he calls “the cripple group”—led by an eccentric older man only known as “the guru”. Angry at the world and dismissive of the group, Marek sees no connection between their misfortunes and his own. Then a family crisis forces Marek to face his demons, and he finds himself in dire need of support. But the distance he has put between himself and the guru’s misshapen acolytes may well be too great to bridge.

Just Call Me Superhero cements Alina Bronsky’s reputation as one of Germany’s most compelling and stylish young authors. An atmospheric evocation of modern Berlin, a vivid portrait of youth under pressure, and a moving story about learning to love, this new novel from the author of Broken Glass Park and Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine is an irreverent look at the sometimes-difficult work of self-acceptance.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Oct 7, 2014
• ISBN: 9781609452414

Alina Bronsky

Alina Bronksy is the author of Broken Glass Park (Europa, 2010); The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine (Europa, 2011), named a Best Book of 2011 by The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, and Publishers Weekly; Just Call Me Superhero (Europa, 2014), Baba Dunja’s Last Love (Europa, 2016), and My Grandmother’s Braid (Europa, 2021). Born in Yekaterinburg, an industrial town at the foot of the Ural Mountains in central Russia, Bronsky now lives in Berlin.

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Reviews for Just Call Me Superhero

[nomnivor · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Mir hat das Buch nicht gefallen. Die Idee an sich war interessant. Was die Autorin daraus hat werden lassen, nicht. Nicht nur, dass immer wieder Sätze verdreht waren oder Worte gefehlt haben, die Geschichte an sich war einfach unausgegoren. Mittendrin schien es so, als wäre der Autorin die Puste ausgegangen, also hat sie ihren ganzen Plot über Bord geworfen und mit neuen Nebenfiguren und neuem Plot von vorne gestartet. Nur, um dann wieder auf den letzten Seiten zum ersten Plot zurück zu kommen und diesem ein Ende zu verpassen, das gar keinen Sinn ergibt.

Das war wirklich nichts.