From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain

It was brilliant! the start was slow and I almost gave up on it in the first 20 pages, but I muscled through and fell in love. It always seemed obvious which direction it was going until it got there and I realized that I was wrong again. I admit that I read a library copy but I got to this review page because I was planning on buying it so I could read it again. Just great.

... I was hooked. I was hooked from the moment I started Coyote Kings of the Space Age Bachelor Pad, Minister Faust's previous work, and I was hooked right from the get-go on this one. There's so much here, so many layers that it boggles the mind. From the superficial Dr. Eva Brain-Silverman to the deeply misunderstood X-Man to the slick and sly Brotherfly, this book pops with flavour, well-developed characters, and a sense of history that's overwhelming. These characters have incredible superpowers, but the most interesting is the X-Man's logogenic powers, I find. He can turn words into anything; is that not what writing creatively is about? It would almost seem that the X-Man may be a bit of the writer himself in a subtle way. The Flying Squirrel is the crustiest old superhero on the face of the planet; an aging Bruce Wayne parody that is seriously disillusioned with the world. Omnipotent Man is the Superman parody that simply had to be done; he's Superman's hick cousin with a serious problem. Power Grrl is the new girl's idol; smart, bleach-headed blonde with amazing pipes and a HEAT Ray that makes clones of herself, in itself a critique. The Brotherfly is what Spider-man could have become had he been black and bitten by a fly instead of a spider. Iron Lass is the Nordic Wonder Woman, a Valkyrie and the old guard of feminism. I won't say much more than this; read it. Support this fantastic author and hope that he continues writing to this calibre and wit.

I picked up a copy of From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain thinking that I was getting a Super Hero satire that would be a bit of fun light reading. And on that level, Minister Faust does not disappoint. His is the kind of humor produced by artists with a real love of the genera they are satirizing. This book will deliver a rich reward for anyone who can remember a time when they had a warm place in their hearts for the pulp adventures of costumed heroes. Beyond that, however, From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain is a first rate modern novel. In what turns out to be a surprisingly ambitious work, Minister Faust delves into the subjects of perspective, personal identity, politics, and power. The multiple characters in this work prove to be unreliable narrators of the best type. Each of them has a unique voice, and speaks, as well as acts, as a distinct and fully developed character. All of characters in this novel are in possession of some bits of truth, as well as plenty of mistaken ideas, regarding the events that unfold during the course of the story. Not all of them, however, have full access to that knowledge when the novel begins. Minister Faust uses the process of examination that the characters undergo as a device to explore the often harsh cost of trying to untangle the truth from lies, both in others and in ourselves. It should be noted that the caliber of the writing in this work is superb. From the personal perspective of the reviewer, one of the greatest attributes of this book is that the author remains fully consistent in his technique. Unlike many books written in the manner of this one, the author does not step in at the end and tell the reader directly what is really going on. By not succumbing to the desire to make as sure as possible that the reader fully gets the points he is trying to make, the overall artistic achievement is much greater. Indeed, the reader ends the book with a much greater understanding of the events that occur than any of the characters in the book. In summery, From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain, is a superb read, well worth the effort. A rare pleasure, Minster Faust has quite a bit to say on quite a large number of subjects. He says them not only well, and in and interesting manner, but with quite a bit of humor. Definitely a worthwhile addition to anyone's reading list.

From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain is a tough book to characterize. I tried to tell my wife why I was so excited to find out what's happening in the novel, which ended up being an hour long explanation of the interaction of the main characters. In a way, it reminds me of Joss Whedon's Firefly, but not in an obvious way. Firefly had nine main characters, and each of them saw the world in a different way. In "From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain", each of the main characters (including the unreliable narrator, Dr. Brain) has a distinctly different world-view, and they each have a past that greatly influences how they act in the present. "From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain" allows us to gradually peel the layers of overdeveloped personality to find the crucial events that shaped these compelling characters. What's better is that Minister Faust was also able to weave in an allegorical plot that speaks very strongly about power, money, and the sausage factory that is our governmental agencies. Another part of this book that I greatly enjoyed was Faust's use of simile and metaphor in the descriptive texts in this book. I'd love to quote them, but I don't have the book in front of me. Dr Brain is equal parts pop psychologist and real psychologist in this book. At times, she employed excellent counseling techniques that could easily be utilized by any practicing psychologist. Other times, she falls vicitim to the oversimplification and shameless self-promotion that are common to any self-help book on the shelf in your local bookstore. I appreciated this, as I do have an undergraduate psychology degree, but have chosen not to enter the strange world of multiple-degree psychobabble and theory making. In short, buy this book if you want to think, if you want to laugh, and if you want to grow.

I won't comment on the story line, since you will (I hope) find out for yourself. Instead let me talk about the book's character. The book is wonderfully complicated. The characters are horribly disfunctional in so many believable ways. There are tens of subtle jokes per page. No, I mean per paragraph. No, per sentence. This author is awesome in his use of language. He is awesome in the breadth of subject matter he touches on. He is beyond awesome in humor. I haven't been captivated by brilliant language, stunning depth, and engrossing story line in any book since The Big U, by Neal Stephenson, came out more than 20 years ago. (Before I go on, no I am not related to Grand Minister Faust.) This SF story is completely ridiculous and impossible. You will find that you are living it today. In reading this, you will gain insights which you can use (if only to laugh about) in your life tomorrow. This is the book you will read, then buy more copies of to loan to your friends. Its a blast. Now I am going to turn back to page 1 and read it again.