Captain Freedom: A Superhero's Quest for Truth, Justice, and the Celebrity He So Richly Deserves

Download podcasts of G. Xavier Robillard reading chapters of his new book Captain Freedom, only on Powells.com.

• Chapter 1: The Beginning of the End
• Chapter 2: Forced Out
• Chapter 3: Time for a Memoir
• Chapter 4: School on the Hill
• Chapter 5: My First Cape
• Chapter 6: The First Time I Saved the World
• Chapter 7: Sidekick Found
• Chapter 8: After School Special
• Chapter 9: Saving the World a Second Time
• Chapter 10: Time Travel

Freedom's fifteen minutes are over!

Software pirates! Mostly extinct dinosaurs! Giant barbarians! Crooning criminals! Captain Freedom's beat them all, saved the world, and looked fantastic doing it — but he couldn't fend off middle management.

The Superhero lifestyle is all that Captain Freedom has ever known. What's he supposed to do now? Enter politics? Write a children's book?

Freedom's in a bad way and he's only a stint in rehab away from a lifetime of celebrity reality shows. But with the guidance of his new life coach, maybe Freedom can stumble in a new direction — even if it means having to make peace with his parents... or finally commit to a single long-term archenemy.

"What do you get when you give a metrosexual superhero a sidekick, an identity crisis and the ability to predict the weather? The answer: Captain Freedom, the lovable hero of Robillard's debut novel. Once a popular superhero, Freedom's celebrity is on the wane, and instead of going quietly into retirement, he goes in search of his origin. Along the way, Freedom visits with a life coach, tries to find his lost father and writes his memoirs. He also laments his lack of a completing other half: an arch-nemesis. Causing trouble for Freedom, meanwhile, is the sniveling journalist/would-be superhero Skip Goodwin, whose antagonistic history dates back to the superhero school he and Freedom attended. Although Freedom manages to maintain a successful career into retirement and stay in the public eye, he also has a lot to learn about personal relationships. Robillard keeps the satire fast and furious, with laugh-out-loud moments competing with strangely insightful quips. It's funny and smart, and even readers who've long given up comic books will enjoy the ride." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"Captain Freedom is a truly funny and energetic romp of a social satire, a terrific send up of not only of super heroes, but the cult of personality in general. And G. Xavier Robillard isn't stingy with the ideas, which indicates there's good things to come. I can't wait." Christopher Moore, Author of Lamb and Practical Demonkeeping

"We've seen alcoholic superheroes, closeted gay superheroes, even homicidal superheroes. But we've never seen the superhero as neurotic hipster fame whore. Robillard's hilarious satire goes somewhere new and surprising." Neal Pollack, author of Alternadad

G. Xavier Robillard writes for several humor sites, including McSweeney's Internet Tendency and Comedy Central. He lives in Boston. Captain Freedom is his first novel.