My Hero: A Wild Boy’s Tale by Tristram Burden

Title: My Hero: A Wild Boy’s Tale
Author: Tristram Burden
Publisher: Rebel Satori / Queer Mojo
Length: Novel / 276 pages
Buy the book: Publisher, Amazon

Blurb:

In a post-apocalyptic America, 17 year old Joshua My Hero lives out a humdrum existence, struggling to find truth and sense in a Christian-fundamentalist trailer park. But his psychic powers and sexual tastes leave him an outsider of his community, and forced to commit patricide in a final and desperate struggle for self-defence against his father’s rage, Joshua escapes into a wasted planet, armed only with an oracular penis, the patronage of an ancient earth spirit sent to rid the planet of all of its ills, and the wisdom of the Tao Teh Ching…

2006 Project QueerLit Finalist

Review:

One of the best things about Queer Mojo/Rebel Satori Press is that it always makes you think. There are layers upon layers of meaning and interpretation to their books with a wealth of talent and topics that are slightly left of mainstream. I’m always itching to read their books and several have made my keeper shelf. Having said that, I was very excited to finally get to read My Hero with its somewhat obscure yet intriguing summary. I had no idea what to expect and I finished the book wondering if the underlying themes were just over my head and comprehension. This is a book where I didn’t exactly “get” the entire concept the author was going for and thus, everyone should read for themselves.

The story blends several different genres and themes together from science fiction to mythology, religion, philosophy, sexuality, and mysticism. The main character is Joshua My Hero who is on the run after murdering his rapist father on advice from his penis. Joshua’s oracle penis offers information and advice after he orgasms and being a healthy youth, this is often. This tie in to the power of sexuality and the penis is a theme repeated in numerous ways throughout the story and becomes a key element with Joshua himself. Joshua has an ancient god within him with Joshua as the bodily keeper of the god’s power. The god has come to supposedly save the world from its current state, yet whether it means to do that by wholescale destruction or something more benign is not exactly clear. The world is in a post-apocalyptic ruin blending remanants of our time (2010) and an empty future.

The thorough world building mixes numerous ideas and themes together as the plot takes Joshua from his abusive home to a new town with a dark secret. The secret involves a group of citizens working towards something with Joshua as an important key. While building and destroying friendships, discovering himself and his future, Joshua must also learn what these people want from him and what he can offer. Each element included has another level of imagery and sybolism, yet for all of that the writing is interesting and easy to read. The writing has a sparse quality as if some words are forgotten or left out yet their meaning is clear. I couldn’t tell if this was due to the few mistakes found in the book – such as waste for waist – and editorial comments left in, but the story is still surprisingly quick to read. Absorbing and understanding the entire level of detail and subtext is another thing.

The characters are all fascinating and interesting yet I didn’t particularly care for any of them. Each character has a deeper meaning that mixes into one of the themes introduced but with all the hidden and selfish agendas, none really stood out.  In some ways, the cast reminds me of the game “Clue” since the story leaves hints for the reader to figure out who is involved in what and how. The mixture of philosophy, mysticism, and mythology adds another element that deepens the connections between all the characters while giving Joshua an excuse for his behavior. He ends up being a puppet to many different forces, ultimately not able to make his own choices due to a combination of his destiny and god force. I did like the broken and angry cyborg Calum, although his interaction with Joshua’s fear and anger ends badly for all.

The one discordant note that felt completely out of place is the addition of the aliens. While the explanation for the other worldly beings is not only clever and astute but draws upon many implications from politics and environmental concerns, the ultimate connection at the end with them seems weak. This thread feels lost and later disconnected. Joshua’s acceptance and understanding of his place in life and his god force is perhaps the key driving force of the story and the alien subplot revolves around this at the beginning but later Joshua’s path deviates from this entirely which doesn’t make sense why this element is included at all then. While I liked this aspect of the book with William and Marlow’s efforts on the alien’s behalfs, Joshua’s god ultimately isn’t about the aliens at all. So why the book spends so much time connecting the two only to break them apart later is ultimately confusing.

Although the themes included would seem to be dense and difficult, the book has an ease to the prose and writing that makes the pages fly by with an engaging narrator and complicated series of images and concepts. The story is careful never to go too far into unbelievable fantasy yet offers the backbone of an idea for the reader to think about and draw their own conclusions. While I enjoyed reading My Hero I can honestly say I didn’t always understand everything the author was trying to say and maybe didn’t “get” the complicated connections. I can see why the book was nominated because the writing is very skillful and questions the reader to think on several levels. So for many reasons, this is an interesting book to read and absorb. Check it out and see if what you think.