From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain

From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain

by Minister Faust

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1. Minister Faust says on April 1st, 2007 at 9:32 pm :
   

   The fine fellows of Dragon Page interviewed me about my first novel, THE COYOTE KINGS OF THE SPACE-AGE BACHELOR PAD. I’d love to come back to speak with them about my new book, FROM THE NOTEBOOKS OF DOCTOR BRAIN. Here’s what critics and writers are saying about the book:

   BLOG T.O. SUNDAY BOOK REVIEW: “From the Notebooks of Doctor Brain is a major accomplishment that is laugh out loud funny… This is the most revolutionary work of SF since William Gibson’s Neuromancer. Faust has invented a whole new genre of writing and rendered it in some of best prose in any genre. He’s basically given birth to the future. And it’s one good looking baby…. Although it’s only February, I’m confident in saying that the best SF book of the 2007 - maybe the best book of the year– has already been published.”

   SUNQIST BLOG: “The best book of the year, which has been out for something like four days at this point, is From the Notebooks of Doctor Brain, by Minister Faust … [whose] first book, The Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad… was also excellent. This is an amazing book…. It works on about six different levels… incredibly important….”

   From Karen Sullivan of Sunqist: “Reading this book was like standing on the edge of history…. In fifty years, they’re either going to be teaching this book in high schools, or banning this book in high schools. Reading Doctor Brain is what I imagine reading Animal Farm or Catch-22 was like for people when those books came out, before anybody knew anything about them.”
   THE GATEWAY: “[W]onderfully developed characters… such a pleasure to read. It’s shocking to see entire hours of time eaten up as the chapters flowed one into the next, and yet you’ll be unwilling to put it down; you’ll want to see what new revelations exist around each corner… rife with scathing social commentary and political satire [on] the nature of modern journalism and politics, to drugs, racism and vapid, shallow celebrities, everything’s open game…. [E]xcellent… highly recommended.”
   VUE WEEKLY: “The humour is only bait-deep—Doctor Brain, both the book and character, is a blisteringly merciless send-up of modern mental-health manipulation.”

   THE EDMONTON JOURNAL: “Tough political message underlies comedy about a Doctor Phil for the superhuman…. a wicked sense of humour, not to mention a satirist’s sharp eye for the (under)cutting detail, the small touches in parody that announce his tale is after bigger game than it might seem at first to be…. [L]ots of laughs, but after all the fun and games, readers will note that beneath the bravura comedy there’s a tough political message about our real-world circumstances. … [M]arvellously askew bunch of characters … a parallel world that has all too much in common with our own. And the climax beautifully skewers both narrator and reader… highly entertaining and sneakily politically provocative.”
   STATIC MULTIMEDIA.COM: “From the Notebooks of Doctor Brain showcases Faust’s keen ability to apply humour to traditional genre conventions and delve into pop culture, making it a hilarious, sure-fire page turner.”

   THE EDMONTON SUN: “Doctor Brain is a wildly imaginative superhero parody … the satire expands to cover the entire planet.”

   PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (STARRED REVIEW): “[S]harp satire of caped crusaders hides a deeper critique of individual treatment versus social injustice…. Faust’s well-aimed jabs spare no super sacred cows nor many pop idols and psychobabbling media stars. Underneath the humor, careful readers will find uncomfortable parallels to real-world urban tragedies in the novel’s ‘July 16 Attacks,’ where Faust gives a double meaning to the ‘Crisis of Infinite Dearths.’”

   ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: “Faust comes up with a plot that is simple on the surface and brilliantly complex in its layers… murder, complex conspiracies and lover’s quarrels… [r]acism, consumerism, hero worship and even 9/11 get the Faustian treatment in this over-the-top but always dead-on satire of our times.”

   BOOKLIST: ”[An] excellent superhero comedy as well as an unsettling satire.”

   ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: “Entertaining… saavy.”

   BOOKPAGE: “[M]ight be one of the most entertaining books to cross your path this year…. Faust is an original writer with a passionate interest in people—be they crazy or “normal”—and his pulpy satire takes accurate swings at our me-first society and the pop culture idols who have floated to the top.”

   SCIFI.COM: “[Minister Faust’s] insane fecundity and jazzy verbal dexterity, his sheer brio and exuberance… reminds me of Ishmael Reed or Steve Aylett… plenty of moments in this novel where I laughed out loud.”

   RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL: “A hilarious new voice…. One of the most compelling reads I’ve experienced… a wild mixture of liberal politics, black power, psychoanalysis, mystery and, yes, superheroes…. The real conflict here is between ideas — whether one’s oppression is generated by one’s own superego or by societal forces stacked against one…. One of the most layered, complicated narratives I’ve come across, and the ending is particularly chilling.”

   
2. Summer Brooks says on April 1st, 2007 at 9:52 pm :
   

   We’d love to have you back on the show!

   I’ll get in touch, as soon as the studio crew stops fighting over who gets to read the book next…

   
3. Chris Tkachuk says on March 18th, 2008 at 1:51 pm :
   

   I want to say the book is fantastic, and I’m glad that you’ve interviewed him and are getting the word out there. It’s a great story with great satire and a deep commentary.

   
4. Alexander says on April 8th, 2008 at 8:43 am :
   

   I have been chewing through it since christmas, its not working for me. I quess I am just not a big enough fan of superheros/comic books to fully get it.
   The Idea is cool and it has its funny moments, but its just not biting for me.