Synopses & Reviews
Lenard Sikophsky's father has been feeding him plutonium since the age of six in the hopes of making him the world's first
bona fide superhero. First, he must pass the unusual tests of manhood locked in the centuries old tomb,
The Manaton, a secret relic passed down for generations. Falling in love with the beautiful, compulsively suicidal Laura Moskowitz doesn't make his life any easier. But with the guidance of the Sikophsky men, the antiquated rulebook, and of course a healthy amount of plutonium, Lenard accepts his fate as an exactor of justice....
Twenty years later, Lenard's son Nemo is introduced to the same destiny as his father, only this time the violent entity called THEY are in dangerous pursuit. Lenard's life and the legacy of his family are put to the test when he is forced to defend everything he loves.
Review
"League of Somebodies is so rich with originality that it's actually radioactive. If you captured Owen Meany in a literary time machine and fed him a strict diet of comic books and plutonium, you would come up with a main character a hell of a lot more well-adjusted than Lenard Sikophsky. Read at your own risk and beware: laughter is the first sign of infection." Mat Johnson, author of Pym, Incognegro, and Dark Rain
Review
"League of Somebodies is a dazzling investigation into masculinity and hero-making. It's also a rollicking good time, and his characters — crazy, troubled, hilarious, endearing — are unforgettable. Sattin magnificently tackles many big themes of our age: inheritance, the burdens of manhood, creating our own identities, and last but not least, love. In Sattin's fiction, there is no such thing as a marginal character, no matter the world's attempt at marginalization." Cristina Garcia, author of Dreaming in Cuban and The Lady Matador's Hotel
Review
"How to explain this mystic monster League of Somebodies? Part old-school epic, part coming-of-age tale, and part comedy in the spirit of Mel Brooks's Young Frankenstein... Samuel Sattin is a mad scientist!" Victor LaValle, author of Big Machine and The Devil in Silver
Review
"Those of you who are considering poisoning, terrorizing, and forcing their boys to read maniacal misogynistic rantings may want to read League of Somebodies as a cautionary tale. The rest of you, though, will have fun with this satiric American saga of squalid super-heroics." Corwin Ericson, author of Swell
Review
"In our been-there-done-that world, Samuel Sattin has managed to create something new: a graphic novel without the graphics. A superhero story about twisted fathers and frightened sons, betrayals of the heart and home. This non-comic comic-book is a big-themed story-telling bonanza whose major elements are not only thematic, they're chemical. If you crave a wild and original read, you've come to the right place." Amanda Stern, author of The Long Haul
Review
"Sattin's first novel is a whirling force that blends the family saga, superhero lore, and a coming of age story to a frothy cocktail. Imagine The Godfather remixed with Chabon's classic Kavalier and Clay." Joshua Mohr, author of Fight Song, Damascus, and Termite Parade
Synopsis
Lenard has been fed plutonium since the age of six. His father, Ferghas Sikophsky, is intent on making him into the world's first bona fide superhero.
Video
About the Author
Samuel Sattin is a graduate of the Mills College MFA in creative writing. He has been interviewed in Cent Magazine and a novel excerpt has appeared in Generations Literary Journal. Samuel studied with Rick Moody after being awarded a merit scholarship to the NYS Summer Writers Institute. Sam lives and works in Oakland, CA.
Table of Contents
Part One: SAVAGE RISING
One—The First Trial of Manhood
Two—The Manaton
Three—Cosmonauts
Four—Barbiturates
Five—An Empty Box
Six—Traumatism
Seven-They
Eight—Death and Dancing
Nine—Savage Rising
Ten—The Fools-Golden Rule
(An Excerpt from the Immaterial Journal of Malach Denny)
Part Two: ON ATOMIC BOMBS, SOMEWHERE, WITHOUT REASON
Eleven—Tradition
Twelve—An Emptier Box
Thirteen—Abundance
Fourteen—A Few Years Ago
Fifteen—Filled with Light
Sixteen—Half
Seventeen—Too Clumsy to Cross
Eighteen—Seahorses
Nineteen—The Mutating Submarine
Twenty—Pinocchio
Twenty-one—Steve Two’s Silence
Twenty-Two—Daphne
Twenty-Three—Mimesis
Twenty-Four—At Sea
Twenty-Five—Lantana and the Battle for Kansas
Twenty-Six—Hell or Antarctica
Twenty-Seven—The Man in the Black Ushanka
Twenty-Eight—In the Brain of the Beast
Twenty-Nine—The Birth, Life, and Death of Fearghas Murdoch Sikophsky
Thirty—Prometheus
Thirty-One—On Burying an Atomic Bomb
(Another Except from the Increasingly Material Journal of Malach Denny)
Thirty-Two—Submissive Memory