March 17 - "The Super Man and the Bugout"

“The Super Man and the Bugout”
by Cory Doctorow
A Place So Foreign and Eight More (2003)

* * (Okay) Superhero

Hershie Abromowicz is the Super Man, a semi-retired hero protecting a crime-free world while worrying over his pension check and trying to please both his demanding mother and his overzealous friend.

Sometimes, simply having a distraction (a weakness) pointed out suddenly makes that fault all the more clear. If Stephen King is to be believed – and I find this to be the case – then Doctorow has some annoying habits to correct, as evidenced in this story full of adverb-heavy dialogue attributions. “…said, hotly.” “…said, lamely.” “…said, sensibly.” “…asked, wonderingly.” With one of these adverb-laced attributions every paragraph, even I began to wonder if the dialogue was so weak that I, as reader, am believed to be unable to grasp the speaker’s intention and/or tone. The entire story was hit-or-miss, almost as if too much was forced into too small a space. The individual parts were interesting, but just underdeveloped, aching for more room to unfold.