The Myth of the Self-Made Man

by Rubén Reyes

From a stunning new Latino voice, Myth of the Self Made Man is a wildly inventive story—part sci-fi, with echoes of Get Out—that plunges us into a brave new American landscape.

More than a hundred years into the future, as the US approaches its 400th anniversary, Tomas, a young graduate student, searches for the real identity of one of the cyborgs that maintained American homes. He has been haunted for years by an audio clip of a cyborg named Felipe and is intent on writing Felipe’s biography. In the clip, Felipe can only recite that he was made in America, but Tomas must find out: where was the Self-made Man really from?

In the National Archives, Tomas uncovers a trove of articles, depositions, and interviews about many other cyborgs, boys from El Salvador and Guatemala kidnapped, detained, and reengineered at a monolithic New England company.

As we follow Tomas’s determined investigation into these lives, their voices echo through our own past, present, and future with unsettling clarity.

©2021 Ruben Reyes Jr., LLC (P)2021 Audible Originals, LLC

Genres: Fiction, Audiobook, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Dystopia

1 pages, Audiobook

Published April 15, 2021

Reviews

[Efrat Maor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is gut-wrenching. So short and so powerful.

[Zach Brumaire · Rating 4 out of 5]

a disturbingly prescient work of sco-fi concerning the creeping and all too banal horror of neoliberal capitalism, specifically the recuperation of anti-racism Ave transhumanism more fully into the ongoing process of world-destruction in which we are lately entering.

[Isha G. K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast-paced, dark, and prescient; the ending punched me in the gut. I wasn't a massive fan of the framing device of the researcher but Reyes' commentary on neoliberal capitalism, racism, and slavery more than captured my attention.

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 5 out of 5]

Note: I am Mexican-American / Hispanic / (fill-in-the-blank-with-whatever-name-is-popular-this-year). I am a lot of things, but for the purposes of this review I will tell you that I am straight out of Compton. Really.

OK. Here we go.

Wow! This audiobook is amazing. It is a science fiction story about a fellow doing a research paper on the "Self Made Man"... a cyborg. Presumably poor children from Mexico are picked up at the border, and made into mechanical/biological servants with adjustable levels of self-will. It is a form of slavery.

There is a lot implied in this short story. It is not exactly racism although that is alluded to. It is more like slavery... with one race "owning" another person of the same race. This is a story of a man doing a research paper on the past events surrounding the Diez company's "Self-Made-Man," all the shortcomings of the company and inhumane things like renaming the cyborgs they made out of these children without their consent.

The ending was clever.

I'll probably listen to the audiobook again.

[Stephenie (Insta: reading_and_running_ ) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a science fiction short story about a college student who searches for the truth about a cyborg he wants to write about. The entire story ends up being a metaphor for current global issues. I had a hard time keeping track of what was going on. I almost didn’t finish, but I’m glad I did because the ending was disturbing and thought-provoking.

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an hour long Audible book.

I was expecting a self help type book instead I listened to a dystopian future where children were turned into cyborg slaves. Heart wrenching and powerful in a short story.

[Autumn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not what I was expecting. Heart breaking

[Mikala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stomach-churning heart-wrenching. How can such a short story evoke such strong emotions so quickly? Amazing, succinct writing. Every word carefully chosen to build tension and add to the story. The fact that the end is so harsh (and very believable) only deepens the tragedy.

[Keith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dark, discussing worst parts of human nature. I hope it brings light to how terrible the illegal immigration is for those who journey it.

[Bunny Cakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an awesome story! I wish this had been longer.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting idea for a story though heart wrenching. Wish it were longer.

[Jonathan Harbour · Rating 1 out of 5]

More anti white racism from audible originals. I am sick of it. I can't get through a story when they keep dropping little racist bombs in the passive aggressive manner used in this piece.

North America is 70% Caucasian. If you're walking down a typical city street, you're going to run across seven white and three black people, statistically. to use a literary eye rolling because of that statistic is repugnant and disgusting and shitty writing to boot.

put your disgusting political ideology into your own Mein Kampf and stop being a coward injecting this stuff into pop culture.

[Cory Hawksbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

A novella about illegal male immigrants in the US being turned into cyborgs that are sold as nanny/gardeners/laborers to well-off American families. Even when a well-meaning doctor discovers how to learn his cyborg's true name and past, he decides to simply change its name and continue to keep his slave and justifies it by telling the cyborg that the family would miss it too much if it was to get it's freedom. Very clever idea.

[Jon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an interesting perspective on illegal immigration. What it boils down to is a hispanic company taking advantage of illegal immigrants. Shocker, that unscrupulous people take advantage of those coming across the boarder illegally.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

An allegory about how we dehumanize labor, specifically immigrant labor. Robots as slaves has been common enough in science fiction; changing it into tech entrepeneurs turning immigrants into machines and getting pats on the back for their visionary genius while doing so is effective.

[Arthur Boslar · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is so much to unpack with this.
Like Bicentennial Man in reverse.
The saddest part of that you can see a time where thos type of thing could happen. Which I'm sure is the point. I would like to see Mr. Reyes expand on this further in the future.

[Corinne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-crafted and performed short story. I would wonder why it has such a low rating but it's not hard to find the fragile racists in the lower rated reviews. Content notes: It's pretty dark and upsetting TBH but grimly plausible.

[Mangus · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was unexpected pleasure for many reasons. First, it was quick and painless. Secondly, I enjoyed a science fiction offering from a ethnic writer. It was decent work. Well worth a listen.

[Teragon Bearyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would loved for this to be longer it seems like it has such a good premise for a full length novel.

[Zack Hodges · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting concept

[Art · Rating 4 out of 5]

A dark view of the future. The framing story was reasonable, and the tale of the self-made men was heart-rending. Unfortunately, I can see that this type of future is possible.

[Laura May · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, and dystopian to the max.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This really would've benefited from being longer.

[Angelika Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Remember that child separation policy? Yeeeaaahhh...

[Maha Ishtiaq · Rating 5 out of 5]

So short so daring and so haunting. Believable that this could be a glimpse into the future. Recommended 10/10

[Tejas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Metaphorical short writeup on Latino immigrants life, not sure what to make of this

[Scott Shjefte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Free Audiobook from Amazon. Short story about electronically imposed slaves doomed to serve.

[Wendi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Wow.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book, thoroughly enjoyed it!

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cleverly written and thought-provoking.