Captains Wanted by Andres Schabelman

What an odd and interesting metaphysical novel! Told primarily in the second person, this tale of magical realism flits between fantasy, science fiction and the everyday as it explores what it means to truly be in charge of your own life.

The “you” addressed in this novel is the frustrated, fake-it-till-you-make-it everyperson (tho tends to skew, in my reading, as male.) Pressured by family to succeed at capitalism, You blow a coveted job interview by being fearful of authenticity. Depressed, obsessing over minutiae and living on a friend’s couch, You stumble across a strange storefront while taking a walk one day. At first repelled by the sign saying (more or less) “Captains Wanted”, You eventually make your way inside, and begin a journey towards enlightenment that You’d never imagined possible.

What struck me most about this short but meaty novel — it took me a while to get through it, honestly, because there was so much to think about! — was the way in which Andres Schabelman incisively gets to the heart of what’s wrong with so much of modern existence today. We’re so preoccupied with how we look to others that we don’t stop to consider how we truly feel and why that matters, not only to our own health but to society’s. Does society really need more people lying through their teeth about how happy and competent they are, so as not to let others see their vulnerability? Or do we as a people need to learn to extend empathy and kindness to both ourselves and to others?

This is by no means a call to selfishness or to trauma dump. It is, instead, a measured consideration of the perils of pretending that you’re a certain way when you’re really not. It’s also not one of those “you’re perfect just the way you are” nonsense books. Instead, Captains Wanted acknowledges that it’s hard to improve yourself when you won’t make an honest reckoning of who you really are to begin with, and of how we’re all connected, for better and worse. Those are very valuable lessons for everyone to learn.

The only thing that gave me pause with this book were the Artificial Intelligence bits. Mr Schabelman made his money as one of the first employees of AirBnB. He and I do not see eye to eye on the future of AI, tho his ideas certainly feel far less offensive to me than most tech bros’ and boosters’. I did appreciate, tho, the care he took to address social issues like cultural appropriation and the undervaluing of minority labor, in the writing of this novel.

This is definitely a book for the dissatisfied, for the seekers, for anyone who’s grown weary and disenchanted with what modern capitalism has told us is the key to happiness. It doesn’t hold all the answers — and could have used a slightly better editor — but is overall a terrific way to start questioning our current roles and figuring out where to go next.

Captains Wanted by Andres Schabelman was published February 11 2025 by Morgan James Fiction and is available from all good booksellers, including