Back in the day, while my friends were fascinated by the heroism of Nancy Drew, Sherlock Holmes and the likes, I was exploring something more bizarre and eccentric. Traits like confidence, dignity, intelligence and physical strength were too conventional to hold my interest. Even as a ten year old and right through my growing years I was curiously intrigued by the world of weirdoes.
There are some characters who were never meant to be heroes, yet they are heroic in their own right. They are a group of misfits who manage to deal with their flaws and even use them to their advantage to overcome their shortcomings. Joe Cherian of ‘Joe’s Republic’ is a case in point. Here are more such unusual literary works with heroes whose imperfections make for some interesting reading….

1. HORNS BY JOE HILL
On the anniversary of his girlfriend's rape and murder, Ignatius (Ig for short) wakes up with a killer headache, and a pair of devil-like horns growing out of his forehead. Mostly he has problems with the horns though, and with them come some very unusual powers. The main one is that the horns tend to bring out the worst in people. When he's around people they will admit the worse things they have ever done or will follow through with their deepest and darkest desires. This power leads to some funny confessions and terrifying honesty. With his horns and new found powers, Ig begins to look for the killer of his girlfriend, Merrin. The year prior to Ig getting his horns, Merrin had dumped him and hours later she is found strangled to death after being raped. Everyone, including Ig's family, thinks he did it. Because of that, Ig's life has been miserable, not only did he lose his one and only love but everyone thinks he committed the atrocious crime. But Ig is about to set things straight and get the revenge for the lovely Merrin. This book, like its hero, is, in equal parts, funny, romantic and sad.