A religious-themed comedy of errors that presents a wry yet ultimately affectionate look at the state of godliness today.
A gentle satire about one young man’s quest to find his spiritual identity.
When readers first meet teenager William James Tillit, the unlikely but good-hearted hero of Clatterbaugh’s debut novel, he’s in his bedroom in his aunt and uncle’s house, talking with God. But in Will’s case, God talks back to him directly—and often sarcastically. Will has been living with his aunt and uncle for most of his 19 years, but now, after obtaining a deferred admission to Tulane University, he’ll be traveling from Louisiana to East Texas to take a job working at the Galilee Theme Park run by the Rev. Shister. The prospect of the road trip excites him, although God is more phlegmatic about the whole idea, because Will is eager to experience the larger outside world. But his trip turns out to be far more adventurous than his highest hopes. Clatterbaugh expertly orchestrates a set of sometimes-funny, sometimes-touching, and always thought-provoking predicaments for Will, from attending a glitzy “mega-megachurch” whose motto is “Trust in the Lord—Guaranteed” (God himself is less than impressed) to meeting an agnostic hamster named Ham. Before Will can reach his theme park destination, he’s confronted by ultrazealous, psychotic doomsday preppers and captured by a fundamentalist militia group. As God puts it, the trip “sets a new standard in the broadening horizons department.” Along the way and seamlessly worked into the narrative, Will and his new friends and enemies manage to discuss many debate topics of current Christian theology, always in an energetic, approachable way. Clatterbaugh draws even the most outrageous characters with believable humanity, including God, whose running commentary on Will’s life is the comedic highlight of the book. Christians will love the strange concoction he serves up in these pages, and non-Christians will appreciate the evenhandedness of the many spiritual discussions.
A religious-themed comedy of errors that presents a wry yet ultimately affectionate look at the state of godliness today.Pub Date: June 24, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4602-8302-8
Page Count: 318
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: Aug. 22, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.
Four men who meet as college roommates move to New York and spend the next three decades gaining renown in their professions—as an architect, painter, actor and lawyer—and struggling with demons in their intertwined personal lives.
Yanagihara (The People in the Trees, 2013) takes the still-bold leap of writing about characters who don’t share her background; in addition to being male, JB is African-American, Malcolm has a black father and white mother, Willem is white, and “Jude’s race was undetermined”—deserted at birth, he was raised in a monastery and had an unspeakably traumatic childhood that’s revealed slowly over the course of the book. Two of them are gay, one straight and one bisexual. There isn’t a single significant female character, and for a long novel, there isn’t much plot. There aren’t even many markers of what’s happening in the outside world; Jude moves to a loft in SoHo as a young man, but we don’t see the neighborhood change from gritty artists’ enclave to glitzy tourist destination. What we get instead is an intensely interior look at the friends’ psyches and relationships, and it’s utterly enthralling. The four men think about work and creativity and success and failure; they cook for each other, compete with each other and jostle for each other’s affection. JB bases his entire artistic career on painting portraits of his friends, while Malcolm takes care of them by designing their apartments and houses. When Jude, as an adult, is adopted by his favorite Harvard law professor, his friends join him for Thanksgiving in Cambridge every year. And when Willem becomes a movie star, they all bask in his glow. Eventually, the tone darkens and the story narrows to focus on Jude as the pain of his past cuts deep into his carefully constructed life.
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.Pub Date: March 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-53925-8
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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There are unforgettable beauties in this very sexy story.
Passion, friendship, heartbreak, and forgiveness ring true in Lovering's debut, the tale of a young woman's obsession with a man who's "good at being charming."
Long Island native Lucy Albright, starts her freshman year at Baird College in Southern California, intending to study English and journalism and become a travel writer. Stephen DeMarco, an upperclassman, is a political science major who plans to become a lawyer. Soon after they meet, Lucy tells Stephen an intensely personal story about the Unforgivable Thing, a betrayal that turned Lucy against her mother. Stephen pretends to listen to Lucy's painful disclosure, but all his thoughts are about her exposed black bra strap and her nipples pressing against her thin cotton T-shirt. It doesn't take Lucy long to realize Stephen's a "manipulative jerk" and she is "beyond pathetic" in her desire for him, but their lives are now intertwined. Their story takes seven years to unfold, but it's a fast-paced ride through hookups, breakups, and infidelities fueled by alcohol and cocaine and with oodles of sizzling sexual tension. "Lucy was an itch, a song stuck in your head or a movie you need to rewatch or a food you suddenly crave," Stephen says in one of his point-of-view chapters, which alternate with Lucy's. The ending is perfect, as Lucy figures out the dark secret Stephen has kept hidden and learns the difference between lustful addiction and mature love.
There are unforgettable beauties in this very sexy story.Pub Date: June 12, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5011-6964-9
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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