Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
A heartfelt, daring, divinely hilarious debut novel about an old priest looking back on his life and grappling with his mistakes as he hits the highways of the American midwest with a pistol in his pocket and an injured coyote in his backseat. Father Dan is homeless. Dismissed by the church for eccentricity and insubordination, he's tried to transform his exile into a kind of pilgrimage, to make his Toyota Camry into a mobile monk's cell. But even this master of self-denial--and straight-up denial--knows when he's lying to himself: "I am a retired priest living out of his car. I am a retired priest, kicked out of his rectory and living in his car with a coyote and a bucket he shits in."
Ahh, yes: the coyote. Alert to signs and wonders, Dan is swift to stop when he sees a coyote get hit by a minivan. The injured animal becomes Dan's unexpected traveling companion as he wends his way through the heartland of America, nursing the coyote back to health and stopping to take in the occasional roadside attraction (MARTIN'S HOLE TO HELL, WORLD FAMOUS BOTTOMLESS PIT NEXT EXIT ). The farther he travels and the more people he meets, the more he is forced to reckon with a lifetime of regrets: the friendships he let dissolve, his gradual alienation from the church, and his fierce hatred of a particular predatory priest. And as his true quest starts to take shape, he will have to decide if penance is better paid with a journey of redemption . . . or revenge.
Synopsis
A heartfelt, daring, divinely hilarious debut novel in which a priest embarks on the journey of a lifetime with a pistol in his pocket and an injured coyote in his backseat. Father Dan is homeless. Dismissed by his conservative diocese for eccentricity and insubordination, he's made his exile into a kind of pilgrimage, transforming his Toyota Camry into a mobile monk's cell. Like the ascetic religious philosophers he idolizes, he intends to spend his trip in peaceful contemplation. But then he sees a minivan sideswipe a coyote. Unable to suppress his Franciscan impulses, he takes the wild animal in, wrapping its broken leg with an old t-shirt and feeding it SPAM with a plastic spoon.
With his unexpected canine companion in the backseat, Dan makes his way west, encountering other offbeat travelers and stopping to take in the occasional roadside novelty (MARTIN'S HOLE TO HELL, WORLD FAMOUS BOTTOMLESS PIT NEXT EXIT ). But the coyote is far from the only oddity fate has delivered into this churchless priest's care: it's also given him a bone-handled pistol, a box of bullets, and a letter from his estranged friend Paul--a summons of sorts, pulling him forward.
By the time Dan gets where he's going, he'll be forced to reckon once and for all with the great mistakes of his past. And he will have to decide: is penance better paid with revenge, or with redemption?
Synopsis
"A beautiful and meditative exploration of shattered faith."
--Brit Bennett, author of The Vanishing Half A heartfelt, daring, divinely hilarious debut novel about a priest who embarks on a fateful journey with a pistol in his pocket and an injured coyote in his backseat.
Father Dan is homeless. Dismissed by his conservative diocese for eccentricity and insubordination, he's made his exile into a kind of pilgrimage, transforming his Toyota Camry into a mobile monk's cell. Like the ascetic religious philosophers he idolizes, he intends to spend his trip in peaceful contemplation. But then he sees a minivan sideswipe a coyote. Unable to suppress his Franciscan impulses, he takes the wild animal in, wrapping its broken leg with an old T-shirt and feeding it Spam with a plastic spoon.
With his unexpected canine companion in the backseat, Dan makes his way west, encountering other offbeat travelers and stopping to take in the occasional roadside novelty (MARTIN'S HOLE TO HELL, WORLD-FAMOUS BOTTOMLESS PIT NEXT EXIT ). But the coyote is far from the only oddity fate has delivered into this churchless priest's care: it has also given him a bone-handled pistol, a box of bullets, and a letter from his estranged friend Paul--a summons of sorts, pulling him forward.
By the time Dan gets to where he's going, he'll be forced to reckon once and for all with the great mistakes of his past, and he will have to decide: is penance better paid with revenge, or with redemption?