HORN

by D. Keith Mano ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 3, 1969

As in his Bishop's Progress of last year, Mr. Mano's missal with a Christian message is set off by the most implausible and grotesque characters and happenings. The beleaguered Episcopal priest in this instance is Father Pratt, frail, timid, scholarly, who has for the flimsiest of reasons established himself in derelict St. Bartholomew's deep in the angry heart of Harlem. Sovereign of the immediate vicinity is Horn Smith, so named because of a protuberance of bone right in the middle of his forehead. When Horn is good he forms cadres of hard-working citizens, cleans up Harlem, works for the black Renaissance. When he is bad-away from the eyes of his mighty army-he reads Latin and sculpts. Horn seems interested in Pratt, for silent signals are given and Pratt's church is filled to the apse. Pratt is also displayed before a white-hating mass meeting and subjected to a Horn ""party"" where he is tortured. Meanwhile, Horn has been over-thrown by his lieutenants, and he and Pratt, hiding out, discuss life and religion. Horn is killed, and Pratt is sadder and wiser, having seen white hypocrisy and black hatreds. He has also seen a fellow clergyman driven insane and leaves Soul Country; refusing to return. Although the author has worked assiduously on Christian relevance, his view of a black-white apocalypse is mightily unstrung and the rhino-ruler is too silly for words.

Pub Date: March 3, 1969

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1969

Categories: FICTION