An outlandish novel that delivers wonderful laughs.
In Corbin’s debut satire, a pastor feels lost in a world that accepts all sexual orientations.
At the opening of Corbin’s novel, a stunning archaeological discovery in Syria has upended religion and culture all around the world: The oldest copy of the Gospel of Mark reveals that Jesus ministered to a gay man and declared him “blessed among all people.” However, amid a wave of coming-out celebrations and “voluntary reparations programs,” not everyone is happy about the sudden shift to acceptance. Twenty-seven-year-old Pastor Rick Harris of Hickory, North Carolina, takes after his gruff father—who was pastor of their church before him—and delivers a fire-and-brimstone warning against anyone believing in this so-called “New Revelation.” But his elders inform him that times have changed, and Rick either has to attend an “atonement camp” in Virginia or lose his job. There to greet him at the airport are drag performer counselors Marilyn Man Hoe and the “indelible” Eileen Right, who pop champagne in the car as they welcome the square, disgusted Rick to a camp with luxurious 700-thread-count sheets, seminars on the AIDS crisis, and a troupe of shirtless, helpful pool boys (even though there’s no pool at the camp). Rick befriends other attendees, including his roommate, Jimmy Simons, and they set off on a wild investigation after Rick receives a mysterious note telling him the camp is not as it seems and that he must seek out the truth. At the same time, however, Rick can’t deny childhood memories that resurface or his growing, loving bond with Jimmy, which will challenge his beliefs.
Over the course of the story, Corbin offers readers a clever inversion of societal pressures that yields a wealth of possibilities for exploring themes of homophobia and self-acceptance. The author manages to find a wealth of gags in the topsy-turvy world he’s created in these pages, and he pits Rick against larger-than-life characters who deliver scathing takedowns alongside gentle messages of self-care. The book often goes in for obvious jokes, playing with gay stereotypes left and right, but its punchlines really hit home thanks to Corbin’s fast pacing and quick wit. Some of the standout moments along the way include a scene in which clueless straight people deduce that BDSM–related items are torture devices and Eileen’s delightful quips, such as “If all the gays are in Hell, Rick, I’m sure we’ve at least doubled the property value.” Rick’s flashbacks to his first love and his first real experience with shame are genuinely powerful as he remembers suddenly shifting from ecstasy to dread during a key encounter. There are more relatable, tender moments always bubbling under the surface of Corbin’s zany tale, but as it moves into the second act, there’s a madcap dash of secret societies, shifting alliances, surprising reveals, and conspiracies that run all the way to the highest levels. Much like Rick’s thoughts when he partakes in the camp’s bottomless mimosas, the plotlines and motivations become a bit fuzzy—but they’re certainly fun.
An outlandish novel that delivers wonderful laughs.Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-73543-850-4
Page Count: 354
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A tender and moving portrait about the transcendent power of art and friendship.
An artwork’s value grows if you understand the stories of the people who inspired it.
Never in her wildest dreams would foster kid Louisa dream of meeting C. Jat, the famous painter of The One of the Sea, which depicts a group of young teens on a pier on a hot summer’s day. But in Backman’s latest, that’s just what happens—an unexpected (but not unbelievable) set of circumstances causes their paths to collide right before the dying 39-year-old artist’s departure from the world. One of his final acts is to bequeath that painting to Louisa, who has endured a string of violent foster homes since her mother abandoned her as a child. Selling the painting will change her life—but can she do it? Before deciding, she accompanies Ted, one of the artist’s close friends and one of the young teens captured in that celebrated painting, on a train journey to take the artist’s ashes to his hometown. She wants to know all about the painting, which launched Jat’s career at age 14, and the circle of beloved friends who inspired it. The bestselling author of A Man Called Ove (2014) and other novels, Backman gives us a heartwarming story about how these friends, set adrift by the violence and unhappiness of their homes, found each other and created a new definition of family. “You think you’re alone,” one character explains, “but there are others like you, people who stand in front of white walls and blank paper and only see magical things. One day one of them will recognize you and call out: ‘You’re one of us!’” As Ted tells stories about his friends—how Jat doubted his talents but found a champion in fiery Joar, who took on every bully to defend him; how Ali brought an excitement to their circle that was “like a blinding light, like a heart attack”—Louisa recognizes herself as a kindred soul and feels a calling to realize her own artistic gifts. What she decides to do with the painting is part of a caper worthy of the stories that Ted tells her. The novel is humorous, poignant, and always life-affirming, even when describing the bleakness of the teens’ early lives. “Art is a fragile magic, just like love,” as someone tells Louisa, “and that’s humanity’s only defense against death.”
A tender and moving portrait about the transcendent power of art and friendship.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9781982112820
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
A welcome literary resurrection that deserves a place alongside Wright’s best-known work.
A falsely accused Black man goes into hiding in this masterful novella by Wright (1908-1960), finally published in full.
Written in 1941 and '42, between Wright’s classics Native Son and Black Boy, this short novel concerns Fred Daniels, a modest laborer who’s arrested by police officers and bullied into signing a false confession that he killed the residents of a house near where he was working. In a brief unsupervised moment, he escapes through a manhole and goes into hiding in a sewer. A series of allegorical, surrealistic set pieces ensues as Fred explores the nether reaches of a church, a real estate firm, and a jewelry store. Each stop is an opportunity for Wright to explore themes of hope, greed, and exploitation; the real estate firm, Wright notes, “collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in rent from poor colored folks.” But Fred’s deepening existential crisis and growing distance from society keep the scenes from feeling like potted commentaries. As he wallpapers his underground warren with cash, mocking and invalidating the currency, he registers a surrealistic but engrossing protest against divisive social norms. The novel, rejected by Wright’s publisher, has only appeared as a substantially truncated short story until now, without the opening setup and with a different ending. Wright's take on racial injustice seems to have unsettled his publisher: A note reveals that an editor found reading about Fred’s treatment by the police “unbearable.” That may explain why Wright, in an essay included here, says its focus on race is “rather muted,” emphasizing broader existential themes. Regardless, as an afterword by Wright’s grandson Malcolm attests, the story now serves as an allegory both of Wright (he moved to France, an “exile beyond the reach of Jim Crow and American bigotry”) and American life. Today, it resonates deeply as a story about race and the struggle to envision a different, better world.
A welcome literary resurrection that deserves a place alongside Wright’s best-known work.Pub Date: April 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-59853-676-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Library of America
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2021
BOOK TO SCREEN
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