GRACE NOTES

Wilbur’s novel chronicles one man’s search for God.

When readers first meet Jerry Cradleman, he’s a teenager in Tenafly, New Jersey. Jerry plays sports like basketball and baseball, plans to go to Oberlin college, and attends a local Presbyterian church. Jerry’s high school friend Adam is more philosophical; he starts sporting a black beret and later comes to feel as though he’s an “inessential note in a meaningless piece of music.” Adam goes to film school, though he dies by suicide before he finishes. After graduating from Oberlin, Jerry attends seminary school at Princeton, thinking perhaps he can one day help troubled people like Adam. However, his time at the seminary only sends Jerry into a whirlwind of doubts, and after completing his studies, he is not recommended for the ministry. He nevertheless winds up at a church in Sacramento, California. The relocation comes with new questions, and he’s eventually off again to Port Townsend, Washington. As Jerry’s spiritual search deepens, he engages in activities like a home-based vision quest and confronting repressed memories from his past. The burning question is where this doubting Thomas will eventually land. The story’s interest stems from seeing what Jerry will do next on his adventure, which proves to be unpredictable—just as he seems to have found a welcome place to call home, something occurs to change his trajectory. As Jerry explains of his personal pursuit, “I want a faith with God that’s real. I guess what I’m trying to say is, I need to find God.” Such straightforward dialogue helps to move the story along, though it can at times feel redundant. Conversations include statements that are not entirely necessary (“I’m in the middle of baseball right now”; “OK, Jerry. That’s it for now. Bye”). Still, Jerry makes for a flawed, believable protagonist who’s engaged in a compelling search for answers.

A nuanced spiritual journey with more than its share of twists and turns.