IN THE NAME OF THE TURNIP

Gerber presents a satirical novel about a literal-minded Jesuit priest running a seminary in 1860s Missouri.

The novel takes the form of letters and reports about the Reverend Father Adolphus Maximilien Turnip, who boasts of being a descendent of a post–Last Supper rendezvous between Mary Magdalen and Judas Iscariot. Three other Jesuit priests—Father Alon von Socius, who was Father Turnip’s longtime assistant; Father William Blatt, a Georgetown University psychiatry professor; and Father Raner J. Jerbonie, who teaches theology at the same institution—have submitted reports to Jesuit Father General Emilio Rotani in Italy about their experiences with the narcissistic and bigoted rector whose sanity, orthodoxy, and potential sainthood is in question. The trio describe the outlandish escapades and pet projects of Father Turnip in detail, including a campaign to “Make the Holy Grail Holier” and a venture to “Expand the Garden of Eden” across the American Midwest. Readers who are religious skeptics will likely most appreciate how Gerber’s novel shows how bluntly literal biblical references can be abused to further a leader’s desired ends, no matter how absurd they might be; the book also addresses how such material can persuade people to hurt others, which many will find to be a timely theme. Likewise, it’s disturbing to see the power that a single person can wield in the molding of the seminary novices, and how such influence can result in a lack of questioning. Many readers will also appreciate the occasionally obscure literary references that pepper the story, which support some of the characters’ more ludicrous affirmations: “To love another clean-shaven, white, male person is to see the face of God.”

A sharp religious allegory that pokes fun at biblical literalism and offers scathing takes on corruption.