A winningly thoughtful, metafictional exploration of the modern nature of Christianity.
A writer embarks on a road trip with a passenger claiming to be Jesus.
This latest novel from Merullo works from the same template as his beloved 2007 hit, Breakfast With Buddha. An author named Eddie Valpolicella (a stand-in for Merullo) picks up a hitchhiker in the spring of 2018 who’s seeking a ride to Arkansas. Eddie is headed that way as the guest of a Protestant church wanting him to give a book talk. His hitchhiker immediately tells him that he is traveling there in order to attend a talk by his favorite author, Eddie Valpolicella. Eddie instantly suspects a prank (or worse), but the man, who introduces himself as “Jesus the Christ,” convinces the author to give their shared company a try for just one day. Still, the whole project seems doomed. Eddie finds himself annoyed by the man he names “So-Called Jesus” and dumps him fairly early on—only to be reunited with the hitchhiker right away and reconciled to a long drive together. Prompted by the success of Eddie’s earlier works, the author’s agent has already urged him to do a book about meeting Jesus—but not the stereotypical Sunday school figure. “We need a new Jesus these days,” she tells Eddie. “Make him real.” This turns out to be easy for Eddie, who notices right away that So-Called Jesus isn’t always saintly. “He can’t be Jesus,” Eddie thinks, “because the real Jesus would never be so obnoxious.” What follows is a buddy/road-trip narrative that would have had Merullo burned in a public square during the first 1,900 years of Christianity.
So-Called Jesus agrees with Eddie’s agent. He wants the author to write a book about a different kind of Jesus, a work that will fill what he refers to as “the Gap” between the Gospels and the present day. Merullo is a long-standing, practiced hand at crafting narratives that are both hugely readable and genuinely thought-provoking, and the story of the growing relationship between his stand-in and So-Called Jesus makes for deeply captivating reading. The passenger consistently displays supernatural knowledge and abilities. But for a long time, Eddie is reluctant to, as he puts it, “surrender my logic and sense of normalcy” in order to accept that the hitchhiker is the real Jesus. Most of the narrative is mercifully free of the typical straw-man apologetics in favor of the “validity” of Christianity (although one of the most famous, that “even Einstein pointed to the meticulous design of everything…as evidence of some kind of Divine Intelligence,” is trotted out on cue). Instead, readers get a refreshingly complex, personal portrait of that promised “new Jesus”—wry, funny, knowing, and infinitely patient. This Jesus is less enigmatic and gnomish than Merullo’s Buddha—he’s far more of a pragmatic, working folks’ Messiah, a version very touchingly on display when the two travelers share a meal with a poor family in a West Virginia hollow. Even non-Christians will find this road trip intriguing.
A winningly thoughtful, metafictional exploration of the modern nature of Christianity.Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73672-028-8
Page Count: 280
Publisher: PFP Publishing
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
A warm and winning "When Harry Met Sally…" update that hits all the perfect notes.
A travel writer has one last shot at reconnecting with the best friend she just might be in love with.
Poppy and Alex couldn't be more different. She loves wearing bright colors while he prefers khakis and a T-shirt. She likes just about everything while he’s a bit more discerning. And yet, their opposites-attract friendship works because they love each other…in a totally platonic way. Probably. Even though they have their own separate lives (Poppy lives in New York City and is a travel writer with a popular Instagram account; Alex is a high school teacher in their tiny Ohio hometown), they still manage to get together each summer for one fabulous vacation. They grow closer every year, but Poppy doesn’t let herself linger on her feelings for Alex—she doesn’t want to ruin their friendship or the way she can be fully herself with him. They continue to date other people, even bringing their serious partners on their summer vacations…but then, after a falling-out, they stop speaking. When Poppy finds herself facing a serious bout of ennui, unhappy with her glamorous job and the life she’s been dreaming of forever, she thinks back to the last time she was truly happy: her last vacation with Alex. And so, though they haven’t spoken in two years, she asks him to take another vacation with her. She’s determined to bridge the gap that’s formed between them and become best friends again, but to do that, she’ll have to be honest with Alex—and herself—about her true feelings. In chapters that jump around in time, Henry shows readers the progression (and dissolution) of Poppy and Alex’s friendship. Their slow-burn love story hits on beloved romance tropes (such as there unexpectedly being only one bed on the reconciliation trip Poppy plans) while still feeling entirely fresh. Henry’s biggest strength is in the sparkling, often laugh-out-loud-funny dialogue, particularly the banter-filled conversations between Poppy and Alex. But there’s depth to the story, too—Poppy’s feeling of dissatisfaction with a life that should be making her happy as well as her unresolved feelings toward the difficult parts of her childhood make her a sympathetic and relatable character. The end result is a story that pays homage to classic romantic comedies while having a point of view all its own.
A warm and winning "When Harry Met Sally…" update that hits all the perfect notes.Pub Date: May 11, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-9848-0675-8
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
PERSPECTIVES
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