First published 1971
Antonio Parr impulsively answers an ad from a religious diploma mill and receives his ordination through the mail. The thirty-four-year-old former teacher and failed sculptor enjoys the tax benefits, but his curiosity grows about Leo Bebb, the ebullient head of the operation. Despite his twin sister Miriam dying of bone disease in Manhattan, Antonio travels to Armadillo, Florida to investigate The Church of Holy Love, Inc. There he encounters Bebb's peculiar world: Brownie, the seraphic assistant; Hermon Redpath, an elderly satyr Bebb courts as a patron; and Sharon, Bebb's twenty-one-year-old daughter. Antonio falls in love with Sharon while discovering that Bebb sells degrees to anyone who pays and previously faced charges for sexual exhibitionism. As Antonio learns more about the contradictory preacher and himself, their fates become intertwined. Bebb emerges as both sinner and saint, a vessel of grace wrapped in obvious corruption.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, 20th-century, contemporary
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Armadillo, Florida, Manhattan
Period: 20th-century
247 pages · Paperback · Atheneum