false 27631 2 From one of our most admired and visible young writers, a superb new novel about the collision between the forces of faith and an overstimulated, overfed, spiritually overextended America.<b><br></b><br>Mason LaVerle is a young man on a mission&#8212;a mission to America. He was raised in a remote Montana town in the church of the Aboriginal Fulfilled Apostles, a matriarchal, not-quite-Christian, almost New-Ageish sect that, like the Amish, keeps a wary distance from mainstream life. But the Apostles face a dwindling membership, so Mason is sent on an outreach mission with another young man to bring back converts&#8212;and, more specifically, brides. And so these two naive believers head off in a van to encounter the contemporary scene in all its bewildering, seductive diversity. They prosyletize at malls, passing out leaflets in parking garages based on the condition of their cars and their bumper stickers. Eventually, they make their way to a gilded Colorado ski town, where, while promoting their un-American message of humble, serene, optimistic fatalism, Mason finds himself courting a young woman who used to pose for Internet porn sites, and his partner becomes the live-in guru of a guilt-ridden billionaire with chronic bowel complaints. Meanwhile, back in Montana, the Apostles are facing schism and extinction as their beloved leader, the Seeress, drifts toward death. The mounting pressures lead Mason to the brink of missionary madness. <br><br>Walter Kirn is one of the most acute observers of contemporary American life that we have. In <i>Mission to America</i>, he harnesses that gift to a satirical yet moving tale of a stranger in a strange land that just happens to be our own. 28238 11 10 2005 Mission to America: A Novel total:118|5:10|4:41|3:43|2:22|1:2| 118 389 181 17 4 1 false false Thu Jul 26 10:56:01 -0700 2007 Thu Jul 26 11:56:22 -0700 2007
I liked this book, though not for reasons I would have expected. Many...more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Sep 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 15 09:15:31 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 15 21:30:53 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Wed Jul 25 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 05 06:54:20 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 05 06:54:42 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 02 07:08:40 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 02 07:13:23 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Dec 17 06:50:49 -0800 2008 Wed May 27 13:41:47 -0700 2009 Time magazine, where he was nominated for a National Magazine Award in his first year, and a regular reviewer for the New York Times Book Review. The author of four previous works of fiction, including the novel Up in the Air, Kirn reads from and discusses his...more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Oct 27 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 23 15:36:32 -0700 2008 Mon Oct 27 17:24:37 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri May 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri May 08 14:46:14 -0700 2009 Fri May 08 14:47:59 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Thu Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Mon Sep 17 23:29:16 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 17 23:31:54 -0700 2007
The cult is losing members and have been cut off from the world all of their lives when it's time to start recruiting from 'the world'.

Two missionaries go out to ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sat Dec 08 10:49:36 -0800 2007 Thu Dec 13 06:19:41 -0800 2007
Despite the cynicism and pessimism the author suggests pervades our lives, there is always a ray of hope that we can ignore all the ugliness around us if we j...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 29 17:53:16 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 29 17:53:16 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Wed May 07 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 01 12:59:29 -0700 2008 Wed May 07 14:09:26 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Thu Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed May 23 21:48:09 -0700 2007 Wed May 23 21:48:09 -0700 2007 4 0 false false Fri Aug 24 22:42:37 -0700 2007 Fri Aug 24 22:42:37 -0700 2007 4 0 false false Wed Apr 29 16:49:07 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 16 16:59:07 -0700 2009 1 0 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Nov 06 16:58:34 -0800 2007 Tue Dec 18 22:20:43 -0800 2007 2 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Jul 31 05:26:21 -0700 2008 Wed Aug 26 12:57:44 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Fri Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Fri Jul 06 13:48:02 -0700 2007 Fri Jul 06 13:48:10 -0700 2007 0 0 false false Sat Nov 07 14:19:11 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 07 14:19:11 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Wed Nov 04 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 04 08:53:28 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 04 08:53:34 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Tue Nov 03 17:51:24 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 03 17:51:24 -0800 2009