David Schwinghammer's Blog - Posts Tagged "the-rapture"
American Gospel
I first heard of Lin Enger after I read his brother Leif Enger's hit novel, PEACE LIKE A RIVER. He teaches English Lit at The U of Minnesota Moorhead, right next to Fargo. He was at least as good as Leif.
The review I read of AMERICAN GOSPEL implied that Enoch, the major character who predicts the Rapture was a lonely old man. Enoch is far from that. He has a vision during a heart attack during which he sees his son Peter above him ascending into Heaven.
Peter is probably more of a major character than Enoch. He is a failed baseball player who spent eight years in the minors and is now counting on a journalism career to make his mark. He doesn't believe in the Rapture, but he sees his chance as the media is giving Enoch a lot of attention. He has a secondary goal. He hopes to see his ex-lover Melanie at the Last Days Ranch, his father's property. Peter and Melanie had a child together when she was fifteen, and he was eighteen. Enoch and Melanie's parents insisted they put the child up for adoption. Peter and Melanie hope to see their son at the Rapture event which Enoch predicts will occur on August 19, 1974.
Melanie thinks Enoch saved her life when a bull stepped on her chest. He prayed and she survived. She is now an actress with a new movie coming out. Both Enoch and Peter hope that Melanie's appearance will draw a crowd. Melanie believes it actually might happen. She's fed up with Hollywood and her stage door mother, Dollie who left her husband and took Melanie to California to live with her sister. She got her commercials then parts in moves and eventually an agent.
Enoch isn't a bad person, but he's setting himself up for a terrible humiliation and Peter is determined to save him, mainly because his son Willie (Named after Willie Mays?) wants him to. Enger provides an appropriate ending.
The review I read of AMERICAN GOSPEL implied that Enoch, the major character who predicts the Rapture was a lonely old man. Enoch is far from that. He has a vision during a heart attack during which he sees his son Peter above him ascending into Heaven.
Peter is probably more of a major character than Enoch. He is a failed baseball player who spent eight years in the minors and is now counting on a journalism career to make his mark. He doesn't believe in the Rapture, but he sees his chance as the media is giving Enoch a lot of attention. He has a secondary goal. He hopes to see his ex-lover Melanie at the Last Days Ranch, his father's property. Peter and Melanie had a child together when she was fifteen, and he was eighteen. Enoch and Melanie's parents insisted they put the child up for adoption. Peter and Melanie hope to see their son at the Rapture event which Enoch predicts will occur on August 19, 1974.
Melanie thinks Enoch saved her life when a bull stepped on her chest. He prayed and she survived. She is now an actress with a new movie coming out. Both Enoch and Peter hope that Melanie's appearance will draw a crowd. Melanie believes it actually might happen. She's fed up with Hollywood and her stage door mother, Dollie who left her husband and took Melanie to California to live with her sister. She got her commercials then parts in moves and eventually an agent.
Enoch isn't a bad person, but he's setting himself up for a terrible humiliation and Peter is determined to save him, mainly because his son Willie (Named after Willie Mays?) wants him to. Enger provides an appropriate ending.
