Faithful Narrative of a Pastor's Disappearance

by Benjamin Anastas

When young, black Reverend Thomas Mosher vanishes, his congregation grapples with the crisis and the theories about his disappearance, from his rumored affair to the white liberal parishioners who might have driven him away.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Book Club, Novels

277 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2001

Reviews

[Elias · Rating 3 out of 5]

El título es solo una excusa para mostrar la vida diaria de varias personas, pero desglosando:

- Más que la desaparición, cuenta como las personas entran en un lapso de tiempo en el que tratan de vivir con esa noticia. Mostrar todos los cambios que se han realizado en la vida de las personas desde la llegada del párroco.
- El final es decepcionante, realmente si quisiéramos saber dónde se encontraba el párroco; esperábamos más páginas con su punto de vista y las decisiones o situaciones que sucedieron para su desaparición.
- Me gusta como desarrolla la historia de las mujeres, que hasta me hacen agarrarle rabia a una de ellas (Bethany).

[Firetiger24 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm......

[Marvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know quite what to make of this one. It's a book without a plot, set in a suburban New England UCC congregation that is dealing with the sudden unexplained disappearance of their new young African American pastor. In the process, we're introduced to a variety of suburban characters, most prominently the beautiful unhappily married mother of two who seduced & had been having an affair with the pastor. The congregants' religious sensibilities seem to be treated with understanding & empathy, but then there's usually a sudden turn that undermines that sense. And the author also has a keen eye for suburban & liberal Protestant silliness. The writing is virtuosic & entertaining in its own right, with the first sentence 3 pages long, constituting the first chapter. All in all, a puzzling but fascinating book.

[Joanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

This time I judged a book by its' cover and it DIDN'T work out. This one tried a bit too hard to be funny and satirical without once making me laugh. Or even smile. Completely unsatisfying, although I did wonder what became of that missing pastor.

[Marguerite Hargreaves · Rating 2 out of 5]

I made it past page 33, and even laughed aloud at the notion of marital muffin porn. But Benjamin Anastas lost me with a paragraph in excess of a page and a half, at pages 51-53. My attention span is longer than most. This one goes back to la biblioteca.

[Hillery · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, and at times laugh-out-loud funny, satire about a 'progressive' New England church and how its members deal with the disappearance of their pastor. Just get past the pretentious first chapter.....three pages of one sentence. I almost put the book down due to that. Glad I didn't.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was just good enough to get through. Yes, it was witty, vaguely entertaining and laughing out loud will happen at some point. However, it's missing something...like a good ending.