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Foy: On the Road to Lost
Written as a series of connected stories, Foy: A Novel by Gordon Atkinson is where we meet Baptist minister Foy Davis. From boyhood adventures in Fort Davis and Houston, Texas, to his unorthodox ministry in San Antonio, to his subsequent bolt from church life to New Orleans, we follow the thread of one man’s struggle with the place of religion in his life.
With clarity and spare dialogue, Gordon Atkinson portrays a good, caring man who is escaping his history to step into a more authentic life, even if it is a strange and frightening thing. As Foy attempts to salvage what he can of the religion he once knew, the reader is invited to walk along with him on this journey.
With clarity and spare dialogue, Gordon Atkinson portrays a good, caring man who is escaping his history to step into a more authentic life, even if it is a strange and frightening thing. As Foy attempts to salvage what he can of the religion he once knew, the reader is invited to walk along with him on this journey.
182 pages, Paperback
Published March 1, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
April 23, 2017
Some writings evoke a response from graphic content – blood spraying, mysterious noises in a darkened atmosphere, graphic utterings of private whispers, others solicit a response from shock value. It is the rare author who can call forth deep, genuine, vivid reactions by laying open the moments of life that are of such import and universal experience that those who read those words could easily feel as if they are reading their own biography. In this unified collection of short stories, Gordon Atkinson has brilliantly accomplished the latter and a breathtaking accomplishment it is.
Foy Davis, the son of a Baptist minister and a fiercely independent-minded mother, has reached the limit of his ability to avoid or resolve or accept the answers to questions inherent in his chosen profession (that of also being a Baptist pastor). His marriage is ending, which led to the decision, having long-ago reached the awareness that it was time, for him to leave his parish post. After acting on this knowledge, Foy, for the first time in his life, “had nothing to do and nowhere to go.” (p.3) and embarks upon a journey of discovery. A trek, the reader quickly learns, that had its beginning decades before when he was a young boy in west Texas. The questions he had then, honored but wisely left unanswered by God and his mother and unasked of his Dad, could no longer be ignored nor resolved.
The text loosely follows Foy from childhood to his professional life to this point. He is always wanting to believe what he has been told is true yet the things he sees and experiences has the shadow of a Truth not in line with those early teachings. His being “on the road to lost” has more to do with “losing his life in order to find it” than it refers to being in darkness without awareness of location. The next volume in this “journal” will, it is hoped, shed more “light” into this wandering.
The author has an adept hand in weaving an emotional tale without having to become melodramatic or resorting to trite emotionality. Though Foy is a Christian Pastor, his experience is far more human than professional. Anyone who has examined, deeply, his/her life will have felt the disquiet, uncertainty and complete “lostness” in which Foy finds himself.
Foy is giving up all he has been told he is and is opening himself to learn what his definition of “him” is. His father (the “faithful stalwart” deeply ensconced within his heart) and his mother (the “Jiminy Cricket” of his life) are present in the mix, each lending their flavor to the possible outcome but he is required to be honest enough with himself to learn to speak with his own voice. Such is the requirement of every adult.
The universality of what Foy is walking through causes him to take on, “reluctantly” I imagine him saying, the role of Every Man. He has done what he does because it was expected of him – by his family, culture, his self-image – without being willing to examine the “how” and “what for” of such expectations until enough conflict arises to force him to face those difficult questions. Socrates suggested that “the unexamined life is not worth living,” but it is much easier to live without such reflection. The hope for Foy, and the rest of us, is in doing such difficult work will bring him to the place of “Being” that is home. Such a place may look similar to the location he once thought of as “home,” except this time, it will be truly his.
Foy Davis, the son of a Baptist minister and a fiercely independent-minded mother, has reached the limit of his ability to avoid or resolve or accept the answers to questions inherent in his chosen profession (that of also being a Baptist pastor). His marriage is ending, which led to the decision, having long-ago reached the awareness that it was time, for him to leave his parish post. After acting on this knowledge, Foy, for the first time in his life, “had nothing to do and nowhere to go.” (p.3) and embarks upon a journey of discovery. A trek, the reader quickly learns, that had its beginning decades before when he was a young boy in west Texas. The questions he had then, honored but wisely left unanswered by God and his mother and unasked of his Dad, could no longer be ignored nor resolved.
The text loosely follows Foy from childhood to his professional life to this point. He is always wanting to believe what he has been told is true yet the things he sees and experiences has the shadow of a Truth not in line with those early teachings. His being “on the road to lost” has more to do with “losing his life in order to find it” than it refers to being in darkness without awareness of location. The next volume in this “journal” will, it is hoped, shed more “light” into this wandering.
The author has an adept hand in weaving an emotional tale without having to become melodramatic or resorting to trite emotionality. Though Foy is a Christian Pastor, his experience is far more human than professional. Anyone who has examined, deeply, his/her life will have felt the disquiet, uncertainty and complete “lostness” in which Foy finds himself.
Foy is giving up all he has been told he is and is opening himself to learn what his definition of “him” is. His father (the “faithful stalwart” deeply ensconced within his heart) and his mother (the “Jiminy Cricket” of his life) are present in the mix, each lending their flavor to the possible outcome but he is required to be honest enough with himself to learn to speak with his own voice. Such is the requirement of every adult.
The universality of what Foy is walking through causes him to take on, “reluctantly” I imagine him saying, the role of Every Man. He has done what he does because it was expected of him – by his family, culture, his self-image – without being willing to examine the “how” and “what for” of such expectations until enough conflict arises to force him to face those difficult questions. Socrates suggested that “the unexamined life is not worth living,” but it is much easier to live without such reflection. The hope for Foy, and the rest of us, is in doing such difficult work will bring him to the place of “Being” that is home. Such a place may look similar to the location he once thought of as “home,” except this time, it will be truly his.
March 4, 2017
Books in the Literary Fiction genre seem to be hit and miss with me. However, Foy surprised me and I found this introspective look back at his life very fascinating. The book starts off and Foy is being let go from the church where he is a pastor. I think it is something of a shock, and like most people that are let go, he seems to stumble around trying to figure out what he should be doing with his life. The following chapters are a flashback of his life and how he got to this point. I liked that each chapter was more of a snapshot of an influential time in his life, whether he knew it or not at the time. It seems like he was meant to be a preacher from his early days, but was that because he was emulating his father?
This book also peeks inside Foy's relationship with God and religion, and perhaps it causes the reader to also consider how they feel or what they believe when it comes to God and religion. One paragraph (or close) made me think a little. This is from the Bearing Witness chapter - "I think hell is a place where God is not. And if people don't want to be with God, then he honors that choice and they can be away from God for eternity. If that's what they choose, he'll give it to them. But I think hell must be a terrible place if God is absent from it." This gave me pause and actually changed my thinking on how to perceive hell (whether there is one or not is a whole other topic!)
Another paragraph that stood out to me is from The Sermon chapter. "The thing about forgiveness is, we don't even know what the hell it means. People are always saying "Forgive me" or "I forgive you", but we don't define it. That's a problem." This is tied to a biblical verse that talks about forgiving someone not seven times, but seventy times seven. If you think about it, that is a lot of forgiveness. What could someone do 490 times (70 x 7) that you would forgive them every single time? For most people it would never get that far before they had enough of the situation.
The only thing I don't really like in this book is the use of the f* bomb. Ironically there is a chapter titled F-Bomb and there is a bit of humor in that chapter tied to this word, but there were many other uses of the word in this book that weren't really necessary. Maybe I grew up in a sheltered household, but I don't recall this word being used much in the 70's and 80's. I could be wrong though.
The book doesn't really end and in the notes from the author it seems that he is working on a Part II that will pick up where this book ends.
Overall I give it 4 paws and if you are looking for a book that will make you think, then check out this one.
This book also peeks inside Foy's relationship with God and religion, and perhaps it causes the reader to also consider how they feel or what they believe when it comes to God and religion. One paragraph (or close) made me think a little. This is from the Bearing Witness chapter - "I think hell is a place where God is not. And if people don't want to be with God, then he honors that choice and they can be away from God for eternity. If that's what they choose, he'll give it to them. But I think hell must be a terrible place if God is absent from it." This gave me pause and actually changed my thinking on how to perceive hell (whether there is one or not is a whole other topic!)
Another paragraph that stood out to me is from The Sermon chapter. "The thing about forgiveness is, we don't even know what the hell it means. People are always saying "Forgive me" or "I forgive you", but we don't define it. That's a problem." This is tied to a biblical verse that talks about forgiving someone not seven times, but seventy times seven. If you think about it, that is a lot of forgiveness. What could someone do 490 times (70 x 7) that you would forgive them every single time? For most people it would never get that far before they had enough of the situation.
The only thing I don't really like in this book is the use of the f* bomb. Ironically there is a chapter titled F-Bomb and there is a bit of humor in that chapter tied to this word, but there were many other uses of the word in this book that weren't really necessary. Maybe I grew up in a sheltered household, but I don't recall this word being used much in the 70's and 80's. I could be wrong though.
The book doesn't really end and in the notes from the author it seems that he is working on a Part II that will pick up where this book ends.
Overall I give it 4 paws and if you are looking for a book that will make you think, then check out this one.
March 22, 2017
To me, Gordon Atkinson will always be the Real Live Preacher (RLP). Even though he no longer holds a position as a church pastor, he is still preaching the word, to me at least. This book, Foy: On the Road to Lost, is yet another example of his still preaching.
I first got to know Gordon Atkinson (aka RLP, as I'll call him during the rest of this self-indulgent excuse of a "review") when I discovered his web site back sometime around 2005 or 2006. I had a lot of dead time in the lab waiting for things to happen (I was slowly heating things up until they exploded) and so, I spent some of that "waiting" time surfing the web. I believe he began the site in 2004, so I got on board, so to speak a year or two after he began that site. At the time Gordon was the pastor of a small (I think) Baptist church in Texas.
I didn't know much about Baptists then, although some of my Kansas cousins on my maternal grandfather's side were Baptists. He and my mother's people were Methodists. Anyway, what I thought I knew of Baptists was the most obvious, and odious, form of them, the Southern Baptists. If rank-and-file Southern Baptists are anything like their more prominent "leaders"—e.g. Al Mohler, Robert Jeffress, Richard Land, Franklin Graham, etc.—they would be a more ignorant and bigoted group of people than you could ever hope to meet. An object lesson of all that's opposed to the Jesus' "good news". My guess is Southern Baptists are, by and large, wonderful people who just got stuck with the dregs of humanity populating their leadership ranks. [sorry for the digression; on to RLP]
But RLP, as I'll refer to Gordon—I hope he'll forgive me—was clearly cut from different cloth. He, like my other favorite Baptist, Fred Clark (a.k.a. Slacktivist), was a thinker and questioner. RLP (and Slactivist), understood that the human condition was complex, that the questions about what came first and what comes last were not straightforward. In short, RLP was one of the most honest thinkers of the human condition I had yet encountered.
So, anyway, RLP would post various musings about life and spirituality, musings that resonated with me, a lowly UCC (pronounced uhck; allegedly it stands for United Church of Christ; sometimes people refer to UCC as "Unitarians considering Christ", or occasionally, to our "old" New England name, Congregationalists). Along with his musings about this and that, RLP also posted stories about a guy named Foy Davis. That is the genesis of this book. It seems that RLP has written some 41 stories about Foy, although I'm not sure they were all posted on RLP.com back in the day. He's still writing/revising them. He has collected 25 of them into this volume. Another volume is to come out later in the year. There may be more to follow, it's not completely clear. RLP is being coy, but does promise a finale of sorts.
What we have here are a series of vignettes in the life of Foy Davis. His life from beginning to end is to be sketched out in these vignettes, although not chronologically. When we're done, after another volume or two, we'll find out that Foy, like most of us, was an authentic person who had his failings all the while trying to be a good person. Something like that.
Atkinson is a gifted writer. He is very good at helping us see into the mind of his character, by relating universal, albeit trivial, instances in day-to-day living. I was blessed with an advanced copy of this book, and I can't wait for the next.
Normally, I read on Kindle, so am not generally exposed to decent typography. But, I read the dead-tree version of this book, and one of its great features was the typography. The typography in this book is better than you find in most dead-tree books, and certainly way above anything one could reproduce on a Kindle. I think the type face was something like Caslon Antique. Whatever, it gave a particularly graceful look to the telling of Foy's life. So, even if you aren't interested in reading about the all-too-common struggles of Foy's attempts to find meaning in his life, read this book for its presentation.
I first got to know Gordon Atkinson (aka RLP, as I'll call him during the rest of this self-indulgent excuse of a "review") when I discovered his web site back sometime around 2005 or 2006. I had a lot of dead time in the lab waiting for things to happen (I was slowly heating things up until they exploded) and so, I spent some of that "waiting" time surfing the web. I believe he began the site in 2004, so I got on board, so to speak a year or two after he began that site. At the time Gordon was the pastor of a small (I think) Baptist church in Texas.
I didn't know much about Baptists then, although some of my Kansas cousins on my maternal grandfather's side were Baptists. He and my mother's people were Methodists. Anyway, what I thought I knew of Baptists was the most obvious, and odious, form of them, the Southern Baptists. If rank-and-file Southern Baptists are anything like their more prominent "leaders"—e.g. Al Mohler, Robert Jeffress, Richard Land, Franklin Graham, etc.—they would be a more ignorant and bigoted group of people than you could ever hope to meet. An object lesson of all that's opposed to the Jesus' "good news". My guess is Southern Baptists are, by and large, wonderful people who just got stuck with the dregs of humanity populating their leadership ranks. [sorry for the digression; on to RLP]
But RLP, as I'll refer to Gordon—I hope he'll forgive me—was clearly cut from different cloth. He, like my other favorite Baptist, Fred Clark (a.k.a. Slacktivist), was a thinker and questioner. RLP (and Slactivist), understood that the human condition was complex, that the questions about what came first and what comes last were not straightforward. In short, RLP was one of the most honest thinkers of the human condition I had yet encountered.
So, anyway, RLP would post various musings about life and spirituality, musings that resonated with me, a lowly UCC (pronounced uhck; allegedly it stands for United Church of Christ; sometimes people refer to UCC as "Unitarians considering Christ", or occasionally, to our "old" New England name, Congregationalists). Along with his musings about this and that, RLP also posted stories about a guy named Foy Davis. That is the genesis of this book. It seems that RLP has written some 41 stories about Foy, although I'm not sure they were all posted on RLP.com back in the day. He's still writing/revising them. He has collected 25 of them into this volume. Another volume is to come out later in the year. There may be more to follow, it's not completely clear. RLP is being coy, but does promise a finale of sorts.
What we have here are a series of vignettes in the life of Foy Davis. His life from beginning to end is to be sketched out in these vignettes, although not chronologically. When we're done, after another volume or two, we'll find out that Foy, like most of us, was an authentic person who had his failings all the while trying to be a good person. Something like that.
Atkinson is a gifted writer. He is very good at helping us see into the mind of his character, by relating universal, albeit trivial, instances in day-to-day living. I was blessed with an advanced copy of this book, and I can't wait for the next.
Normally, I read on Kindle, so am not generally exposed to decent typography. But, I read the dead-tree version of this book, and one of its great features was the typography. The typography in this book is better than you find in most dead-tree books, and certainly way above anything one could reproduce on a Kindle. I think the type face was something like Caslon Antique. Whatever, it gave a particularly graceful look to the telling of Foy's life. So, even if you aren't interested in reading about the all-too-common struggles of Foy's attempts to find meaning in his life, read this book for its presentation.
March 15, 2017
Foy: On the Road to Lost is an insightful look at one man’s journey through life. The book starts out when Foy leaves the ministry and heads off to New Orleans. The rest of the book is a series of Foy’s memory snapshots from childhood to adulthood. While each section could stand alone, reading them in sequence shows Foy’s interesting progression of choices, mistakes, and life-changing moments.
What makes Foy so captivating is that we all have those moments or events in our lives that stand out in our memories. Some of these events seem innocuous, but they must be significant enough to have survived that long-term memory cut. Foy’s memory snapshots are funny, heartbreaking, awkward, and mundane, just like life. The episode in Foy’s life that affected me the most is about Foy’s encounter with the most bullied kid in school, David Friedman. Foy tries, but he inevitably succumbs to the sad yet often realistic need to remain distanced from that bullied kid, lest he be bullied as well. This decision to shun David obviously haunts Foy throughout his life.
Foy: On the Road to Lost by Gordon Atkinson is simple and unassuming, yet it hits the reader hard because pretty much everyone has retained those haunting memories, has made the wrong (or seemingly wrong) life decisions, has been crushed by love, has experienced severe doubts about faith and religion, and has encountered both loving and hurtful people.
Foy Davis is each and every one of us, and this sweet collection of memories encourages us to examine and celebrate our own special (and sometimes difficult) memories.
***
“The stars were his silent, watching friends. Never changing. Neither his birth nor his death, not his life, his sorrow, or his joy would move them. This was religion in its oldest and purest form.”
What makes Foy so captivating is that we all have those moments or events in our lives that stand out in our memories. Some of these events seem innocuous, but they must be significant enough to have survived that long-term memory cut. Foy’s memory snapshots are funny, heartbreaking, awkward, and mundane, just like life. The episode in Foy’s life that affected me the most is about Foy’s encounter with the most bullied kid in school, David Friedman. Foy tries, but he inevitably succumbs to the sad yet often realistic need to remain distanced from that bullied kid, lest he be bullied as well. This decision to shun David obviously haunts Foy throughout his life.
Foy: On the Road to Lost by Gordon Atkinson is simple and unassuming, yet it hits the reader hard because pretty much everyone has retained those haunting memories, has made the wrong (or seemingly wrong) life decisions, has been crushed by love, has experienced severe doubts about faith and religion, and has encountered both loving and hurtful people.
Foy Davis is each and every one of us, and this sweet collection of memories encourages us to examine and celebrate our own special (and sometimes difficult) memories.
***
“The stars were his silent, watching friends. Never changing. Neither his birth nor his death, not his life, his sorrow, or his joy would move them. This was religion in its oldest and purest form.”
August 8, 2017
I feel like I just spent time with a friend.
This is one of those books that would certainly have passed me by if I hadn't requested it for review from Audiobook Boom. The bright orange cover is appealing but I don't think the content would have been able to compete against the huge publicity machine that is today's book industry.
Fortunately it caught my eye as a freebie and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the ruminations of Foy on everything from his childhood as the son of a Baptist Minister, to his following in his father's footsteps, to his questioning what he does and does not actually believe - and leaving the ministry.
It's not at all preachy and has a very genuine, human feel to it. Foy is generous hearted and considerate and I particularly liked the episode where he spent time with a man who was dying of aids.
By the time the audio was finished I felt as if I was losing a friend and I hope I shall be able to follow this with more excerpts from Foy's life in the future.
An interesting comment caught my eye in the acknowledgements - only his wife knows how close, or otherwise, Foy's character is to the author's.
Talking of acknowledgements, I should make a mention of the excellent narration by Karl Miller.
Thank you to Audiobook Boom, the publisher, Material Media and Audible for my free copy in return for an honest review.
This is one of those books that would certainly have passed me by if I hadn't requested it for review from Audiobook Boom. The bright orange cover is appealing but I don't think the content would have been able to compete against the huge publicity machine that is today's book industry.
Fortunately it caught my eye as a freebie and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the ruminations of Foy on everything from his childhood as the son of a Baptist Minister, to his following in his father's footsteps, to his questioning what he does and does not actually believe - and leaving the ministry.
It's not at all preachy and has a very genuine, human feel to it. Foy is generous hearted and considerate and I particularly liked the episode where he spent time with a man who was dying of aids.
By the time the audio was finished I felt as if I was losing a friend and I hope I shall be able to follow this with more excerpts from Foy's life in the future.
An interesting comment caught my eye in the acknowledgements - only his wife knows how close, or otherwise, Foy's character is to the author's.
Talking of acknowledgements, I should make a mention of the excellent narration by Karl Miller.
Thank you to Audiobook Boom, the publisher, Material Media and Audible for my free copy in return for an honest review.
Read
July 24, 2025This was not a book that was on my to be read list. That list is piled high of books on women's memoir, women's spirituality, poetry and books on writing. I was not drawn to read a book about a guy on the road to lost.
So, what can I say now that I have read the book?
Well, let's just say once I started the book I could not put it down. I was drawn into Foy's journey, walking through his questions, searching for answers, trying to find the way. I guess we all are a little bit lost and we don't even know it.
I love Gordan's simple, yet deep dialogue. I love the transparency, the honesty, and the humanness of his character. I love his sense of humor.
I can think of a few folks I will share this little gem with and I eagerly await the next book of Foy stories.
So, what can I say now that I have read the book?
Well, let's just say once I started the book I could not put it down. I was drawn into Foy's journey, walking through his questions, searching for answers, trying to find the way. I guess we all are a little bit lost and we don't even know it.
I love Gordan's simple, yet deep dialogue. I love the transparency, the honesty, and the humanness of his character. I love his sense of humor.
I can think of a few folks I will share this little gem with and I eagerly await the next book of Foy stories.
August 15, 2017
I am the publisher so I'm prejudiced but I think this is a wonderful book. The volume is comprised of related stories, vignettes about Foy. These evocative scenes from his life, a man on a journey of self-discovery, tell a familiar story of everyman. You will recognize yourself in Foy. This is the first full length fiction (a picaresque novel) by Gordon Atkinson whose non-fiction writings have won multiple awards. Atkinson's online essays have won the hearts of thousands of readers. The book: Foy will be released March 1, 2017.
December 20, 2016
Arresting. Lots to think about. Would be very interesting to discuss with a group.
April 24, 2017
LITERARY FICTION
Gordon Atkinson
Foy: On the Road to Lost
Material Media
Paperback, 978-0-9967-5355-5, (also available as an e-book), 194 pgs., $15.95
March 1, 2017
Minister Foy Davis is having a bad week. His wife, and mother of his daughters, has served him with divorce papers, then two days later, in a more or less mutual decision (“like two lovers staring at each other and saying, almost simultaneously, We need to talk”), he’s been removed and/or resigned as pastor of a Baptist church in San Antonio. Foy’s midlife crisis of faith has been building throughout his adult life. He wonders what it would be like to be “a regular person.” As he’s leaving the church for the last time, he reaches for a vial of rose oil used for anointing the sick, gifted to him by an Episcopal-priest friend, and anoints his own forehead.
Foy sets out to discover what he suspects he might’ve been missing. In New Orleans. During Mardi Gras. He may even take up cigars. Emotionally volatile—swinging from anger to sorrow and back again—Foy is weary of being responsible for his congregation (for their souls, no less), and thinks he’d like to be “mildly empathetic, across a vast emotional chasm,” instead. He has “fantasized about … absolute freedom” for years, but in the event, he may find that it really is just another word for nothing left to lose. No matter how he tries, ecumenical Foy can’t make himself stop caring about people.
Foy: On the Road to Lost, the first novel by Gordon Atkinson, M.Div., doesn’t fit neatly into any of our convenient genres. It is only loosely a novel, as addressed in the Author’s Note. Each chapter is a self-contained unit, and the whole resembles a collection of linked short stories. These related tales are really a character sketch, but too finely developed and richly detailed to be termed a “sketch.”
Atkinson is at his best writing about Foy’s childhood, as a small child in Fort Davis, then as an adolescent in Houston. I’m reminded of the story of Harper Lee’s agent telling her to rework her book from Scout’s point of view—that’s how good Atkinson is with the boy Foy. Another standout character is Foy’s mother, a philosophy student who put away her ambitions to settle down to marriage, motherhood, and the expectations placed on a preacher’s wife in the 1960s. “The Sunday school teachers swaddled [Foy’s] mind every Sunday morning,” Atkinson writes. ”Sunday nights she [Foy’s mother] took him outside under the stars … [and] carefully unwound the swaddling clothes and set him free.”
Kudos belong to the design team responsible for Foy. This slim, bright yellow book sports beautiful end pages of black-and-white photographic images of the mountains of West Texas and charmingly whimsical pencil sketches of a character we assume to be Foy. Even the typeface has a story; it involves a dispute between the owners of a nineteenth-century British press resulting in every piece of the metal typeface being dumped into the Thames. There are so many small, literary jewels in Foy: On the Road to Lost.
Originally published in Lone Star Literary Life.
Gordon Atkinson
Foy: On the Road to Lost
Material Media
Paperback, 978-0-9967-5355-5, (also available as an e-book), 194 pgs., $15.95
March 1, 2017
Minister Foy Davis is having a bad week. His wife, and mother of his daughters, has served him with divorce papers, then two days later, in a more or less mutual decision (“like two lovers staring at each other and saying, almost simultaneously, We need to talk”), he’s been removed and/or resigned as pastor of a Baptist church in San Antonio. Foy’s midlife crisis of faith has been building throughout his adult life. He wonders what it would be like to be “a regular person.” As he’s leaving the church for the last time, he reaches for a vial of rose oil used for anointing the sick, gifted to him by an Episcopal-priest friend, and anoints his own forehead.
Foy sets out to discover what he suspects he might’ve been missing. In New Orleans. During Mardi Gras. He may even take up cigars. Emotionally volatile—swinging from anger to sorrow and back again—Foy is weary of being responsible for his congregation (for their souls, no less), and thinks he’d like to be “mildly empathetic, across a vast emotional chasm,” instead. He has “fantasized about … absolute freedom” for years, but in the event, he may find that it really is just another word for nothing left to lose. No matter how he tries, ecumenical Foy can’t make himself stop caring about people.
Foy: On the Road to Lost, the first novel by Gordon Atkinson, M.Div., doesn’t fit neatly into any of our convenient genres. It is only loosely a novel, as addressed in the Author’s Note. Each chapter is a self-contained unit, and the whole resembles a collection of linked short stories. These related tales are really a character sketch, but too finely developed and richly detailed to be termed a “sketch.”
Atkinson is at his best writing about Foy’s childhood, as a small child in Fort Davis, then as an adolescent in Houston. I’m reminded of the story of Harper Lee’s agent telling her to rework her book from Scout’s point of view—that’s how good Atkinson is with the boy Foy. Another standout character is Foy’s mother, a philosophy student who put away her ambitions to settle down to marriage, motherhood, and the expectations placed on a preacher’s wife in the 1960s. “The Sunday school teachers swaddled [Foy’s] mind every Sunday morning,” Atkinson writes. ”Sunday nights she [Foy’s mother] took him outside under the stars … [and] carefully unwound the swaddling clothes and set him free.”
Kudos belong to the design team responsible for Foy. This slim, bright yellow book sports beautiful end pages of black-and-white photographic images of the mountains of West Texas and charmingly whimsical pencil sketches of a character we assume to be Foy. Even the typeface has a story; it involves a dispute between the owners of a nineteenth-century British press resulting in every piece of the metal typeface being dumped into the Thames. There are so many small, literary jewels in Foy: On the Road to Lost.
Originally published in Lone Star Literary Life.
November 9, 2017
Atkinson has put together a collection of short stories that, while they can stand up individually on their own, together begin to put together a vivid picture of the man called Foy Davis. There is no set arc to his story – some stories flash back to Foy’s childhood, others jump ahead to his time in New Orleans, to where he has sort of run away after leaving his position as a minister. Individually and together, they offer a complex and human look into a fascinating character.
Foy is the everyman, questioning his beliefs. Only – Foy is a preacher. Aren’t they supposed to be pretty secure in their faith? And there is the hook – it is the honesty, the real-ness of the character that settles into your bones. This is the guy I want to sit down with over coffee (or a beer) and talk to about faith and life, because he makes you feel ok about your doubts.
But the book is more than that. There is a quiet presence in all his tales that really connected, a clarity in the writing, a total lack of pretense. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve every struggled so much in trying to capture in words the feel a book projects, or what exactly it was that resounded so much with me, but it did. Deeply.
I was provided an copy of the book for review - all thoughts and opinions are my own.
June 6, 2017
Somewhere recently, though I cannot find it now, I read that the opposite of despair is not hope, but wonder. The quote came back to me reading Gordon Atkinson's book, Foy--a collection of loosely-linked stories that taken all together are a beautiful, sacred, funny, comforting, and disquieting story of a life. Or, at least, a life so far.
The subtitle of the book is "On the Road to Lost," so to claim it is hopeful might be a reach. But it is not a story of despair. It is a story filled with wonder that seeps in from the edges, under closed doors, in the midst of tragedy and in the onslaught of the mundane.
When I finished, I wanted to go stand out under the stars and feel appropriately insignificant.
The subtitle of the book is "On the Road to Lost," so to claim it is hopeful might be a reach. But it is not a story of despair. It is a story filled with wonder that seeps in from the edges, under closed doors, in the midst of tragedy and in the onslaught of the mundane.
When I finished, I wanted to go stand out under the stars and feel appropriately insignificant.
April 15, 2019
Due to the wonder of the internet, I've known of Foy for quite some time.
I perceive Foy to contain certain aspects of the man I knew as reallivepreacher going back to the early 2000s. This short work so nicely stitches together a concise, believable account of what living in a world dominated by Evangelical Christianity may be like, both for the good and the I'll. Particularly for those who tend to gaze deeply into this world's humanity. I enjoy Mr. Atkinson's style of keeping the chapters as short snippets into Foy's life while going more deeply into fleshing him out. I think this work can be enjoyed as a casual story, and might provide at least some solace to those who have felt wounded or let down by formulaic answers to church or a faith God.
I perceive Foy to contain certain aspects of the man I knew as reallivepreacher going back to the early 2000s. This short work so nicely stitches together a concise, believable account of what living in a world dominated by Evangelical Christianity may be like, both for the good and the I'll. Particularly for those who tend to gaze deeply into this world's humanity. I enjoy Mr. Atkinson's style of keeping the chapters as short snippets into Foy's life while going more deeply into fleshing him out. I think this work can be enjoyed as a casual story, and might provide at least some solace to those who have felt wounded or let down by formulaic answers to church or a faith God.
July 24, 2020
A couple weekends ago, I finished Gordon Atkinson's book Foy. If you ever have the opportunity to get a hold of his Real Live Preacher grab it with both hands. It is easily my favorite book of thoughtful modern Christian spirituality.
Foy is a fictionalized autobiography that partly grew from his RLP blog and book and it contains the same honest soul searching and dry humor.
I love this author's work for the same reasons others may hate it. Gordon Atkison's observations are wryly astute and his theological background is strong, but he remains weak on pat answers and sacharine platitudes. He is not what my mom called "a sanctimonious little shit."
Foy is a fictionalized autobiography that partly grew from his RLP blog and book and it contains the same honest soul searching and dry humor.
I love this author's work for the same reasons others may hate it. Gordon Atkison's observations are wryly astute and his theological background is strong, but he remains weak on pat answers and sacharine platitudes. He is not what my mom called "a sanctimonious little shit."
July 17, 2017
A very interesting book delving into a relationship with god. Each story made Foy's struggle with understanding deeper. I enjoyed the final story very much.
There are two stories from another book which had me balling.
There are two stories from another book which had me balling.
February 3, 2019
I have always loved Gordon’s storytelling. Reading this was like an extended time with a good friend. Looking forward to the next book.
May 14, 2019
Honesty, laughs, tears, truth. Amen.
On the road to lost seems on the road to found. I’ve bought over a dozen copies of his books, I’ll keep passing them out...
On the road to lost seems on the road to found. I’ve bought over a dozen copies of his books, I’ll keep passing them out...
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