Well, Good Readers, I am at a loss as to what I think of this Leonard novel. As he himself explains in the introduction, he had a difficult time finding a publisher for this one, and when he finally did, the publisher held on to it for over two years because they didn’t know how to “label” it. You know, it has to fit into some kind of genre niche to be promoted. I can see how this could have been a problem.

The main character, Juvenal is a likable good guy who once in a while puts his hands on someone, and heals whatever might be wrong with them. As he does this, his hands, feet, and side bleed in the form of the stigmata, associated with the wounds of Christ. Although he believes in God, and was once a missionary, he has no idea how or why he has this power. The story basically revolves around what others think and expect of him.

All the characters here are entertaining and interesting.
Lynn is the love interest of our stigmatic hero. An ex-baton twirler with only high school, two seasons with a religious revival show, and a nine-year hitch in a rodeo trailer, is our Lynn. “Lynn had an affair with a TV news man until his hairdo, which was like a brownish-gray helmet, finally unnerved her. They would smoke grass and thrash around in bed half the afternoon and the guy would come out of it with every hair still glued in place for his six o’clock newscast. Lynn felt either she couldn’t bring out the real person beneath the hard charm or there was none there to begin with.”

August Murray is the leader of the Gray Army of the Holy Ghost, a bunch of weird dudes who want to return the Catholic Mass to its traditional Latin form. August “had trouble with rules of conduct, blind discipline, all the no-questions-asked humility shit. He believed the Church needed fighters--anybody could see that--and not the bunch of good little mama’s boys the seminary was turning out. It was true that Saint Augustine had died in a spirit of humility (and courage and penitence), but he was seventy-six years old and humility could be a wise move at that age; but not when the Church needed men who weren’t afraid to stand up and defend their faith against the cowards within and the Communists without (the sons of bitches).”

There’s a hodgepodge of other folks who fill the gaps between Juvenal’s healings and the eventual television interview by a Jerry Springer-like character who needs a swift kick in the rear several times, or at least as many kicks it takes to wear yourself out.

The dialogue is great, as usual, but this isn’t the traditional kind of story you expect from Leonard. Although you could probably make out some philosophical views on religion and modern American society, Leonard tells us in the introduction not to look for any hidden meanings here. So, I didn’t look for any, and just enjoyed a rather strange ride. Still, it reminds me of how stupid, shallow, and crazy people can be, especially modern Americans, of which I am one.
( )

This book was written in 1978 and rejected by most publishers. Once the author became hugely popular suddenly there was interest is publishing the book- more than 5 years later. It is good it is funny but it is no where near the caliber of most of the authored other books. ( )

A Michigan woman was blind and now she can see, after being touched by a young man who calls himself Juvenal. Maybe it was just coincidence, but Bill Hill—who used to run the spectacular Uni-Faith Ministry in Dalton, Georgia, and now sells RVs—can see dollar signs when he looks at this kid with the magic “touch.”

The trouble is that others see them also, including a wacko fundamentalist fascist with his own private army of the faithful and an assortment of media leeches. But everyone who’s looking to put the touch on the healer is in for a big surprise—because Juvenal’s got a trick or two up his sleeve that nobody sees coming.

starting out with an introduction about how this book took 10 years to publish because of how weird it is didn’t set a good tone. pretty good examination of a possible stigmatic, but the last three chapters were awful and ruined everything that came before. ( )

Another great one from Elmore Leonard. The ending is a little anti-climatic, but other than that, all the characters, and of course the dialogue are A-1 ( )