J. Blue is a young man who decides to take Christianity seriously, not as a chore but as a challenge. He spends his inherited wealth almost as soon as he gets it. He lives in a packing box on a New York City rooftop. He embraces the poor as his best friends and wisest companions, distrusts the promises of technology (except for the movies), and is fascinated by anything involving the wide expanse of God’s universe. He is the ultimate free spirit, it seems; but what is the sourceâand purposeâof his freedom? This novel about a contemporary St. Francis figure has delighted and inspired countless readers since it was first published in 1928. Â

Mr. Blue

Literature & Fiction

Connolly, Myles

Literary

DOUBLEDAY

United States

Richelieu Court Pubns

Dan England And The Noonday Devil

Dan England and the Noonday Devil

Literary Licensing, LLC

Classics

Martino Fine Books

J. Blue is a mysterious man. Charming and carefree, he goes from rags to riches after the inheritance of an unexpected fortune, only to forgo money and power for the love of Lady Poverty. This life of service leads him to embrace fully his Christian faith—loving the unlovable, instructing the ignorant, and remembering that it is by grace that we are saved. 
This edition of Myles Connolly’s 1928 novel features a special Preface by the author’s daughter Mary Connolly Breiner and a new Introduction by Stephen Mirarchi, which places the book in historical context, explains its literary structure, and reveals Connolly’s sharp command of his craft. As powerfully and poignantly today as when it was first published, the plot and protagonist of Mr. Blue will make “one believe almost anything is possible,” especially a life of joyful self-giving.

Genre Fiction

Cluny

Three Who Ventured

Mirarchi Ph.D., Stephen

J. Blue is a mysterious man. Charming and carefree, he goes from rags to riches after the inheritance of an unexpected fortune, only to forgo money and power for the love of Lady Poverty. This life of service leads him to embrace fully his Christian faith—loving the unlovable, instructing the ignorant, and remembering that it is by grace that we are saved. In this new edition of Myles Connolly’s 1928 novel, readers can again encounter the mystery of “Mr. Blue.” The new Introduction by Stephen Mirarchi places the book in historical context and explains its literary structure, just as Mirarchi’s exhaustive Notes reveal Connolly’s sharp command of his craft. Readers will see more clearly than ever before—as the novel’s narrator does—how “Blue made one believe almost anything is possible,” especially a life of joyful self-giving. Check out our other books at www.clunymedia.com!

Cluny Media, LLC

Dan England and the Noonday Devil was Myles Connolly’s favorite of his five books. Indeed, with the profound philosophic sensibility and keen artistic vision that marked Connolly’s craft in the outstanding Mr. Blue shining out even brighter here, one can easily see why. Dan England is a merry and magnanimous man, whose occupation in life is the forging of friendships and the spreading of joy. Believing totally in the capacity of his friends to reach the heroic heights of sainthood, Dan himself is beset by doubts as he battles against that most insidious of foes: acedia, or the “noonday devil.” For this new edition, Stephen Mirarchi’s Introduction elucidates the novel’s background and themes, and his immensely informative notes on the text highlight Connolly’s influences, historical details, and the connections between Dan England and myriad other great works of art, literature, and theology. Take and read. Dan England and the Noonday Devil might just become your favorite Myles Connolly book as well.

The Bump on Brannigan’s Head, published twenty-two years after Connolly’s best-selling Mr. Blue, tells of the transformation of Whittiersville. Equally amusing and moving, The Bump showcases Connolly’s distinctive sense of humor, and his awareness of both the tremendous strengths and the tragic shortcomings of human nature. The brash, boisterous Tom Brannigan is anything but a likely candidate for sainthood. But a bump on the head from his garage door brings Brannigan to an encounter with one of the key challenges of the Gospel: love your enemies. Brannigan finds that he must approach ordinary interactions with a new heart—treating his noisy neighbors with kindness, forgiving those who hurt him, and preaching the Gospel to his fellow townspeople. Stephen Mirarchi, as he did with Connolly’s Mr. Blue and Dan England and the Noonday Devil, adeptly explains the novel’s literary structure, discusses its critical reception, and describes its place in the canon of great literature.

The Bump on Brannigan's Head

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