What would happen if the Messiah was a woman, and not the man people have always taken her to be? What if she showed up in rural America, instead of riding triumphantly into Jerusalem? If she preached moral license, not repentance? All of that does happen, and more, in this startlingly original, mischievous and penetrating novel by David Homel. In Homel’s tale of theology and erotics, Nathan Gazarra, a Hebew peddler, travels the backroads, from town to town, among tobacco-growers, mystics and illiterates, selling notions and sundries. While he’s at it, Gazarra mixes in a little preaching, because he has a secret, burning wish: to be the one to discover the Messiah in this most unlikely of places. When he meets up with Sabbitha Hunter, a woman of disturbing beauty on the run from her home town, he decides to make her his Chosen One. Sabbitha takes the mantle of the Messiah, because with it comes the kind of power she had always dreamed of. When she invites the townsfolk and country people to follow her into heroic sinning, all hell breaks loose. But it takes a lot of energy and imagination to sin and keep on sinning. And when Sabbitha’s followers start getting rough, even the Messiah’s life will be in danger. David Homel has created an irreverent, earthy, astonishing story, full of insight into the nature of eviland love.

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Literature & Fiction

Homel, David

Humor & Satire

Talonbooks

Roughly based on The Trial by Franz Kafka, this black comedy changes the lead character to a modern business woman who finds herself accused of an unknown crime. The more she delves into the bureaucratic nightmare the more her ordered, little world unravels and the more she is entangled in the increasingly obscure process. Cast of 3 women and 4 men.

The Trial of Judith K.

CLARK, Sally

Dramas & Plays

Humor & Entertainment

Pell Mell, the middle voice, the syntax meeting its astonishments in its forward stride looking backwards, imagining an image nation where the heart is always torn, to pieces possessed by the other(s).

Pell Mell

Blaser, Robin

History & Criticism

Heroine

Scott, Gail

In a parody of a thriller novel, Harry the Hack, newly recruited literary spy, follows a mystery woman seeking wisdom and sanity.

Harry's Fragments: A Novel of International Puzzlement

BOWERING, George

Humor

Astonishingly beautiful entrances into the personae of lost companions who reappear, animated by a voice in love with the music of their speaking.

Hanging Fire

Webb, Phyllis

Poetry

The New Long Poem Anthology

Two lecturers provide a satirical look at the Persian Gulf War, human relationships, international economic relations, and other aspects of contemporary life

The Noam Chomsky Lectures

Verdecchia, Guillermo

Brooks, Daniel

poetry, Blaser's 40-year masterwork

The Holy Forest

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