A Handbook of American Prayer: A Novel

Eccentricly written novel in the vein of magical realism magical psychoticism by well-known horror short story/novella writer, Lucius Shepard. I've read much of Shepard's work, and the voice of this, Wardlin Stuart's voice, is much more crass and indeed more Cultural-Icon American than usual for Shepard. This is a literally visual treat that riffs on many of Shepard's common themes, religion, what isolation and imprisonment does to the spirit and mind, art leaping into "real" life, borders. Definitely worth reading for fans of his writing. ( )

This book was not at all what I expected. I did not expect this book to be written by a murderer. It was a really weird book. I'm not sure I liked it. Also, the book had several grammatical errors in it. ( )

Interesting story of a man in prison for murder, who begins writing prayers (although not ordinary prayers) that seem to work. When he gets out, he publishes his book of prayers, and develops a huge following, earning the wrath of a televangelist. It doesn't sound exciting, but it was actually very good. ( )

Powerful. Shepard explores a theme of getting our wishes fulfilled from different aspects, all tied up in an active dialog and narrative. Are prayers just a tool for focusing our desires so we act in a way to get them met, or is there some outside force that responds to our prayers, and, if so, is this a benign or malevolent force? That sounds pretty metaphysical, but the story brings it down to human terms.
Wardlin, a convict finds that his focused pleadings, which he calls "prayerstyle", written as free verse poems, bring results. He gets a woman and the success he prayed for. The bulk of the book follows his life post-parole. Can he keep the woman, or will their disagreements drive her away? Does he really want the success? Who is the shadowy figure who shows up? The action kicks up a notch as ministers and evangelists rail against him. If prayerstyle works, why would people need to support churches?
Wardlin is not what we imagine as a typical convict (tho he may be more true-to-life than we imagine). Well educated and introspective, yet he does have an undercurrent of anger. There was a short spell when I thought Wardlin's introspective self-doubt (about whether prayerstyle really works or whether it's just a big scam he's managinng to pull off) was excessive. But that was at 3 AM, when I had woken to read "just a bit more" of the book I had reluctantly set down at bedtime.
I admit that the forward by Russell Banks, talking about "self-referential, metap-fictional layer(s) of meaning" and "a de-constructuralist's playground" made me wonder if I was smart enough to enjoy the book. Not a problem, the book is enjoyable on a surface level, without needing analysis, yet offers ideas to think about. And the forward actually did provide me with a second layer of enjoyment: seeing the "handbook" in the story being this book itself. In fact, I'm thinking about creating my own prayerstyle poem--couldn't hurt, could it? Tho I doubt I can come up with the compelling imagery Shepard does. Only a few prayers are actually included in the book. The Prayer for Elizabeth Elko's Divorce Action spoke strongly to me; so did this Prayer for the Sufficiency of Things listen to it(p. 121):
"The Painted Desert needs no prayer
its silence is holiness enough
its ventings of wind, its tiny cries,
are sufficient in their complaint...
no orizon for the lizard-basting sun,
for that great pink and orange burnt umber
stretch of agate spur and shadow stripe
with scorpions for archangels--
and for the night no prayer enlightens...
while rats study the scriptures of sand grains
until their blood breaks a fever
forever in some serpent's bowel."
I regret that I can't keep the book--perhaps it will become available soon thru a different publisher. Concord Free Press gives away books on the condition that you pass them on when finished, and give a donation to the charity or person of your choice.

eta: Shepard's premise of the power of poetry is nicely expanded in this interview of Kim Rosen on reclaiming the ancient power of poetry: http://www.thesunmagazine.org/issues/420/written_on_the_bones ( )

All in all a well told tale. The pacing of the story is at times slow but the writing and the language were wonderfull. The weakest part of the book was the inclusion of prayers. I skimmed over or ignored completely the ones that were included. ( )