What would happen if Jesus came back to earth and ran for the Presidency of the United States of America? Quite an adventurous theme don’t you think? Well Roland Merullo attacks this theme with a vengeance. It all starts with a mysterious man who performs a couple of miracles. First he brings a baby boy back to life after he endures a fall from a balcony three stories up. Then he cures a young girl of a debilitating repertory disease. Finally Jesus starts to assemble his rag-tag bunch of ordinary people to unwittingly become his latest disciples, and informs them of his intent to run for president.

Merullo takes the history and teachings of Jesus Christ and reassembles them into a modern day setting. I think the story was well done. Although, not so much in terms of blasphemy, this story might offend some hard core Christians who might see it as a form of tampering with the word of God.

The characters are well developed and the story made for an entertaining read. It was also; in some way an enlightening tale. Oh, and for the inquiring minds who want to know…..yes….there is a resurrection. ( )

Russ Thomas is a reporter for WZIZ, a TV station in Massachusetts, when he is sent to report on the story of a young child who had fallen three stories, seemed dead, and came back to life when a stranger came up and touched him. Others were calling it a miracle, but Russ remained skeptical. Later, he's sent to a hospital where the same stranger has visited a young girl and seemingly cured her of a chronic illness.

The stranger becomes known as "The Good Visitor," and he turns out to be Jesus Christ. Jesus calls Russ on his private phone and tells him that he's running for President of the United States and would like for Russ to work on his campaign. Russ is not convinced at first, but finally agrees when Jesus visits Russ's girlfriend in a dream.

Jesus assembles a ragtag campaign team and heads out on the road as the candidate for The Divinity Party and chooses his mother as his running mate. Jesus runs an unusual campaign - he doesn't criticize his opponents and he's available for questions.

American Savior by Roland Merullo started out with a bang for me. The middle of the book, with all of it's campaign details, did drag a little bit, though. When it gets to the end of the campaign, the book really picked up again. It is worth reading for all of the questions it brings up. When a woman screams that the candidate is not Jesus,

"I might not be," he said slowly. "I might not be. But my question to you is this: would you know him if he came into your midst? If he came into your midst and did not look the way you expected him to look, and did not speak as you expected him to speak, would you know him?"

That really made me sit and think for a little while. This book is humorous as well as thought provoking and I enjoyed reading it.

Roland Merulla has written ten books, including Golfing with God and Breakfast with Buddha. He lives with his wife and children in Massachusetts. ( )

I really wanted to love this book - the premise was fantastic and I won it (even better!)

I've been trying to finish it for a month and just can't. The characters are flat and uninteresting. The plot feels like a copycat of recent politcal events. Even though I agree with the points the author is trying to make, I'm just not interested enough to continue.

The writing is OK - there are a few clever moments, but overall, the book just isn't particularly engaging.

I will say that since I've lived and breathed politics for the past year, I may just be burned out on this topic. I'll try to finish it some other time - maybe it will grow on me. ( )

Dee-lightful. What if Jesus Christ, THE Jesus Christ, ran for president? His platform is the beatitudes? How well would that play in Peoria? Told from the point of view of Russell, a cynical low level TV journalist recruited to be on Jesus' campaign. I don't want to give too much away, suffice it to say that this book brings forth negative things about politics (some of the characters are THINLY veiled people currently in American media and politics. VERY thinly veiled) and is quite thought provoking and insightful. Not sure I can part with this one yet. ( )

“American Savior” reminded me a lot of the movie “Dogma,” but without the gratuitous sex, language, and drug use and with more political satire. At times I was not sure if Merullo’s biggest point in the book was religious or political. He seemed to be making a point about what it means to actually follow Christ, as opposed to simply calling oneself a Christian, but he also seemed to be mercilessly ripping on politics and news media. I finally decided that his intentions could not truly be separated, just as politics and religion are seemingly inextricably linked in the United States. Overall I though Merullo did a wonderful job with both points. The book was poignant, thought-provoking, funny, and brutal. The only thing that bothered me a bit was Merullo’s treatment of the news media. Now, I think he was fair in the characterizations he made, but he basically used real people and only very thinly disguised their names; examples: Lenny Queen (Larry King), Hurry Linneament (Rush Limbaugh - Hurry, Rush, get it?), Anne Canter (Anne Coulter), Bulf Spritzer (Wolf Blitzer), and others. That seemed just a little too cutesy for me in a book that was otherwise very well done.

I think this is a great book for anyone interested in religion, politics, or both - even if you are only ‘interested’ in so far as you are disenchanted with either thing. “American Savior” will make you look at what you know a little differently.

For the full review:
http://www.devourerofbooks.com/2008/0... ( )