This book was received through the LibraryThing Member Giveaway program and included a special request that after reading, it be passed along to others. That has been done.

Due to the writer's popularity, I had anticipated liking this book much more than I did. In fact, I did not care for the story. The writing was fine and eventually a couple of storylines evolved and I was able to finally gain some interest in the plots. This didn't happen until somewhere around the halfway point of the book, however. There is alot of distasteful language and behavior that never allowed me to really warm up to the characters or the book. Not to mention the story itself is just downright bizarre.

The main plot revolves around an extremely dysfunctional family consisting of an eccentric single mother and her three very maladjusted, misbehaving teenagers. Another big part of the plot(s) are two competing, also dysfunctional churches which share a parking lot--one is a Catholic church and the other a holy roller, born again Christian type. The mother is a devout member of the Pentacostal Radical Radiant brand but has an accident in the kitchen of the Catholic church that leaves her "not quite herself". Suddenly the very slutty and foul-mouthed daughter is thrown into the role of head of family, since her two brothers are hopeless and helpless. This role of playing mother to a now gibbering, childlike mother really changes Tabitha's perspective and with this responsibility finally gains some respect and maturity. That comes a bit late, as she discovers she is pregnant.

In the meantime, another of the main protagonists, Jeremy, is in his twenties and director of the Catholic choir, for which he receives a very meager salary. Jeremy is gay and searching for his path in life. He has been (and still is) madly in love with a guy with whom he had a brief affair, Willem. Willem, however, had a girlfriend and proceeds to marry her, breaking Jeremy's heart. Jeremy is practicing with his two best friends for a music competition on which he is pinning all his hopes for the future. One of these friends is dying of AIDS, another source of Jeremy's heartbreak.

When Jeremy seeks a place for them to practice, the church introduces him to the elderly nuns at a rural, out-of-the-way, and largely forgotten former convent, now nearly as decrepit as the aging nuns residing there. While initially relations between the young gay men and the elderly nuns are a bit rocky, they warm up to each other fairly quickly, and come to rely on each other, really. These nuns are my favorite part of the story. I really enjoyed the parts of the book that involved them and getting to know them individually, along with their decaying monastery whose description, especially of some intricately carved angels, is compelling.

All of the characters' paths are destined to come together and result in a denouement, of sorts. But not really. Another part of the book I did not like is the ending. There was simply no closure.

The plot was just too far fetched, maybe it was tongue in cheek, but not quite comedy and there was just too much "gross". It seemed to be all over the place and left no feeling of satisfaction whatsoever. ( )

The story focuses on small town America and the role that religion plays in this setting. The cast of characters rely on religion in various ways for various purposes, some spiritual, some skeptical while others are going through the paces of their lives looking for ways to connect and finding them in different churches. The book is set in the small town of Thebes, New York in the late 1990's.

Jeremy Carr is the choir director at the local Catholic parish. He is hoping to make his big break after Christmas as he has won a place in a musical revue in New York. Jeremy is gay, and his singing group is made up of his friends who are also gay; one fighting AIDS. What has kept him in Thebes outside of a sense of obligation is his inability to stop loving Willem, who had a fling with him before Willem got married. Jeremy knows his love is impractical, but is stuck and can't bring himself to leave.

Another part of the book revolves around the Scales family. Mrs. Scales is raising three children by herself, and looks to religion to help her get through the days and provide a structure for her children. She is met by indifferent success, at least by the measures of traditional success. Tabitha is the oldest and the town scandal as she moves from man to man. The middle son is Hogan, a dropout who is interested in cars and garages and video games, but not much else. The youngest is a son named Kirk, who is interested in music and drama and doesn't fit in well in a traditional school setting. Mrs. Scales, who is a fundamentalist Christian, is transformed when she goes next door to the Catholic church and gets hit over the head with a statue.

It's not "Wicked", but, it's a quirky & different type of story. If you like different and enjoyed the story of "Wicked", then you'll enjoy this book. ( )

Well, it's not Wicked by any stretch. A reasonable read for this time of year. It accurately displays how little support a family clearly in trouble might get in a small town.

Well, it's not Wicked by any stretch. A reasonable read for this time of year. It accurately displays how little support a family clearly in trouble might get in a small town.

Well, it's not Wicked by any stretch. A reasonable read for this time of year. It accurately displays how little support a family clearly in trouble might get in a small town.