Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Table of Contents: Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet

Author: Joanne Proulx
Publisher/Year: Viking Canada, 2007
Synopsis: A teenager's gift of premonition becomes a curse in Proulx's confident debut. It's the fall of 2002 in Stokum, Mich., a rank little pinprick of a town, where a night of pot smoking brings about Luke Hunter's prediction that his friend Stan will be crushed by a red van with out-of-state license plates. When the random prophecy comes true, a media madhouse infiltrates Luke's quiet life while his parents remain confused and frustrated. Dubbed the Prophet of Death, Luke experiences more death flashes that become reality. Terrified by his new ability, Luke gets a prescription for a powerful sedative, which stops the visions for a while, but soon they—and his general disillusionment with life—return. As Luke tries to make peace with his psychic abilities, he crushes out on a girl at school and is the subject of an attempted religious intervention.


What Others Have To Say:
Entertainment Weekly
"...a compelling narrative about seeking faith and deftly channels the voice of a disaffected stoner."

Chicago Center for Literature and Photography
"...a dark and funny and unexpected story that will make you glad that you sat down and read it in the first place..."

The Toronto Star
"the book's climax is such a double disappointment."

Pop Matters
"this excruciatingly boring and unoriginal teenage account concerns itself more with the oh-so-important issue of popularity than the ominous psychic presence which it establishes in the very first sentence. "

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