I just had the good fortune to read Willeford's Black Mass of
Brother Springer. I expected to enjoy it, but I absolutely
loved this book. It was funny, entertaining, it had something
to say and a writer with the ability to say it without being
obvious or overbearing. It was consistently surprising, quite
different from Willeford's other work but at the same time
written in that very recognizable voice. It's gentle and
amusing for a Willeford novel (if not by anybody elses
standards), with a wry weird groove to it -- I was chortling
and laughing out loud throughout. It goes into his Kafka
obsessions, and the sermons the Right Reverend Sam
Deuteronomy Springer delivers are brilliantly written. I can
just imagine him having the time of his life writing it. I
think he's quoted in the Herron book as saying it's a bizarre
novel, and that he was "temporarily insane" when he wrote it.
It's an essential Willeford book, and worth every penny you
spend on it.
--Juha.
-- JT Lindroos wit's end publishing www.sendwit.com
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