American Savior: A Novel of Divine Politics | Roland Merullo

American Savior: A Novel of Divine Politics | Roland Merullo | An Interesting Concept!

books:

American Savior: A...

	American Savior: A Novel of Divine Politics Roland Merullo Algonquin Books, 2008 - 312 pages average customer review:based on 39 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

What if Jesus suddenly appeared and announced that he planned to run for President of the United States? Yes, that Jesus. And what if a well-meaning but utterly inexperienced band of disciples not only helped him mount a seat-of-the-pants campaign but also ran it well, getting millions of people to support him and in the process throwing the other two major party candidates?as well as the world's news media?into a frenzy as they scramble to discredit him?

Roland Merullo's bitingly clever satirical novel about the state of American politics follows one man's campaign to bring back goodness and kindness (real goodness and kindness this time) in a country that has fallen into a divisive state of fear and hatred. Merullo takes us into the heart of "a nation in grave spiritual danger" as the Son of man sets out to make everyone realize that "politics as usual" is no longer an acceptable alternative.

American Savior is a remarkably innovative novel that challenges our perceptions and beliefs while it wags a finger at the folly of our self-righteousness. It is sure to cause controversy among those for whom politics itself has become a kind of religion.

for more information click here

Moody, Upbeat, Unpredictable, Provocative - Similar to The Real Jesus

Is he the Messiah or not? He won't tell you directly, then says or does something that leaves no doubt - but still won't own up to it directly. Sounds like the real thing. After a bit of silently grumbling (to myself) about "when is this thing going to take off," it finally turned into a page-turner, complete with good caricaturized impersonations of controversial radio and TV commentators from the real world.

I think you'll like this book. He'll get my vote for president!

An Interesting Concept!

American Savior:

This book explores areas not net seen. As many people may feel the story to be a bit comedic, I tend to see it as a "What If" story of how people would actually take the idea of Jesus returning back to earth. How would he be treated and would people overlook who he was, by looking to see if he fit into the typical democrat or republican fortitude.

I enjoyed the book, but I believe I read through the surface and saw what truly could happen if such an occurrence ever took place.

I give American Savior 4.5 stars.

for more information click here

Somewhat disappointing and predictable

Four years ago, watching the US Presidential elections, I had an idea for a novel: what if Jesus Christ himself came back to earth and ran for election? Imagine the vicious swiftboating and dirty tricks that would be aimed at him. He'd be called a Socialist, a flip-flopper, and worse. Good material for a satirical novel, I thought; but I wasn't ready to write it.

Obviously, when I saw the blurb for "American Savior", I assumed someone had written the book I had imagined. But no--while it starts from roughly the same premise, it heads off in a different direction to the one I'd hoped for.

It starts out quite promisingly. I enjoyed the first few chapters, parts of which were hilarious. However, the humor ebbs away towards the middle of the book, which gradually becomes almost a modern-day retelling of a Bible story. If I also say that the ending was no surprise, you can probably work out exactly what happens, which is a definite issue. It became hard to drag myself through the last half dozen chapters once I had realized that the obvious plot really was going to be followed.

Another roadblock to enjoyment towards the end was the painstaking description of which states went to which party for how many electoral votes. Maybe the author felt it was needed for realism, but it was as dull as you'd expect--and any feelings of realism had already been dashed by the use of often absurd fake names for characters clearly intended to represent real people.

Overall, I feel there were a lot of missed opportunities. Perhaps part of the problem was the author's decision to write in first person narrative. As a result, we only ever catch glimpses of the political system's response to Jesus running as a candidate. As a result, the book becomes a musing on the faith of Jesus's followers, and not the biting satire I was hoping for.

So not a bad novel by any means; just not really to my taste, and not what I was led to expect from the Amazon description.

for more information click here

God Bless America

"American Savior" can be described like a pitch to a Hollywood big shot. 'Jesus comes back, wants to run for President. Gets together a rag-tag team and goes toe-to-toe with the Republicans and Democrats.' That's basically it. Is he Jesus or is he not, is pretty much settled by the first 100 pages or so. Knottier questions are not. You don't have to be a Jesus freak to like this, and you don't have to be an atheist to dislike it. Actually, the author takes a pretty mild, middle of the road approach to how his Jesus answers all the questions that are posed to him about his divinity and his purpose on earth at the moment, and why he wants to run for president of the Unites States. The answers to all these questions are reasonable and semi-satisfying. But He (that's Jesus) never gets asked the really hard questions that everyone wants to know about. Who's right, the Christians or the Jews (or Muslims)? What's the deal with Catholicism? Do they have it right? What about the afterlife? Are you really God? What happened last time? And so on...

The characters are OK, and the author, Ronald Merullo can write. The book is definitely plot-driven, but unfortunately, after the initial set-up, once the middle of the book is reached, the ending is all-but-telegraphed in loud and clear Morse code so there isn't much suspense or surprise left. All-in-all, a worthy effort but one that falls short of its potential in many ways. I give it 3 stars, and I think that's pretty Christian of me.

for more information click here

Interesting but Not Groundbreaking

"American Savior" starts with an interesting premise - Jesus returns to Earth to run for the highest office in the land. What plays out next is a modern-day retelling of the Gospels filtered through mild satire of our current political landscape.

Merullo's work is at its best when it tries to imagine what kind of candidate Jesus would be in this day. What kind of campaign would he run? He refuses to partake in debates but revels in being among the people (He surfs! He rides a bull!). Even when leading the polls, He becomes momentarily distraught that his support is less than 100%. What would his platform be? Here, Merullo treads lightly as this Jesus offers up compassionate and also very moderate viewpoints on hot-button issues such as abortion and homosexuality. How would people react to His presence? Established religion gets a pretty good skewering here as the big-church preachers see Him as a threat to their authority (and cash flow).

The satirical elements are often too obvious to be very effective, especially when examining the media's role in modern politics. Every pundit is covered here with excruciatingly corny pseudonyms. Bulf Spritzer? Hurry Linneament? Really? It's more silly than insightful and it brings down the book's overall effectiveness.

Jesus' broader teachings are handled well throughout, applying the "love your neighbor as yourself" commandment to both political situations and our own interpersonal relationships. The story is written from the perspective of one his closest advisers/disciples, who also struggles mightily with his own faith through the book. Jesus' lessons for the narrator are among the best passages here, although they get a little bit murky at the (somewhat dissatisfying) end.

Credit Merullo for bringing an interesting and timely premise and for painting a picture that reminds us how great this country can be and what great things we are all capable of doing via even the smallest acts. But by the end, I found myself wishing for either more depth or else fewer pages.

for more information click here

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

products you might be interested in