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Evangellyfish: A Novel

(7 reviews)
$15.99

Douglas Wilson

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"Rourke spun around and stomped out the door. Bradford followed him out. "Don't you agree? We really need to do our part to reduce this epidemic of illicit banging in the evangelical world."

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Chad Lester's kingdom is found in the Midwest. His voice crawls over the airwaves, his books are read by millions (before he reads them), and thousands ride the escalators into the sanctuary every Sunday. And Saturday. And Wednesday, too. He is the head pastor of Camel Creek—a CEO of Soul. And souls come cheap, so he has no overhead.

When Lester is (falsely) accused of molesting a young male counselee, his universe begins to crumble. He is a sexual predator, yes. But strictly straight (and deeply offended that anyone would suggest otherwise). Detectives, reporters, assistant pastors, and old lovers and pay-offs all come out to play.

John Mitchell is also a pastor, but he has no kingdom to speak of—only smalltime choir feuds. He is thrilled at the great man's fall, but his joy quickly fades when the imploding Lester calls him—and a lover or two—for help. How low can grace go? Whores, thieves, and junkies, sure. But pastors?

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What People Are Saying:

Winner of the 2013 Christianity Today Best Fiction Award

"Before I dipped into this novel, I was told it was a satire. What satire? I was a pastor for 10 years, and reading this made me squirm. Wilson grasps the untold ambiguities that contemporary pastors experience. This is realistic fiction. No, make that just realistic." ~Mark Galli, Senior Managing Editor, Christianity Today

"Scathing....Insightful....Hilarious...." ~Tim Challies, Author and Book Reviewer, Challies.com

"Wilson's almost medical precision with the human soul makes Evangellyfish a fantastic read...." ~The American Conservative, May 2012

"I have no desire to read yet another Elmer Gantry knockoff about a sex-obsessed preacher and his congregation of hypocrites. Fortunately, Evangellyfish isn't one more on the pile. Doug Wilson isn't writing about 'those crazy Christians,' he's writing about us crazy Christians. When you start this short novel, you'll want to believe it describes that big church across town. By the time you finish, you'll remember that it describes the bigger church you're a part of, that scandalous body that God keeps calling his. Wilson understands better than most that 'judgment must begin at the house of God,' and that God still dwells there despite the most squalid conditions." ~Ted Olsen, Managing Editor, News & Online Journalism, Christianity Today

Evangellyfish is a ruthless, grimly amused, and above all honest look at one of the darkest corners in the western world. Douglas Wilson, a pastor of more than thirty years, paints a vivid and painful picture of evangelical boomchurch leadership...in bed. Chad Lester's kingdom is found in the Midwest. His voice crawls over the airwaves, his books are read by millions (before he reads them), and thousands ride the escalators into the sanctuary every Sunday. And Saturday. And Wednesday, too. He is the head pastor of Camel Creek--a CEO of Soul. And souls come cheap, so he has no overhead. When Lester is (falsely) accused of molesting a young male counselee, his universe begins to crumble. He is a sexual predator, yes. But strictly straight (and deeply offended that anyone would suggest otherwise).

Detectives, reporters, assistant pastors, and old lovers and pay-offs all come out to play. John Mitchell is also a pastor, but he has no kingdom to speak of--only smalltime choir feuds. He is thrilled at the great man's fall, but his joy quickly fades when the imploding Lester calls him--and a lover or two--for help. How low can grace go? Whores, thieves, and junkies, sure. But pastors?

Douglas Wilson is a pastor in Moscow, Idaho, a father of three, and grandfather of seventeen. He is the author of numerous books, including Decluttering Your Marriage, Future Men, and How to Exasperate Your Wife.

PUBLISHER: Canon Press

AUTHOR: Douglas Wilson

ISBN-10: 194450396X

ISBN-13: 9781944503963

PAGE COUNT: 232 pages

BINDING: Perfect bound

SIZE: 5.25x8"

PUB. DATE: January 31, 2012

Customer Reviews

Based on 7 reviews
71%
(5)
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E
Elliot Anderson
Loose Ends

I thoroughly enjoyed this; spot on. No one gets a moral pass. However, I was disappointed by the loose end of how John and Chad’s meeting in the hotel turned out. After the first chapter, it never comes up again.

J
Jay Broom

Evangellyfish (PBK)

J
Jennifer Mugrage
Mexican chile-flavored "candy"

This book is sort of like one of those treats from Mexico that are, technically, candy, but they also contain chile powder and a ton of citric acid.

In other words, it's funny, shrewd, and a quick read, but also super misanthropic.

The narrative voice is Douglas Wilson's own, which is to say, full of sardonic psychological observations, bon mots, and silly but deep metaphors. The plot is P.G. Wodehouse-esque.

My biggest problem with it, and the reason I gave it only four stars instead of five, is that almost all the characters talk kind of alike, both in the dialogue and in their internal monologues. And the way they talk is also very similar to the narrative voice. This isn't realistic, and it sometimes makes the characters harder to keep track of in a comedy of errors that has a very large ensemble cast. Also, they sound too educated. What teenaged daughter says to her father that Costco was "a perfect madhouse"?

As for the expose part of it, I have been in the evangelical world my entire life but I have never been in a mega-church -- at all, really, but certainly not a mega-church like this one, where the pastor originally wanted to run for governor, has never been to seminary, doesn't read the Bible, seduces all the women he "counsels" and then pays them off, has bestselling books written by ghost writers and sermons written by same. If this kind of thing is truly widespread, that explains why Wilson is always chiding evangelicals. And why, perhaps, I shouldn't take his chiding personally, as it is apparently not directed at me.

C
Caleb Powers

I really enjoyed this book. Doug Wilson's third-person omniscient prose is quirky and fun and puts a lot of life into the book. It's definitely not my normal fare, but it was quite enjoyable.

D
Damien Parrott
Satirically Awesome

Great read and hilarious! Good insight into the downfalls of the modern church. Great for Christians looking for something to laugh at but also step on your toes a little.

A
Adam gossett

Great book

S
Scott
Loved it

Incisive treatment of human depravity.