Temptations - Softcover

Wilkes, Paul

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0345386426 ISBN 13: 9780345386427

Publisher: Ballantine Books, 1994

Synopsis

"A refreshing, almost curious study of one very modern man's investigation of the spiritual life."
LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK REVIEW
Joseph is a well-known journalist who lives a very public life. Yet in is way he is a devout Catholic, drawn to the cloistered life of a Trappist monastery he had visited years before on a story. He's hoping to write a book about the hidden souls there, but his visits with the charismatic Father Columban begin to waken his long-dormant spirituality. Then he begins to hear stories about the mysterious circumstances surrounding the recent death of a young, aspiring monk. And as he struggles between the sacred and the profane, Joseph begins to wonder which is worse....

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

In his first novel, Wilkes, a prolific nonfiction writer who specializes in religion ( In Mysterious Ways ), traces a year in the life of a Manhattan writer who, despite his concerted efforts, cannot turn his back on God. Joseph, who narrates the story in a month-by-month diary, enjoys his West Village co-op and other measures of success he has earned through his bestselling biographies. But he begins to question his lifestyle the day he realizes that he has slept with four different women in seven nights. Raised a Catholic, he decides to spend some time at a Trappist monastery in Vermont, telling himself and Father Columban, his mentor there, that he's researching an article. Joseph experiences both bliss and bitterness in his spiritual quest, and faces challenges, raised by Columban, about his real intentions. He also meets Margery, a woman he believes he could marry, and is drawn into the mystery of a young man's suicide on monastery grounds, leading him to others outside the monastery walls whose religious fervor is fueled by insanity or deep hatred. Against four seasons of powerfully evoked rural Vermont scenery, Wilkes follows Joseph's inner journey and the story of the suicide, which come together at the conclusion. Wilkes's characters are somewhat overdrawn and stereotyped, and the plot is rather predictable. Indeed, the drama of Joseph 's interior search would have been enough to carry the narrative. But Wilkes doesn't flinch from the hard questions of spirituality in the modern world, and his gracefully written novel leaves its mark on the reader's mind.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal:

This intelligent first novel from the author of In Mysterious Ways ( LJ 9/1/90) recounts a year in the life of a man who ponders joining the Trappist order. Encouraged by his literary agent, who smells big money and the possibility of a screenplay, Joseph is researching a book on monastic life. But he is compelled by something deeper that has been with him since his Catholic youth. After years of success and excess in New York, he still isn't satisfied. Joseph finds peace in the ritual order of monastic life, but when Father Columbine suspects his intentions, he forbids Joseph to pass through the gates of New Citeaux for further observation. Joseph must first prove himself. Meanwhile, he meets and forms a relationship with Margery. Joseph's confused longings come to a head when he discovers that Father Columbine has led other questers to destruction. A tremendous narrative of spiritual growth that is free of the usual stereotypes. Recommended for all collections.
- Brack Stovall, Carrollton P.L., Tex.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0345386426
• ISBN 13: 9780345386427
• Binding: Paperback