Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet - Softcover

Proulx, Joanne

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0143053582 ISBN 13: 9780143053583

Publisher: Penguin Canada, 2008

Synopsis

When 17-year-old Luke Hunter foretells the death of his friend with freakish accuracy, life gets complicated, fast. Everyone in Stokum, his rank little pinprick of a hometown, knows about the premonition and wants to know more. But Luke holds everyone—the local news crew, his buddy Fang, the Polish widow next door—at arm’s length as he lurches through his own personal minefield studded with previously unconsidered existential ponderings, Christian fundamentalists, a missing girl’s frantic mother, and a dream girl who isn’t his. Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet is a darkly comic coming-of-age novel that nails contemporary youth culture and sits comfortably alongside the recent offerings by Miriam Toews and DBC Pierre.

About this title

About the Author:

Joanne Proulx has had short stories published in literary magazines on both sides of the Atlantic, including Exile and Upstairs at Duroc. Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet is her first novel. She lives in Ottawa, Canada.

From Publishers Weekly:

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. Though a couple of plot points are left unexplained or unresolved, Proulx channels the ennui, insecurity and inner yearnings of a teenage boy to produce a fast-moving tale of struggling youth that has a great potential for YA crossover. (Apr.)
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About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Canada
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0143053582
• ISBN 13: 9780143053583
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368