The Lively Lives of Crispin Mobey

The pseudonymous Quyth will split readers' sides and addle their brains with this epistolary gambol. Letters by Mobey, recent graduate of SoPrim (Southern Primitive) Protestant Seminary and ardent missionary, describe his catastrophic attempts to convert heathen tribes to the True Word in locales ranging from the Australian outback to the Caribbean, Korea and London. Although the settings change, the joke remains the same as Mobey, the Bible-belting schlemiel, creates havoc wherever he goes, spouting patter worthy of a stand-up comic. In the final scene, a spaceship, bound for Mars and guided by Mobey and the Lord God, lands in Heaven, where they are greeted by Dr. Livingstone``Crispin Mobey, I presume.'' Although this is a book to be taken in small doses, it's the right medicine for anyone willing to share in the sport of poking fun at our shibboleths and solemnities. (October)