Jaiyavara

In this futuristic, often irritatingly unclear novel, Glaze ( Fear and Tenderness ) summons up an apocalyptic vision, in which an international ecological collapse has precipitated a major, worldwide plague. A California commune partly populated by monks remains unscathed by this horrific event, but Giroux, the commune leader, takes the opportunity to kidnap Jaiyavara, a half-caste Indian he met on the Riviera years ago, and have her flown in by helicopter from Arizona, His idea is to save plague-battered civilization by organizing a restorative new ``matriarchal religion,'' of which Jaiyavara will be the focal point. Infuriated by this preposterous scheme and desperate to escape, Jaiyavara tries to win over Giroux's