The Holy Book of the Beard

Amid unmistakable signs of physical, spiritual and social decay, an oddly hopeful sense of community endures among the motley cast of eccentric misfits captured in Brenna's (The Book of Mamie) enthralling second novel. Set around Fat Stanley's Diner in East San Diego, this alternately sad, funny, grotesque and sexy yarn centers on Jasper John, a 23-year-old busboy and part-time college student who left Colorado on an unreliable Harley to start a new life in California. Good-hearted Fat Stanley, a frustrated tenor who occasionally sings arias for his customers while cooking lunch, tends to hire waitresses with serious health problems--Helga is receiving chemotherapy; Mary Quick pops nitroglycerin for her heart. Among the customers, Godot, a rundown religion professor under attack by fundamentalists, and Henry Hand, Mary's charismatic, troublemaking ex-pimp husband, become strong influences on the searching Jasper. Vivid characters, rich dialogue and spellbinding narrative make this odd mix of tragedy, myth and ribaldry memorable and often moving. If the lingering denouement is a bit unsatisfying, the journey there is sheer delight. (Mar.)