The Preacher's Boy

It's not easy to be a preacher's son in a town chock-full of people happy to inform your Baptist father of every sin you've committed and a few they wish you'd try your hand at. The daily battles between Michael Page and his upright father spill out the doors of the church into every aspect of their lives. In this bawdy, entertaining second novel, Pringle (This Is the Child) writes with all the verveand, unfortunately, lack of balanceof a TV evangelist running at full steam. Brother Page wants to be seen as a man whose ""son always had one ear attuned for the sound of his father's fingers snapping''; instead he's saddled with a boy who takes the Lord's name in vain almost religiously, stubbornly insists on watching devil-inspired TV programs and finds a girlfriend who aims to sing for a rock 'n' roll band. The seemingly ceaseless war between the two is nicely echoed by Michael's personal search for faith, love and a way to fit into the world on his own terms. (March)