The Prophet Pasqual

Hawaiian expatriate Wintner (known as the proprietor of Snorkle Bob's dive shop) offers in his fourth novel a glimpse into the lives of three ""losers,"" that's reminiscent of his debut, Whirlaway. A former marijuana farmer, Ray Lloyd is now a legit owner of a yuppie tree nursery. At a seedy martial arts club, he meets struggling alcoholic Richie Smith and Ed McGuy (aka the prophet Pasqual), an unwashed Scottish-Hindu refugee from an Oregon ashram. Observing Ed read Tarot cards, Ray and frustrated-guitarist-cum-bartender Richie decide to market Pasqual as a swami. With the frenzied help of down-at-heel boozer Charlie Fruit, a door-to-door salesman, Pasqual acquires a large cult following overnight. As he preaches free love and abortion and denounces materialism, the swami's star falls as quickly as it rose, and when Pasqual takes off to India and disappears in Thailand, the oddball grifters are left with a mountain of debt. Following a tawdry sexual tryst with Richie's teenage daughter, Ray embarks on a whirlwind odyssey to find Pasqual and winds up smoking opium in Burma. Chronicling druggy delusions, booze-filled bozos and sloppy sexual couplings, the aging, self-styled hippie author attempts to locate humor and meaning in a haphazardly crafted yarn of middle-aged wild boys. (Oct.)