Joshua Beene & God

the long version

Praised as superb satire by critics and damned as wicked by more than one Texas community, this novel follows one curmudgeonly religious leader's crusade against Spring Creek's Baptists, Holy Rollers, and nonbelievers. Joshua Ebenezer Beene, as chief elder of the Church of Christ of Spring Creek Community, president of the school board, justice of the peace, and self-appointed game warden, regularly summons God to seek advice on how to carry out his crusade - which, as the novel opens, has taken on a special urgency. Alerted by the Biblical admonition that "the days of our years are three score years and ten," Joshua believes he has one final year among the living to claim victory in his long-running battle with the town sinners before claiming his heavenly reward.