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Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet
by
Joanne Proulx
fiction in a hardcover edition that was published by Viking Adult on May 1, 2007 and has 368 pages.
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A standalone tale of persecution and self-discovery.
My Take
Wow! This was amazing! A combination of teen and guy insecurities trying to make sense of his own world, his place in it, and the pre-cognitive curse he must suddenly struggle with in an attempt to understand and survive it.
What I love the most is this inside look at how Luke sees life and everyone in it. It has such a massive ring of truth/reality to it and I love understanding someone else’s perspective.
The Story
While hanging with friends, Luke suddenly turns into “Chatty Cathy” and predicts the death of one of their group. He only thinks he’s making it up.
What follows is a persecution of Luke by news media, people in town who recognize him, and religious nuts who believe he is stained by Satan. Even his friends betray him somewhat when they consent to media interviews. Retreating into himself, rejecting his parents’ efforts, it takes months for Luke to come to terms with truth.
A truth he comes to through the efforts of a girl/woman he considers not his, an unexpected neighborhood friend, and one of his teachers, the persistent caring of his family, and the unexpected encounter with Pastor Ted.
The Characters
Luke is a good kid and the reluctant prophet. So dubbed by the media when his friends “out” him to the media when one of his friends does die in exactly the conditions Luke specified.
Fang, Todd Delaney, has been Luke’s best friend since they were 5. His drunk of a mother is never there for him and Luke’s family has always been his backup. The boys have a life of experiences together…there’s just one thing Luke never did pick up on.
There’s the religious group insistent upon Luke being saved. Stan is the friend who truly saw Luke and Faith is the girl who forces him to understand the truth which Stan saw in him. I think Mrs. Bernoffski’s insight was a turning point for Luke.
The Cover and Title
The cover is an interesting blend of wings on top of which is a person wearing a hoodie whose back is to us. All of which is topped by a revolutionary-style layout of the title complete with stars.
The title is Luke’s song, the struggles and realizations he’s had to face, the Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet.
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