Dr. Charles Patterson, author of the highly acclaimed ''Eternal Treblinka: Our Treatment of Animals and the Holocaust,'' has written a novel about Tom Reed, who grows up in a church family and follows his father's footsteps into the ministry only to realize he made a big mistake. As the young rector of a dying parish in a remote part of the state he conducts lots of funerals, gives sermons that nobody listens to, and hears the confessions of the parish's compulsive penitent. After a series of run-ins with the laymen who govern the church about issues such as flying the American flag on the front lawn and letting the youth group use the church for a rock concert, Tom feels increasingly isolated and unhappy. However, he puts off taking any steps that would upset his father, who is in a nursing home.
Tom's struggle to free himself from the influence of his family and church reaches its climax in New York City in a series of "last rites" that are moving, funny, irreverent, entertaining, and very readable. It's a story that's never been told before.
Paperback and ebook editions of the book are now available for purchase at www.booklocker.com/books/3128.html. The paperback edition can also be ordered from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other online booksellers. Soon it will be able to be ordered from bookstores as well.
Charles Patterson is the author of eleven books. His biography of Marian Anderson received the Carter G. Woodson Book Award from the National Council for the Social Studies in Washington, D.C. Patterson is a graduate of Kent School, Amherst College, the Episcopal Theological School, and Columbia University (Ph.D. in Religion). He now lives in New York City and is a member of PEN, The Authors Guild, and the National Writers Union. Last Rites is his first novel.
Patterson's Eternal Treblinka, published in 2002, has become something of an international sensation. Since its New York publication it has been translated and published in Israel, Germany, Japan, Italy, Poland, Croatia, and the Czech Republic. The French edition (Un eternel Treblinka) will be published in Paris on January 9, 2008, and Spanish, Portugese, and Serbian editions will follow soon thereafter. Russian, Arabic and Slovenian translations are also underway.
Praise For Eternal Treblinka From Around The World
"The moral challenge posed by Eternal Treblinka turns it into a must for anyone who seeks to delve into the universal lesson of the Holocaust." -- Maariv (Israeli newspaper)
"I believe, along with many others, that your book is one of the most important books of the century." -- Tanja Tuma, publisher, Ljubljana, Slovenia
"Eternal Treblinka disturbs us because (inevitably though tactfully) it holds up to us, its readers, a clear mirror to look at ourselves anew....Kafka would have applauded Eternal Treblinka. It grips like a thriller." -- The Freethinker, UK
"The book does a perfect and professional job of showing the similarity between the mistreatment of people and of animals. It's written with great sensitivity. Will no doubt be a valuable addition to everyone's collection." -- Dr. Vugar Huseynov, Baku, Azerbaijan Republic.
"Eternal Treblinka should be on every list of essential reading for an informed citizenry...for the compelling comprehensiveness of the life-and-death story it tells." -- National Jewish Post & Opinion, USA
"It's one of the few books which totally grabs the reader, not only while reading it, but afterwards also, and probably forever...it profoundly disturbs, shocks and destroys." -- Croatian philosopher Hrvoje Juric, Zagreb, Croatia
"Very well researched and written with great sensitivity...a compelling, useful and informative book, which I strongly recommend to others in sub-Saharan Africa." -- Professor P S Igbigbi, Head, Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine, University of Malawi
''You must read this carefully documented book.'' -- La Stampa (Italian national newspaper)
"It is seldom that such a comprehensive work of scholarship springs from a heart of compassion in the service of a noble and necessary idea. All the ingredients of your thesis -- that the oppression of animals serves as the model for all other forms of oppression--have been available to thinking people for generations, but it remained for you to pull them together." -- Helen Weaver, author of The Daisy Sutra, USA
"The book that breaks all taboos. The book that fires up controversies all over the world." -- Prijatelji Zivotinja (Animal Friends Croatia), Zagreb
"A thought-provoking masterpiece meticulously and brilliantly articulated." -- Dr. Ndubuisi Eke, Head, Department of Surgery, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria
"I urge you to read Eternal Treblinka and think deeply about its important message. " -- Dr. Jane Goodall, UK