creates a believable, historical account of religious fanaticism vs. political ambition. Like Rushdie, he builds numerous characters in details along with the related subplots, raising several ideas and concepts to ponder. My only regret is that the I had to read nearly 600 pages in tiny typeface. Just reissued in a striking new (and slightly cheaper!) paperback edition, this novel took me utterly by surprise. It grabbed me and pushed me down and walked all over me. It gave me a deeper appreciation of what a truly great novelist really is, what he or she can do with any subject or theme he or she happens to choose to write about. It may be the first book about which I thought, with real clarity and certainty, "That was perfect." As for the plot: an increasingly large group of religious fan ...more Just reissued in a striking new (and slightly cheaper!) paperback edition, this novel took me utterly by surprise. It grabbed me and pushed me down and walked all over me. It gave me a deeper appreciation of what a truly great novelist really is, what he or she can do with any subject or theme he or she happens to choose to write about. It may be the first book about which I thought, with real clarity and certainty, "That was perfect." As for the plot: an increasingly large group of religious fanatics builds a town in Brazil, and ends up waging war against the Brazilian government (and putting