num_pages: 272
description: When a mortician appears on television to declare that death is infinitely preferable to life, he sparks a religious movement that quickly leaves Christianity and most of Islam in the dust.Gore Vidal’s deft and daring blend of satire and prophecy, first published in 1954, eerily anticipates the excesses of Jim Jones, David Koresh, and the Heaven’s Gate suicide cult.
language: English
title: Messiah
titlecomplete: Messiah
characters: John Cave, Eugene Luther
genres: 20th Century, American, Religion, Dystopia, Literary Fiction, Novels, Science Fiction, Literature, The United States Of America, Fiction
ratings_count: 1148
places: New York City, New York, The United States of America, Egypt
publisher: Penguin Classics