num_pages: 261
description: Purvis Driggers is a South Carolina Low Country loser. With little judgment and even less chance for a decent life beyond his parents house home town and whatever part-time work he can scrounge up hes sure hes figured a way rob an old man of the rumored millions hidden in his house. But all he finds is the old man dead and the money if there was any already gone.Disappointed and defeated Purvis is drawn to the sound of music across the creek. There he discovers a beautiful woman in a white gown being baptized in the water. Surely Martha beautiful Martha will give Purvis the escape he imagines. With the Martha boat come to his rescue Purvis decides hell never have to worry about drowning.But Martha Umphlett is trapped too. Married and just as quickly divorced Marthas been condemned to return to the home shed once escaped. Made to take care of her obese mother and forced to participate in a baptism she has no interest in whatsoever Martha in her own way is every bit as desperate as Purvis but far more capable and a good deal more dangerous.Their paths cross with that of Brother Andrew a monk at a nearby monastery whose call more and more is not to God but to nature and more importantly to somewhere else. He wanders the swamp to watch birds practice archery and meditate but it becomes clearer and clearer to him that the answers he seeks are not to be found in his monastery his vow of silence or the life hes thus far known. But maybe the answer is in the girl he too sees being baptized across the creek. Perhaps Martha will make Andrew happy.All three want and need something different in their lives but the paths theyll take are neither clear nor pretty and they will not end well.Infatuated with Martha and certain shes the answer to his dreams Purvis sets out to do whatever is necessary to prove his love all the while terrified that the FBI will pin the old mans murder on him. Is he demented or just crazy with love? Does Martha care for Purvis or will she simply exploit him? Is Brother Andrew straying too far toward both of them and too far away from his faith? And just what is necessary for Purvis to prove himself to Martha?Told from the characters alternate points of view this darkly humorous story wends its way through a web of murder and dismemberment a twisted love triangle and a woodland monster known as the Hairy Man.As funny as it is sad as beautiful as it is ugly as authentic as it is shocking and as powerful as anything youll ever read Ron Coopers Purple Jesus is a murder mystery a love story a religious allegory and most importantly a dark and comic descent into the lives and world views of three unbelievable and unforgettable characters.Ron Cooper was born and raised in the South Carolina Low Country. He received a B.A. in philosophy from the College of Charleston an M.A. from the University of South Carolina and a Ph.D. from Rutgers University. He moved to Florida in 1988 and is Professor of Humanities at the College of Central Florida in Ocala where he lives with his wife Sandra (also a CCF faculty member) and their three children.Ron is a past president of the Florida Philosophical Association has published philosophical essays and is the author of Heidegger and A Phenomenological Examination into the Intelligibility of Experience. His fiction has appeared in publications such as Yalobusha Review Apostrophe Timber Creek Review and The Blotter.His much-praised debut novel Humes Fork available from Bancroft Press drew comparisons to John Kennedy Tooles A Confederacy of Dunces and earned him recognition as a finalist for the Bread Loaf Conferences Bakeless Literary Prize.
language: English
title: Purple Jesus: A Novel
publisher: None