The Book of Lazarus
When Emma Goldman O'Bannion is summoned from Rome for the reading of her father's will, her pursuit of the truth embroils her in Mafia intrigue, radical politics, hard drugs, murder, and madness. Why did Emma's father abandon her? Where did the millions of dollars come from? And who is Emma's supposed "brother," a troubled old man named Bobby Lazarus who dresses as a crossing guard? This second novel in a projected trilogy is less grisly than its predecessor (Pen West Fiction Prize nominee The Alphabet Man, LJ 10/15/93) but equally intense and experimental. Emma's narrative occupies only 126 pages but is accompanied by Bobby Lazarus's notebook: aphorisms of the People's Liberation Brigade, a 70-page sentence fragment by a brigade member, a collection of two-line poems and drawings by another, letters, a "Hallowed Hall of Heroes" who died saving the lives of others, and, finally, a revelatory poem, "The Crossing Guard," by Lazarus himself. A powerful, fascinating novel; highly recommended.?Jim Dwyer, California State Univ. Lib., ChicoCopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.