Book: The Book of Harold by Owen Egerton
Reviewed by: Kester
It is a typical evening in present day Houston, TX and Harold Peeks stands up at a corporate awards dinner to declare himself the Christ. At first, his declaration seems odd, but harmless and certainly not to be taken seriously. That is, until Harold is invited to a dinner party and raises his friend’s dog from the dead. Then things start to get a bit awkward and strange.
Told from the retrospective perspective of Blake Waterson, one of Harold’s followers, Owen Egerton’s The Book of Harold is not a retelling of the story of Jesus, but its own take on the implications of a middle-aged, modern day messiah and how disconcerting it would be to be his disciple. While Waterson is as skeptical as the next guy, his own questions and curiosity are enough to start him spending time with Harold and eventually becoming a part of Harold’s inner circle, a group that gathers to take a trek from Houston to Austin, walking the entire way. Never quite sure of what it is they are experiencing, Harold’s followers witness healings, meet new converts, and discover that truths are often (maybe always) wrapped up in paradox.
Harold doesn’t have all the answers or, if he does, he isn’t sharing them. What his followers get instead are hints and questions and The Book of Harold gives its readers the same, never trying to ease the tension by making those questions go away. If anything, Egerton understands that fiction exists to ask the difficult questions and leave them unanswered. What he provides is an hilarious and just as often horrible look at the holy and human. The Book of Harold invites us to seek, but doesn’t promise what we’ll find. Like Waterson, we take the trek and learn new and unexpected things along the way.
Owen Egerton will speak about and sign The Book of Harold at BookPeople on Thursday, May 24, 7p. The event is free and open to the public.
BookPeople 