What do You think about Mission To America (2005)?
Well, it was a mixed bag. I'd give five stars just for the first section of the book which explains the Apostles lifestyle and religious beliefs. What a wonderful, novel religion. Had me laughing--I thought I'd never see Candida (yeast overgrowth) in fiction, let a lone a religious setting! So much of the matriarchal apostles was familiar...I mean I think he concocted a believable amalgam of feminist, health-nut spiritual beliefs; and he did so tenderly (kudos for that).Once the Apostles hit Show Shoe, Colorado, on a quest to find converts to bring new stock into their dying flock, the story looses it's appeal. Part of me had no interest in the lifestyles of the rich and famous, which made it hard to "immerse" myself into the story. I also found myself lost a lot, having trouble following how a character moved into a new conversation or situation. This really troubled me, and I am at a total loss at how to describe it well. Maybe a lack of description and setting, or poor segues? They story redeemed itself by wrapping itself up well.
—Aischa
Walter Kirn’s “Mission To America” had been sitting on my TBR bookshelf for years, so I finally decided to pick it up. I had no idea, that Kirn also wrote the book for “Up In The Air.” I loved that movie and that gave me a lot of hope going into this novel.This novel was a huge let down. It’s too quirky for its own good and quickly becomes ridiculous. It’s about two missionaries from an obscure cult who go out into America to recruit new members for its dwindling sect. The book has far too much back story about their cult. It simply wasn’t interesting and didn’t seem like it should be the focus of the book. Their society seemed much like the one in the movie “The Village.” The only interesting part of the book was early on as the missionaries are discovering American culture. I actually can’t believe I stuck it out and read the entire novel. It was tedious and dull.
—Karen Germain
Walter Kirn is a contributing editor to Time magazine, where he was nominated for a National Magazine Award in his first year, and a regular reviewer for the New York Times Book Review. The author of four previous works of fiction, including the novel Up in the Air, Kirn reads from and discusses his new novel Mission to America, a superb story about the collision between the forces of faith and an overstimulated, overfed, spiritually overextended America.We met Walter Kirn when he visited the Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver. You can listen to him talk about Mission To America here:http://www.authorsontourlive.com/?p=35
—AuthorsOnTourLive!
