"The New Messiah", Daniel Biskar: From My Godfather

This was a Christmas gift a few years back from my Uncle Dan, who also happens to be this book's author, Daniel Biskar.

Based in the beach cities of Los Angeles during the mid-'70s, The New Messiah follows Neal, the main character, an idealistic poet who conceives a utopian plan to create a messianic movement. He convinces his charismatic friend Andy to play the part of messiah.

A real problem arrives when Andy starts to believe his own story. Fueled by the cynicism and alienation that's been a staple of American youth culture since Watergate, the movement gains a certain level of prominence. It, like many messiah movements, doesn't last too long, and the last we see of Andy is during his recovery period.

Neal, the instigator of the movement and through whose eyes we readers experience everything, has his own issues with love and friends. Since he's the rock of the group, his friends seem to lean on him in their times of need, and he feels an obligation to help them. He also feels a complex mix of guilt for how the movement evolved and how he wasn't able to stop it after it got out of control.

It's been years since I've read it.

Uncle Dan's style is what strikes any reader: it is written entirely in a play-like format. A series of dialogue blocks and stage directions are how the action unfolds throughout. I wasn't quite sure what to make of it at first, but as I got into the story, I started to appreciate the confidence with which his scenes are presented, and I began to learn a specific way tension can be created.

This isn't a critique of The New Messiah, rather, this is simply about a post about a book in my library, how I came to have it, and how it affected me in some way or how it will help me later in some way--basically the reason I still have it. Since the author of this book is literally my godfather, I feel a certain closeness to the work, and don't feel my library blog the proper place to fully critique it, but I haven't done that yet really with any book. Maybe informally, of course...

This book is great for any young aspiring writer. It deals well with dialogue and tension, and extremely well with minimalist scene setting techniques, bringing playwright tools along and incorporating them into a novel. Plus, the story is pretty cool, one about sex, drugs, rock and roll, and reasoned and deliberate false prophets.