Morte D’Urban
Morte D’Urban by J.F. Powers, published by New York Review of Books on May 31, 2000, is a first edition that spans 360 pages. This work centers on Father Urban, a charismatic clergyman known for his engaging presence on the religious speaking circuit and his ambitious plans for the future. However, his life takes an unexpected turn when he is sent to a retreat house in rural Minnesota, where he navigates the challenges of his new environment with enthusiasm and charm.
Readers will find a blend of humor and insight as Father Urban interacts with the local community, including golf courses and backyard barbecues, while grappling with the complexities of his faith and vocation. The narrative explores themes of religious life and moral ambiguity, presenting a richly detailed portrait of a man striving to balance his spiritual duties with the realities of everyday life. Morte D’Urban offers a unique perspective on the intersection of faith and human experience, making it a noteworthy addition to the literary landscape.
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Winner of The 1963 National Book Award for Fiction.
The hero of J.F. Powers’s comic masterpiece is Father Urban, a man of the cloth who is also a man of the world. Charming, with an expansive vision of the spiritual life and a high tolerance for moral ambiguity, Urban enjoys a national reputation as a speaker on the religious circuit and has big plans for the future. But then the provincial head of his dowdy religious order banishes him to a retreat house in the Minnesota hinterlands. Father Urban soon bounces back, carrying God’s word with undaunted enthusiasm through the golf courses, fishing lodges, and backyard barbecues of his new turf. Yet even as he triumphs his tribulations mount, and in the end his greatest success proves a setback from which he cannot recover.
First published in 1962, Morte D’Urban has been praised by writers as various as Gore Vidal, William Gass, Mary Gordon, and Philip Roth. This beautifully observed, often hilarious tale of a most unlikely Knight of Faith is among the finest achievements of an author whose singular vision assures him a permanent place in American literature.
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