Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The Altar Boy: A Dark Tale of Comedy, Sorrow and The Catholic Church in the 1960s

The Altar Boy: A Dark Tale of Comedy, Sorrow and The Catholic Church in the 1960s

Stephens, Phil

Paperback

HumorGeneral FictionHistorical Fiction

ISBN10: 0997874503
ISBN13: 9780997874501
Publisher: Phil Stephens Publications
Published: Sep 8 2016
Pages: 274
Weight: 0.89
Height: 0.62 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English

Black-robed nuns, priests, bishops, the select fraternity of Altar Boys, and the ancient ceremonies of the Catholic Church. Music of the '60s, boyhood shenanigans, Cootie doctors, and coming of age. Set in the socially and politically tumultuous period of the 1960s, The Altar Boy is the fictionalized tale of Carl Sanders, a funny, sensitive kid, who's caught in the middle when his family is fractured by his parents faltering marriage and the appearance of a powerful priest. We follow Carl's confusion and pain as he watches the pious façade of the Church fall away to reveal unholy carte blanche, pain and grief. The book opens in the late 1980s. Carl and his brother down beer after beer at a favorite pub, trying to piece together their family's chaotic past. The stakes are high-someone is about to return after a 20-year absence, threatening to re-ignite the family conflict. As the brothers' painful recollections of their past become more traumatic, Carl drifts back in time to the era he tried for so many years to forget. The story is realistic, poignant, and at times very funny. Stephens shines a timely spotlight on the then-unquestioned power of the Church, while taking the reader back to the '60s era of rock & roll, Catholic schools, social upheaval, and boyhood pranks.

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