Danny Gospel: Not a Lot of Good News

This book was chosen arbitrarily. I quite literally skimmed and picked it off the shelf at my church library. Let’s say it was because I liked the spine color. Right away, I did not like the title, Danny Gospel. In my opinion it smacks of heresy just because it makes me think that we are talking about Danny’s Gospel, or Danny’s version of the Gospel which certainly would not be the Gospel of Christ. Chances are you’ve read a “Christian-Fiction” book that should have been labeled “Fictional-Christian.” That is what I imagine a book titled Danny Gospel to be. A quick skim of the back quelled my concerns as Danny Gospel is simply a nick-name given to one member of a Gospel singing family. The book is about how Danny Gospel seeks a normal, happy life after the gospel singing life he grew up with is history, and after the girl he was to marry leaves and moves back to New York City. Perhaps feeling bad for miss-judging the book, I sat and started chapter one. I liked the writing. A review on the back of the book says that it is hilarious. I believe what they actually meant was that it is bizarre. One of the things the author, David Athey, seems to do well is interject the unusual to the point that the reader wonders if he is speaking in illusion or describing an event. This element is carried throughout the book and grows to consume majority of the story. The story drifts smoothly from memories to present time. The present story-line occurs in the winter of 2001 and includes a few references and allusions to the September 11 World Trade Center attack. Danny Gospel is a derelict mailman in Iowa whose exertion for a normal, happy life is driven more by spiritual hope than any real effort. He is looking for a girl that woke him with a kiss, if she actually exists. That is the catalyst that starts his bizarre journey from his trailer park to Palm Beach and back. If you chose to go with him, beware, it is difficult to tell just which parts of this story are actual occurrences and which exists only in Danny's mind. If there is any solid ground, it is likely that the main character suffers from delusions and other mental disturbances. I'm not being flip, I do believe this story includes a heavy dose of psychotic elements. On the level that Danny Gospel is labeled fiction, I enjoyed the book. It is interesting, written well, and the spine color is appealing. I’m just kidding about the spine color. As for the Christian aspect of the book, I feel let down. Overall the book is more mystical than Christian. It could have been called Danny Spiritual, or Danny Religious. Where is the Gospel? I wanted Danny to have a happy, normal life but I wanted the awesome truth of Christ’s Gospel to fulfill it for him. Instead, Danny runs about following whimsical prompts, signs and hunches that carve out only a meager taste of hope and peace. In the end Danny does not find happiness or normalcy. He does get his farm back, as well as some additional land, but the story ends on a bizarre twist (purposefully not explained here) that was hinted at by only three of four small clues throughout the book. Danny Gospel is one of those books that make you realize it means more than it says, and when it is over, makes you go back to find out what was really going on.