The Lords of Folly [Paperback]

Gene Logsdon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2007

This is a brilliantly comic novel set in mid-20th century America. Logsdon tells the story of a time and place long gone, of eccentric characters and old-time religion. The setting is rural Minnesota in the early 1950s, where a group of seminarians make their way to Ascension Seminary in Shakopee to complete their education as Oblates of St Joseph. The young men question everything about the lives they lead studying for the priesthood.

The protagonist, Blaise, changes the spelling of his name to Blaze, and he and his friends, Gabe and Fen, lead a band of brothers who come to be known as "the most troublesome class in seminary history." They pillage the storage area of the seminary, spend the summer doing grueling farm work instead of studying their breviaries, assist a local bootlegger in brewing moonshine whisky, and take possession of rifles and shotguns that were previously confiscated from Josephian priests who had passed away. "They rarely shot at anything and when they did they missed," writes Logsdon. One exasperated friar dubs them "the Sonuvabitchin' Davy Crockett Boys." Of course, they love it and the name sticks. But underneath the mayhem and merriment that the SBDC boys cultivate, lies a darker world of doubt and bewilderment about sex and sanity. What should they really be doing with their lives, they ask each other nervously. It is the resolution of that question--that is, who the hell is sane in this crazy world?--that brings their adventures to a surprising and triumphant conclusion.

This novel was inspired by Logsdon's ten years as a seminarian. As we follow the lively adventures of the SBDC Boys, we encounter a rogue's gallery of colorful characters and religious situations. Logsdon has cobbled together a rollicking narrative that is reminiscent of such American originals as Kurt Vonnegut and Joseph Heller.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gene Logsdon is the author of over 20 books, including Wyeth People, Contrary Farmer, and You Can Go Home Again. He lives in Upper Sandusky, Ohio.

Product Details

• Paperback: 292 pages
• Publisher: Academy Chicago Publishers (April 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0897335570
• ISBN-13: 978-0897335577
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 7.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,874,291 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It will make you laugh, it will make you think., November 13, 2007

By 

Alan B. Borer (Westerville, OH) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Lords of Folly (Paperback)

Gene Logsdon makes his first appearance as a book-length novelist in The Lords of Folly. A longtime writer of how-to-do-it books and essays on the pratfalls of modern agriculture, Logsdon is an experienced writer. I wondered, though, how successfully he would make the leap to the very different kind of writing practiced by the novelist.

The plot is well summarized above. There is more than a little autobiography in the novel, as any reader of Logsdon's 1998 memoir, You Can Go Home Again, can attest. He borrows themes and arguments from that book, but this novel is not merely reheated leftovers. If one way of judging the success of a novel, even a comic novel, is that you care about the characters by the end, Logsdon has certainly accomplished this.

Some Catholics will wince at several of the characters' thoughts and activities. But only the most hidebound dogmatists will miss the fact that criticism, even of churches, is often worth scrutiny, even if it is finally rejected. That is how change for the better is accomplished.

But one must judge a novel as to whether it is a good story. If humorous situations, plot twists, suspense, and the occasional bellylaugh, make a good story, The Lords of Folly satisfies on all accounts.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great read, November 6, 2007

By 

S. Rall (Lansing, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Lords of Folly (Paperback)

The cast of characters in The Lords of Folly reminded me of a Carl Hiaasen novel--some of them crazy but very human in their foibles and fantasies. Logsdon's wierd sense of humor, not only makes it a great read but also allows the reader to enter into deeper questions of religion, morality, faith, sexuality, love and ecology.

Even though the novel's setting takes place in a Catholic seminary, its appeal is universal. The Lords of Folly takes us back to a time when seminarians were isolated physically and sexually, as society was entering the sexual revolution and the Catholic Church was beginning to experience one of its greatest reformations since Luther. The characters in The Lords of Folly come of age in this maelstrom of change, discovery and craziness.

I laughed a lot and cried a little. I couldn't put it down.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sort of like M.A.S.H. only without the blood and death, October 22, 2009

By 

R. Thacker - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Lords of Folly (Paperback)

I couldn't help comparing the Son-of-a-b*tchin' Davy Crockett Boys with the Swamp Rats from the MASH series. Irreverent, fun-loving, but with an underlying layer of kindness, these guys are downright loveable in their goofy way. I'd like to follow their lives and know how they age...