Temptations of St. Ed and Brother S (Western Literature) [Hardcover]

Frank Bergon (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Blunt, no-nonsense prose conveys a dark vision of the modern struggle to maintain religious commitment in this novel set outside Las Vegas. After finalizing plans to use nearby Shoshone land as a nuclear waste disposal site, the Department of Energy has begun efforts to drive out local residents, including the two eponymous monks who live at a Cistercian hermitage in the area. St. Ed, troubled by the monastery's failure to attract postulants and by his bishop's orders to give into the DOE without a fight, wants to make his order more responsive to contemporary society. Brother S, attracted to Bureau of Land Management employee Amy Chavez, finds his vows tested when St. Ed abandons the Cistercian rules and allows Amy to enter the hermitage as a postulant. As the deadline to vacate approaches, the ensuing chaos leads to a tragic act of violence, simultaneously pointless and inspirational, that infuses a note of hope into the novel's bleak tone. Bergon ( Shoshone Mike ) mixes non-preachy spiritual meditations with an all-too-believable plot; while he's fair to all his characters, he leaves no doubt whose side he is on. A solid read that treats faith seriously and doesn't offer easy answers about its place in today's world. $10,000 ad/promo.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This daring novel is Western in a double sense of the word: a grimly comic tale of the American desert as nuclear waste site, it also plunges the reader into the Western monastic tradition. A tragicomic parable unfolds as two all-too-human monks who are founding a hermitage encounter government (and Vatican) villains, drunken seismograph crews, a sleazy talk-show host, and a band of Shoshone Indians. Hilarious at times, heavy-handed at others, the novel moves at a brisk pace and offers a bracing view of the follies of contemporary American culture. Although Bergon is a good student of human nature and his monks are refreshingly unromantic, the novel sometimes feels out of control, as if the author had attempted too much. But it is nonetheless enjoyable. Recommended for most collections.
- Kathleen Norris, Lemmon, S.D.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 305 pages
• Publisher: University of Nevada Press; First Edition edition (October 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874172268
• ISBN-13: 978-0874172263
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,536,779 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Frank Bergon is a novelist, critic, and essayist whose writings focus primarily on the history and environment of the American West. His Nevada trilogy consists of three novels spanning a century from the Shoshone massacre of 1911 to the current battle over nuclear waste in the Nevada desert.

His new California trilogy, beginning with the novel, Jesse's Ghost, will focus on the Central Valley of California.

Photo credit: Jack Latson and Sam Rosen-Amy

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A unique tale and a good read., January 12, 2001

By 

John Franklin (Reno, NV) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Temptations of St. Ed and Brother S (Western Literature) (Hardcover)

For those of us who love the desert Southwest, it captures the sense of place. The odd mix of characters inherent in Nevada, each multi-dimensional. Compelling story and central characters - I was glued to it. Interesting thoughts on a monk's spiritual pursuits and, of course, temptations. I hoped at times for it to soar even higher into the abstract, but then remembered how grounded in material reality is this setting, and how palpable is the balance between inner peace (the open land) and corruption (the people) there. Felt the ending a little awkward, but still I praise. Read it!

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Publisher's Weekly Review 8/30/98, January 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Temptations of St. Ed and Brother S (Western Literature) (Hardcover)

Blunt, no-nonsense prose conveys a dark vision of the modern struggle to maintain religious commitment in this novel set outside Las Vegas. After finalizing plans to use nearby Shoshone land as a nuclear waste disposal site, the Department of Energy has begun efforts to drive out local residents, including the two eponymous monks who live at a Cistercian hermitage in the area. St. Ed, troubled by the monastery's failure to attract postulants and by his bishop's orders to give into the DOE without a fight, wants to make his order more responsive to contemporary society. Brother S, attracted to Bureau of Land Management employee Amy Chavez, finds his vows tested when St. Ed abandons the Cistercian rules and allows Amy to enter the hermitage as a postulant. As the deadline to vacate approaches, the ensuing chaos leads to a tragic act of violence, simultaneously pointless and inspirational, that infuses a note of hope into the novel's bleak tone. Bergon (Shoshone Mike) mixes non-preachy spiritual meditations with an all-too-believable plot; while he's fair to all characters, he leaves no doubt whose side he is on. A solid read that treats faith seriously and doesn't offer easy answers about its place in today's world.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The New Yorker Review 2/21/94, January 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Temptations of St. Ed and Brother S (Western Literature) (Hardcover)

St. Ed is the crusty, foulmouthed founder of a Trappist hermitage in the Nevada desert; Brother S (for Simon) is the one monk in fifteen years who has stuck it out. He has found the monastic peace he sought, keeping bees, irrigating the vegetable garden, and studying church texts. Brother S is disturbed when Ed more or less advertises the hermitage by appearing on a Vegas talk show; he is disturbed in a different way when he rescues a stranded female ranger from the Bureau of Land Management. But everyone - the ranger, Ed, Brother S, local desert rats, and the nearby Shoshone Indians - is more than disturbed when the United States Department of Energy swoops down upon the desert, intending to run its inhabitants off and install a nuclear-waste repository. The author beautifully captures the self-congratulatory hypocrisy of government officials who call themselves "environmentalists" while plotting the destruction of the environment, and worse. And he dwells upon the attractions of the contemplative life so seductively that, for once, you hope the guy will not get the girl.