| The Conduct of Saints Contributor(s): Davis, Christopher (Author), Colacci, David (Read by) |
|
 |
ISBN: 1470879859 ISBN-13: 9781470879853 Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks OUR PRICE: $26.96 Product Type: MP3 CD - Other Formats Published: May 2013 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Fiction | Historical - General |
| Dewey: FIC |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: The Conduct of Saints portrays a battleground on which power, God, sex, and the devil collide in the impoverished city of Rome during May and June of 1945. The German occupation of the Eternal City has ended, the war in Europe is over, the atomic bomb has yet to fall on Japan, and Rome is under the jurisdiction of the victors: the American, British, and French Allied Control Commission. An American Vatican prelate and lawyer, Brendan Doherty, is involved in two crusades. Abhorring capital punishment, he means to avert the execution of the Nazi collaborator Pietro Koch. Also, as devil's advocate, Doherty intends to prove the hypocrisy of Alessandro Serenelli, the man who forty years before murdered Maria Goretti. Converted by a vision, Serenelli has spent his life, in prison and out, promoting the beatification of his victim. Doherty--memory tormented, hard drinking, both angry and compassionate, a moral street fighter for what he is sure is right--feels guilty for having done too little to save the city's Jews from Auschwitz. He engages in his causes and quarrels with Rome's pre-dolce vita, postwar society--people both fictional and historical, like Alessandro Serenelli, Maria Goretti, Pietro Koch, Pope Pius XII, and film director Luchino Visconti--until he comes to a reckoning with himself and with the serene, unshakable saint-maker Serenelli. |
Contributor Bio(s): Davis, Christopher: - Christopher Davis has taught creative writing at the University of Pennsylvania, Bryn Mawr College, and other schools. He is presently senior lecturer emeritus in the arts at Bryn Mawr College. He has published numerous works of fiction, nonfiction, and children's literature, as well as articles and short stories in national and foreign publications. He also has produced a play based on his novel A Peep into the 20th Century. He has held a Guggenheim Fellowship, two National Endowment for the Arts grants, and a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts grant. He is a recipient of the National Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters Career Award. Colacci, David: -David Colacci is an actor and director who has directed and performed in prominent theaters nationwide. His credits include roles from Shakespeare to Albee, as well as extensive work on new plays. As a narrator, he has recorded more than one hundred audiobooks, earned eight AudioFile Earphones Awards, and been a finalist for the prestigious Audie Award. His narration of The Suspect was named one of AudioFile's Best Audiobooks of 2007. |