A review by vickiireads
And the Ass Saw the Angel by Nick Cave

4.0

And The Ass Saw The Angel is set in the town of Ukulore, located in filthiest southern U.S., during the time of the 1940s. The town is overrun with religious maniacs, whom Cave paints as malicious to the point of murderous absurdity, all in the name of unyielding faith. Extreme outcast and mute Euchrid Eucrow, whose willfully oblivious father is a mad product of inbreeding and whose mother is an alcoholic mess who frequently beats him, struggles through the death of his stillborn twin brother and later, a fixation on local prostitute Cosey Mo, who is the only member of the town to show him any manner of pity. Cosey Mo is brutally thrashed by the town's people and ostracized, after which she gives birth to a daughter whom the Ukulites believe is the future mother of the Messiah. But she finds Euchrid to be godlike, leading to further complications between the mass insanity and Euchrid. Believing to be on a divine mission, Euchrid creates his own personal domain called Doghead, where is insanity builds towards his ultimate revenge on all who have contributed to his tortuous existence.

Blend Cave's inimitable voice with Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian, and One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and you are on the right track. Though it would repulse some, this is one stunning debut. Literate, disturbing, taboo, bizarre. There is no shortage of talent, debauchery or despair here.