{"product_id":"discernment","title":"Discernment","description":"\u003cp\u003eCedric Willow is a middle-aged journalist and senior warden at St. Bartholomew by the Lake, a small Episcopal parish in Minneapolis. St. Bart's church is a widely admired icon of mid-century modern architecture, but its congregation is aging and attendance is on the decline. When the incumbent rector resigns, Cedric forms a search committee—a \"discernment\" committee, in Episcopal parlance—and embarks on a nine-month search for a new spiritual leader.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eComplicating his task: a bitter feud between two members of the vestry, the fact that he's an atheist, and a disruptive voice in his head called Op Ed. There's also the Church Lady, a mousy junior warden who aspires to his position, who strikes him as pious to a fault, and with whom he is falling in love.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDiscernment\u003c\/em\u003e is a novel about trying to do the right thing in a world with no easy answers, and what happens when altruism and self-interest collide.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMinneapolis native \u003cstrong\u003eRoy M. Close\u003c\/strong\u003e served twenty-four years as a journalist, most of them as a theater, classical music, and dance critic for Twin Cities dailies. He is the author of more than a dozen plays, including \u003cem\u003eA Brief Crack of Light\u003c\/em\u003e, written with Bill Semans and now in the running for a London production. Among his short plays are \u003cem\u003eZambezi Blue, A Postcard from the Corn Palace, Killing Mother,\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eYour Call Is Very Important to Us\u003c\/em\u003e. He has also written poetry (the sonnet and limerick are his favorite forms) and an assortment of freelance articles for publications ranging from \u003cem\u003eOrchids \u003c\/em\u003emagazine to the \u003cem\u003eWashington Post. Discernment \u003c\/em\u003eis his first novel.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Itasca Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54526361239827,"sku":"9781643436340","price":21.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0948\/3521\/2563\/files\/9781643436340ita.jpg?v=1785851639","url":"https:\/\/danuc.net\/products\/discernment","provider":"Danu's Wardrobe","version":"1.0","type":"link"}