A Handbook of American Prayer comes at a time when prayer is in the air—when prayer breakfasts are accepted as viable political events. In his fascinating, hilarious, and disturbing novel, award-winning author Lucius Shepard examines the power of prayer in a way no minister ever expected. Wardlin Stuart, ex-bartender and murderer, stumbles across a way of praying that actually works. Calling it prayerstyle, Stuart becomes a cult hero with millions of followers. But he can’t bring himself to take advantage of his newfound fame and riches—or escape them. Then the mysterious Lord of Loneliness creeps in with plans of his own.

Resonating with the best of Nathanael West, Herman Melville, and David Foster Wallace, A Handbook of American Prayer is a profound, moving novel lit by the sputtering spotlight of fame.

"Satire is rarely moving. And A Handbook of American Prayer is. Shepard views all his characters’ foibles and weaknesses and stupidity with an utterly clear eye and a consistently forgiving heart.”
—Russell Banks, author of The Lost Memory of Skin, from the Introduction

Lucius Shepard is the author of dozens of novels, short-story collections, and other works crossing an impressive range of genres, from fantasy to horror to mainstream thrillers. Widely cited as one of American’s most underrated novelists, Shepard has received the prestigious Gran Prix de L’Imaginaire in France, as well as Hugo and Nebula Awards.

"Shepard is a magical existentialist. . . .the magic of Robert Stone, Graham Greene, and Joseph Conrad lurks around the edges of his jungles.”
—The Village Voice