All the Bells on Earth
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
"Blaylock is one of the most brilliant of that new generation of fabulist writers: All the Bells on Earthmay be his best book . . . Enthralling" (The Washington Post Book World).
In the dead of night, a man climbs the tower of St. Anthony's Church, driven by a compulsive urge to silence the bells.
In a deserted alley, a seemingly random victim is consumed by a torrent of flames.
And in the deceptive light of day, a mail-order businessman named Walt Stebbins receives a bizarre artifact—a glass jar containing the preserved body of a bluebird.
Things like this don't usually happen in a town like Orange, California. Ordinary people don't expect to face evil—real evil—in their backyards. But as Walt unravels the mystery of the bird in the jar, he learns that the battle between good and evil takes place every day . . .
"An absolute page-turner . . . A terrific novel by a master of the offbeat and the absurd." —The Washington Post Book World
"In the best tradition of The Twilight Zone, crossed with wacky characters, humor and moments of real love stunningly portrayed." —Rick Kleffel, The Agony Column
"With acrobatic grace, Blaylock, winner of two World Fantasy Awards, once again walks the dividing line between fantasy and horror—this time, as he relates a deal-with-the-devil story set in suburban Southern California." —Publishers Weekly
"While juxtaposing subtle humor with grim horror, the author portrays a world in which human virtues become mystic weapons and unlikely heroes grope their way toward salvation." —Library Journal
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
With acrobatic grace, Blaylock (Night Relics), winner of two World Fantasy Awards, once again walks the dividing line between fantasy and horror--this time, as he relates a deal-with-the-devil story set in suburban Southern California. Two decades ago, a clergyman masquerading as a satanic emissary duped three businessmen from the small town of Orange into selling him their souls. As soon as one of them spontaneously combusts during the current Christmas season, however, the others scurry to break the deal. It turns out that there exists a good luck charm that can save the soul of one, millionaire malefactor Robert Argyle, but when that charm is accidentally delivered to Walt Stebbins, Argyle's unsuccessful rival in the mail-order business, a chain of misadventures begins in which Walt, his wife, her uncle and an unlikely pair of clergymen all recognize the taint of the devilish deal in their daily lives. Blaylock's gentle satire on ``capitalism gone rancid'' is supported by his authentic rendering of a small town where the economic reality of having to pay the bills occupies much of people's time. While the author probes the dark side of small-town life, he ultimately celebrates the virtues of simple living, yielding the sort of homey moral one finds in a Garrison Keillor monologue.
