George A. Buttrick and Frederick Buechner: Messengers of Reconciling Laughter‪.‬

George A. Buttrick, minister of Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in the mid-twentieth century, played a significant role in Frederick Buechner's life. Although the majority of critics do recognize the significance of Buechner's initial conversion in Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in 1953, Buttrick's presence as a literary and ministerial influence in Buechner's life still remains unexplored and invites further inquiry. (1) Using Buechner's short story "The Tiger" as an autobiographical starting point, this study retraces the early stages of Buechner's spiritual search and conversion. With these critical moments revisited, a comparative analysis will then suggest that Buttrick's message of "great laughter" marks a transformative point in Buechner's life and writing, as Buechner's literary and theological works continue to reflect that message. (2) Buechner remembers that in 1953 he was "twenty-seven, living alone in New York trying with no success to start a novel and in love with a girl who was not in love with me" (Alphabet of Grace 43). With two novels completed, Buechner was successful but suddenly uninspired, lovesick, and yearning for meaning in the midst of personal and critical uncertainty. "The Tiger" his only published short story, offers insight into the longing Buechner experienced before his life-changing encounter with Buttrick and the message of reconciling laughter. Written only months before his conversion experience, "The Tiger" has unfortunately remained dormant in the canon of Buechner's prolific career. While the story is minor in comparison to the "post-conversion" works such as Godric, W. Dale Brown correctly recognizes the problems of separating Buechner's texts into two eras that are divided by conversion: