Download or read book Leopold Murphy Defrocked written by David Spitz and published by . This book was released on 2016-07-20 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Leopold Murphy Defrocked is a wild philosophical comedy about a Catholic priest experiencing a crisis of faith. Our hero-if you can call him that-is not your conventional clergyman. Equal parts angry and inconsiderate, Leo spends his time penning heretical essays, having an affair with his choir director, and stewing in jealousy over his younger brother's success as a televangelist. When a series of unfortunate events leads Leo to embezzle thousands of dollars in charity funds, he uses the money to finance a personal Caribbean vacation, hoping that the trip (make that pilgrimage) will reconcile him with God. Though farcical in many ways, the novel is, at its core, both ambitiously existential and intimately human. It asks hard questions about suffering, faith, jealousy, disappointment, growing old, and the role of religion and art in achieving communion with the divine. Oh, and it's also damn funny.