Epigraph on page vii reprinted with permission of Scribner, an imprint of Simon and Schuster Adult Publishing Group, from DIRT MUSIC by Tim Winton.

Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet book.

Written in clear, precise prose, Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet is a darkly comic coming-of-age novel with a difference

Written in clear, precise prose, Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet is a darkly comic coming-of-age novel with a difference. Terrified, but pretending not to be, Luke pushes his friends and family away, while the local news crew, a Christian fundamentalist preacher and a missing girl’s frantic mother all draw nearer, seeking to profit from Luke’s new-found ‘gift’.

Luke is stunned and almost completely knocked out when he experiences a premonition that one of his friends is going to die. When the premonition comes true, his life becomes a nightmare surrounded by media and freaked out friends.

Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet

Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet. Meet Luke Hunter, skater, stoner, death prophet, and 17-year-old narrator of Joanne Proulx's premier novel Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet

Proulx is pitch-perfect in her portrayal of the potty-mouthed, weed-smoking, angst-ridden adolescent narrator. The novel is framed by death scenes.

Proulx is pitch-perfect in her portrayal of the potty-mouthed, weed-smoking, angst-ridden adolescent narrator. The last takes place at the cemetery where Stan is buried, where Luke reconciles himself to the difficulties of being fallible, sensitive and human.

The Story While hanging with friends, Luke suddenly turns into Chatty Cathy and predicts the death of one of their group. He only thinks he’s making it up. What follows is a persecution of Luke by news media, people in town who recognize him, and religious nuts who believe he is stained by Satan. A truth he comes to through the efforts of a girl/woman he considers not his, an unexpected neighborhood friend, and one of his teachers, the persistent caring of his family, and the unexpected encounter with Pastor Ted. The Characters Luke is a good kid and the reluctant prophet.

Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet. Written in clear, precise prose, Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet is a darkly comic coming-of-age novel about death and life. Books by Joanne Proulx.

Joanne Proulx has had short stories published in literary magazines in America and Canada. This is her first novel. She lives in Ontario. Joanne says of ANTHEM that she wrote it when she was 'pressed up close to death with a war sounding in the background.