A remarkable debut novel!
VESTMENTS
John Reimringer
Milkweed Editions / PGW
$25 Hardcover
ISBN 978-1-57131-080-4
Fiction set in St. Paul, MN
Also an Indie Next selection for October 2010
One of the Huffington Post’s “Most Anticipated Books” for 2010
“Deeply rooted in history, burning with family furies, and told by a narrator-priest you find yourself rooting for (and wondering about), this is a captivating novel, scene by scene.”
—Patricia Hampl, author of The Florist’s Daughter“John Reimringer’s writing is exquisite. Each and every word is precisely what it should be.” —Nancy Simpson, Book Vault, Oskaloosa, IA
“This is truly a masterful and flawless first novel.” —Carl Hoffman, Boswell Book Company, Milwaukee, WI
“This book knows the soul of the great old city: the yellowing taverns and fraying neighborhoods, the sense of grace in decline, the doubtful saints wrangling their disbelief. John Reimringer writes with the confidence and observation of one who was there at the time and is there still, and his novel has the knuckles and shouting and beer breath of glory.” —Leif Enger, author of Peace Like a River and So Brave, Young, and Handsome
Buy this book from your favorite locally owned and operated Midwest independent bookseller!
Click here for the directory of our member bookstores
Read this interview with author John Reimringer
Meet John Reimringer at these events at MBA member bookstores:
Fri, Sept 10 @ 7 PM
Micawber’s Books
2238 Carter Ave
Saint Paul, MN
Phone: 651.646.5506
Tue, Sept 21 @ 7 PM
Book Vault
105 S. Market Street
Oskaloosa, IA 52577
Phone: 641.676.1777
Tue, Oct 19 @ 5 pm
Public reading on campus at WSU
Ticketed dinner at The Blue Heron/The Book Shelf
162 W. 2nd Street
Winona, MN 55987
Phone: 507.474.1880
Wed, Oct 20 @ 7 PM
Boswell Book Company
2559 N. Downer Ave.
Milwaukee, WI 53211
Phone: 414.332.1181
Wed, Nov 10 @ 7 PM
The Raven Bookstore
6 East 7th Street
Lawrence, KS
Phone: 785.749.3300
Sat, Nov 13 @ 2 PM
Watermark Books
4701 East Douglas
Wichita, KS 67218
Phone: 316.682.1181
MBA BOOKSELLER INFORMATION
Booksellers — Earn up to $100 in rebates from MBA for promoting VESTMENTS!
Midwest Connections rebate form for VESTMENTS (PDF) - coming soon
VESTMENTS is available from Milkweed Editions / Publishers Group West, or from your preferred wholesaler. Be sure to contact the publisher for more information about this title.
If you are interested in inquiring about an event, interview, or book club event or phoner with author John Reimringer, who lives in St. Paul, please contact Ethan Rutherford | 612.215.2556 | ethan_rutherford@milkweed.org.
MBA and Milkweed Editions would love to have your comments and reviews for this Midwest Connections Pick. Please send them to us so we can share your endorsements with your fellow MBA booksellers and with your customers!
DOWNLOADS
- Full-color sign/flyer A (PDF)
- Full-color sign/flyer B (PDF) – bookseller quotes
- Full-color shelf-talker (PDF)
- Publisher’s press kit (PDF)
- Author photo (JPG)
- Book cover photo (JPG)
- Midwest Connections rebate form for VESTMENTS (PDF)
- REBATE DEADLINE EXTENDED TO JANUARY 15, 2011 - Midwest Connections Generic Display Materials
ABOUT THE BOOK
“In this potent debut about a wayward yet devout young priest who struggles to reconcile his faith with longings of the flesh, Reimringer has crafted a suspenseful, illuminating, and highly readable saga.
—Publishers Weekly, STARRED review“‘The men of my family have always loved strong drink and a good fight,’ says John Reimringer’s narrator, a young and unsure priest trying to make sense of his St. Paul family’s two-fisted history. That he confesses this with equal parts pride and regret shows how much he has to overcome. Ribald and wry, concerned at heart with faith and forgiveness, VESTMENTS is a rich, involving debut.”
—Stewart O’Nan, author of Last Night at the Lobster and Songs for the Missing“In this memorable, skillful novel, Reimringer writes compassionately about the tie between violence and yearning, the calls of the body and the calls of the spirit. Many writers can write well about one or the other. The gift of this writer is his rich understanding and love of both. Vestments is a wise, wide, and eloquent book.” —Erin McGraw, author of Lies of the Saints and The Seamstress of Hollywood Boulevard
Let me begin today, illumined by Thy light, to destroy this part of the natural man which lives in me in its entirety, the obstacle that constantly keeps me from Thy Love.
Taught this prayer as a boy by his grandfather, James Dressler recites it each time he’s tempted by earthly desires. Originally drawn to the priesthood by the mystery, purity, and sensual fabric of the Church, and by its promise of a safe harbor from his tempestuous home, James finds himself—just a few years after his ordination—attracted again to his first love, Betty García. Torn between these competing loves, and haunted by his familial heritage, James finds himself at a crossroads. Exploring age-old and yet urgently contemporary issues in the Catholic Church, and infused throughout by a rich sense of the history and vibrant texture of St. Paul, this is an utterly honest and subtly lyrical novel. A major debut.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A former newspaper editor and a graduate of the MFA program at the University of Arkansas, JOHN REIMRINGER lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota, with his wife, the poet Katrina Vandenberg. VESTMENTS is his first novel. Learn more at www.johnreimringer.com .
