For such a short and easy-to-read book, I found it very difficult to finish this thing.

Jimmy Breslin is known for his investigative reporting. Apparently his fiction has some fans, too. I don't understand it, though.

He calls this one "a fable". I guess that's a start. The story features a priest named Cosgrove who, after spending time in Africa, is sent to New York City to spread the word about sex. Or at least that's how Cosgrove interprets his mission. He brings along a large African native named "Great Big", because that's what he is.

Cosgrove runs into an array of persons who are subsisting on public money. They are not having a great time of it, and find it necessary to supplement their incomes whatever way they can. Cosgrove's primary interest is sex, and his attitude about poverty is that it will always exist so he doesn't exactly care. He tries to preach about sex to whoever will listen, and mainly gets blank stares. It is hard to care about the church's rules about sex when one is looking for a meal, or a home.

Over time Cosgrove gets involved with prostitutes, drug-runners, some kind of mafia, mostly without fully appreciating what he's doing. Meanwhile, Great Big is satisfying his huge hunger any way he can, and when that involves some unsavory moves Cosgrove excuses them. Hunger overrides other concerns.

The whole is written in a choppy style that I found awkward. There is a lot of jumping from one scene to another, without real explanation. Perhaps it would have been better to write this as a play, if at all. Through his machinations with the government offices, Cosgrove learns of the absurdities in the social services systems. This, I believe, is the main point of the book. I get it. I would have rather read an article about this subject, or a nonfiction book even.

Breslin is a good journalist. I think he should stick to nonfiction. ( )

an Irish priest, an African cannibal, NY street kids, Welfare and Mafia