Our Lady of Greenwich Village

July 14, 2008
PW
senior editor McEvoy takes on hypocritical politicians and a disappearing New York City in his gimlet-eyed second novel.
Our Lady of Greenwich Village
Dermot McEvoy
. Skyhorse
(Norton, dist.), $22.95 (384p) ISBN 978-1-60239-351-6

A guilt-ridden political consultant gets a boost from the Virgin Mary in McEvoy's raucous novel of New York. Staunch Catholic Irish-American Wolfe Tone O'Rourke, a likable enough but flawed 53-year-old campaign adviser, is saddled with shame over having failed RFK on the day of his assassination. Now, in 2000, the world-weary, hard-drinking O'Rourke is disgusted by family values congressman Jackie Swift, so after the Virgin Mary appears to O'Rourke in his dreams, he kicks off a campaign for Swift's seat under the banner of “No More Bullshit.” He's helped along by a sexy young black campaign manager who becomes his lover, and an infectious indignation. The race is knock-down vicious, and it gives McEvoy the chance to take some choice shots at politicians, religious leaders and the wussification of the city he clearly loves. It's about as New York as it gets.

October 15, 2008
Wolfe Tone O'Rourke, a hard-drinking, Dublin-born, and Greenwich Village-bred 53-year-old bachelor, makes quite a good living as a highly paid political consultant. In 2000, he decides to try his Irish luck and enters the Democratic primary as a candidate for the 7th Congressional District of New York City. He hires as his assistant the young, talented, and beautiful Simone (Sam) McGuire, whose mother hailed from the British Virgin Islands and whose father was every bit as Irish as O'Rourke. In short order, they become ardent lovers. O'Rourke's Republican incumbent opponent, Jack Swift, has also taken his aide as a lover but has the misfortune of suffering a heart attack in the middle of their lovemaking. While Swift lies in critical condition at St. Vincent's Hospital, a cover story is crafted: Congressman Swift was stricken after seeing an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary who urged him to fight "Roe" v. "Wade". The newspapers run with it, and the race is on. Soon, practically everyone is seeing ghosts. McEvoy's second novel (after "Terrible Angel") skewers many real-life characters and shines a critical light on all aspects of modern society, including political campaigns; conservative TV talk shows; journalistic operations; the New York bar and drug scene; and the right wing of the Catholic Church. Funny, sassy, and sexy, it is also sometimes disjointed as when, inexplicably in the middle of his campaign, O'Rourke flies to Dublin to research his family genealogy. This section, although of interest to similar would-be researchers, feels tacked on. One wonders if McEvoy just couldn't resist including his own family's past. Recommended for large fiction collections.Sheila Riley, Smithsonian Inst. Libs., Washington, DC

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