The Concrete Judasbird by Mathews, F. X

Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1968. Stated First Edition . Hardcover. Near Fine/Poor. Text/BRAND NEW & Bright. Black linen boards/Fine. DJ/Poor; strong w/tattered edges, losses to lower edges, and surface rubs. Bookshop sticker to front cover verso. Fiction. An American story of self-loss and self-discovery. Judas birds is a common name for decoys used to lure, or trap, other birds. There was a concrete Judas bird on the bird bath on the garden of aunt Agnes and uncle Father Joseph who raised orphan, Michael Cassidy --- that is until it was chipped off after having driven a cat crazy. Michael, growing up in an old house at the end of a dead end street, was punished by Aunt Agnes for the smallest of infractions. Novel begins with the death of Aunt Agnes, and Michael overturning 17 tombstones in the cemetery, lifts a wallet, leaves home, takes a job in a zoo, flubs a romantic attempt, goes home again, and accepts the "real existential decision, to work out your salvation with a tool you know… Read More