The Devil Rides Outside

No less a critic than Clifton Fadiman called "The Devil Rides Outside" a staggering novel. The first novel of John H. Griffin, it written during the authorOCOs decade of blindness following an injury suffered during the closing days of World War II. As "Time Magazine" described it, "The Devil Rides Outside" has some things relatively rare in U.S. letters: energy, earnestness and unashamed religious fervor. Written as a diary, the novel relates the intellectual and spiritual battles of a young American musicologist who is studying Gregorian chant in a French Benedictine monastery. Even though he is not Catholic, he must live like the monks, sleeping in a cold stone cell, eating poor food, sharing latrine duties. His dreams rage with memories of his Paris mistress; his days are spent being encouraged by the monks to seek God. He takes up residence outside the monastery after an illness, but he finds the village a slough of greed and pettiness and temptation. Indeed, as the French proverb says, the devil rides outside the monastery walls."

No less a critic than Clifton Fadiman called The Devil Rides Outside a "staggering novel." The first novel of John H. Griffin, it written during the author's decade of blindness following an injury suffered during the closing days of World War II. As Time Magazine described it, The Devil Rides Outside "has some things relatively rare in U.S. letters: energy, earnestness and unashamed religious fervor." Written as a diary, the novel relates the intellectual and spiritual battles of a young American musicologist who is studying Gregorian chant in a French Benedictine monastery. Even though he is not Catholic, he must live like the monks, sleeping in a cold stone cell, eating poor food, sharing latrine duties. His dreams rage with memories of his Paris mistress; his days are spent being encouraged by the monks to seek God. He takes up residence outside the monastery after an illness, but he finds the village a slough of greed and pettiness and temptation. Indeed, as the French proverb says, "the devil rides outside the monastery walls."

The Duke de Richleau and Rex van Ryn know instinctively that something bizarre has happened to Simon Aron. Why else would he fail his most trusted friends? The Duke has a suspicion where the answer lies. But nothing can prepare him or van Ryn for the terrible confirmation of his fears.

The aristocratic Duke de Richleau faces new, sinister challenges in this macabre tale of the dark arts. When his good friend Simon Aron's naïve curiosity is tested, the Duke, along with his ever-patient friends Rex Van Ryn, and Richard Eaton, must intricately plot a means of both physical and spiritual rescue. But with Van Ryn's affections for a beautiful woman caught in the web of Satanists, and Eaton's ongoing scepticism, they all risk being brought to the verge of madness through dabbling with the powers of evil. From London to the West Country, the slums of Paris to a Christian monastery, the action of this powerful occult thriller moves with fantastic, compelling force.

Literature Suppressed on Sexual Grounds, Revised Edition examines the issues underlying the suppression of more than 100 works deemed sexually obscene. The entries new to this edition include America by Jon Stewart, Sex by Madonna, The Buffalo Tree by Adam Rapp, and many more. Also included are updates to entries such as Forever by Judy Blume, and more