Handling Sin [Paperback]

<p>On the Ides of March, our hero, Raleigh Whittier Hayes (forgetful husband, baffled father, prosperous insurance agent, and leading citizen of Thermopylae, North Carolina), learns that his father has discharged himself from the hospital, taken all his money out of the bank and, with a young black female mental patient, vanished in a yellow Cadillac convertible. Left behind is a mysterious list of seven outrageous tasks that Raleigh must perform in order to rescue his father and his inheritance.</p><p>And so Raleigh and fat Mingo Sheffield (his irrepressibly loyal friend) set off on an uproarious contemporary treasure hunt through a landscape of unforgettable characters, falling into adventures worthy of Tom Jones and Huck Finn. A moving parable of human love and redemption, <em>Handling Sin </em>is Michael Malone's comic masterpiece.</p>Prologue<br><br>THE CALL<br><br>Chapter 1 In Which the Hero Is Introduced and Receives a Blow<br>Chapter 2 Which Treats of the Strange Message the Hero's Father Sent Him<br>Chapter 3 Of a Misunderstanding between Our Hero and His Neighbors<br>Chapter 4 How Raleigh Received His Name<br>Chapter 5 In Which Raleigh Blackmails an Enemy and Frightens the Kaiser<br>Chapter 6 Of the Advice Given Raleigh by His Only Sane Aunt<br>Chapter 7 In Which the Hero Commits a Crime<br>Chapter 8 And Is Nearly Arrested<br>Chapter 9 The First Sally Takes a Strange Turn<br>Chapter 10 How Raleigh Was Confirmed in His View of the World<br><br>THE QUEST<br><br>Chapter 11 In Which Our Hero Attends a Surprise Party<br>Chapter 12 Raleigh Escapes<br>Chapter 13 Wherein Is Continued the Account of the Innumerable Troubles Endured by Our Hero<br>Chapter 14 Sudden Impulses Overwhelm Our Hero<br>Chapter 15 In Which Is Continued a Conversation Begun Thirty Years Ago<br>Chapter 16 In Which Raleigh and Mingo Fall into a Swamp<br>Chapter 17 RaleighlC¯