Vestments

“In this potent debut … John Reimringer has crafted a suspenseful, illuminating, and highly readable saga… . Reimringer excels, most notably, at revealing how the sensual delectations of Catholic ritual and the forbidden delights of the flesh are part of the same continuum, as sin and repentance feed off each other.”

“Deeply rooted in history, burning with family furies, and told by a narrator-priest you find yourself rooting for (and wondering about), this is a captivating novel, scene by scene.”

“A plainspoken but finely tuned debut novel … James Dressler is full-blooded in a way fictional priests so often aren’t, and he stars in an admirably complex study of family ties.”

“Vestments is the fitting one-word title for this engrossing debut novel by John Reimringer and the insider’s glimpse it offers into the life and loves of a contemporary priest, James (Jim) Dressler, and his struggles with the black garb and white collar of his calling.”

“Through his thoughtful themes and lyrical prose, John Reimringer effortlessly restores a measure of dignity to the priesthood even as he pays tender homage to the working-class roots of St. Paul.”

“[An] intensely personal debut novel … Holden Caulfield meets Colleen McCullough’s The Thorn Birds with some Bukowski on the side, this is a compelling tale that provides a little-seen, interior, first-person point of view of the priesthood.”