"Eli Harpo's Adventure to the Afterlife"

Eric Schlich is the author of the story collection Quantum Convention, winner of the 2018 Katherine Anne Porter Prize and the 2020 GLCA New Writers Award.

He applied the Page 69 Test to Eli Harpo's Adventure to the Afterlife, his debut novel, and reported the following:

Page 69 of Eli Harpo’s Adventure to the Afterlife falls in Chapter Four: Creation Baptist. It’s set on Sunday at the Harpos’ church and begins with Pastor Zeb introducing the surprise guest, famous televangelist Charlie Gideon, who will give the sermon. Gideon starts the sermon telling about God’s Plan and invites Eli up on stage. Eli is mortified and slumps in his seat, but is pressured to go up by his family and reluctantly joins Gideon on stage. Gideon continues the sermon by saying Eli is extraordinary because he’s met Jesus and seen the face of God. “He has been to Paradise and come back to tell about it.” The page cuts off on his next line of dialogue.

This is a remarkably good excerpt to give you a taste of the novel. I’d definitely say it passes the Page 69 Test. Here we see Eli being uncomfortably forced into the spotlight as the Heaven Kid, a recurring theme in the book. We also highlight Charlie Gideon who owns Bible World, an Orlando theme park, and wants to recruit Eli and his family to promote a new Heaven attraction. The majority of the book are episodes on a road trip to this park. Each of the family members are present, too. Eli’s parents, Simon and Debbie, and his brothers, Abe and Jake. And we even catch a glimpse of Eli’s crush, Chase Brinkley, which foreshadows Eli’s impending sexual identity crisis. There’s even the joke about Gideon’s refusal to use the term “theme park,” insisting on “Biblical immersion facility,” which Zeb flubs as “Biblical insertion experience.” All in all, I think if you find this page amusing, you’ll enjoy the rest of the book. Success!

Visit Eric Schlich's website.

--Marshal Zeringue