Percy's most commercial and still brilliant . . .
The Second Coming sold surprisingly well, probably because it features a quirky love story and has one of the most original openings I've ever encountered. The young heroine has just completed a course of electroshock therapy. Although the procedure leaves her amnesic, she is able to learn what she needs to know by consulting a letter she wrote to herself prior to the last session.Based on that tantalizing start, you might expect a quick moving plot and a tale of conspiracy. No dice. This is Walker Percy. What you're going to get is an exploration of the human psyche and how we manage to get lost from ourselves. It's not a roller coaster ride, but that's not why we read Walker Percy. His readers sail into uncharted oceans.