This book is utterly brilliant. I picked this book up at a book store in Paris and read the entire thing in one sitting (standing, walking... etc.). Basically, I couldn't put it down. It gives the reader a detailed account of a new religion being created and converting the world by storm.

The interesting part is how realistic it all seems, and the ties to the way Christianity crushed its opponents and absorbed many of their holidays and even some of their traditions in order to make itself stronger.

This book will leave you wanting more and truly questioning religion. It addresses things we don't often think about. And shows a messiah with speech writers, much like a politician. John Cave (initials J.C.) is a modern-day you-know-who that preaches a doctrine of death that people are only too eager to swallow.

I don't want to say more and give anything away, but if you're at all interested in what I've said so far, check this book out!

Written in 1955 as a reminiscence of an original leader of the Cavean "Relgion" writes his memoirs in a future 50 years away (i.e. 2005), this scary and bizarre allegory on the beginnings of religions is vintage Vidal in all his devious, unflappable glory.A totally vacuous and creepy "founder" looks good on TV, and enlists a group to peddle his wares, and within a few years, thanks to some good marketing, financing, and TV coverage, becomes a new world wide religion, with the main theme of accepting death as glorious, and perhaps even better than life. There are parallels with many major religions, and some new ones, mainly scientology. Now in 2005, belief in the supernatural seems here to stay, and maybe even stronger than in 1955. So once again, the incomparable Mr. Vidal hits another bulls-eye:strange, realistic, funny, ironic, and horrible.

Vidal captured the glittering horror that was 1950's American gray-flannel culture perfectly with this semi-satire. When he made his title character a Messiah of death, he was imagining the most far-out, repulsive thing he could think of to pin on Madison Avenue and the TV advertising industry.

Little did he know Jack Kevorkian (who once tried to option the screen rights to "Messiah") and worse lay ahead...

Gore Vidal is one of the last century's more important writers in English. He's also one of the more important U.S. intellectuals of the type we no longer seem to breed. That aside (I just had to bow a bit, sorry), "The Messiah" is a brilliant novel, utterly riveting (as they say) and decidedly fascinating. A terrifically fine read.