Home To Harmony

Gulley's funny Front Porch Tales (1997) was much admired, selling a quarter of a million copies. Sometimes, the ironies of Home to Harmony rise to guffaws, but more often gentle and nostalgic would be better words to describe the anecdotal sermons of Gulley's alter ego, Quaker minister Sam Gardner of Harmony, Indiana. Typical is "The Aluminum Years," in which self-effacing Sam mulls over what aluminum item to give his wife for their tenth anniversary; he settles on diet soda-- attached to a diamond ring. As funny but more cautionary is his tale of the World's Shortest Evangelist, a former pro wrestler who comes dressed in fatigues to preach of spiritual warfare. Gulley is one of a kind. John Mort Copyright © American Library Association.