Whim

WHIM tells the story of a very Magical Indian boy who finds that he has been sent to earth by his Father Lord Chance to discover the Big U.T.—ultimate truth. As a high school football star just discovering sex, Whim is distracted from his quest by being in love with the brainy, sexy but very moral Dawn, and also by his rival Billy Best, who wants to discover u.t. so he can market it and make a bundle. The novel is filled with Zen-like encounters between Whim and his Montauk mentor Grain-of-Sand; Narsufin, the great black Sufi sage famous for his hook shot; and the Abominable Snowman Sage of the Himalayas. In the end Whim finds his u.t., saves the Montauk nation, and wins the heart (and all other bodily parts) of his beloved Dawn. "One of my favorite reads of the year . . . Pure entertainment" — Belfast Telegraph; "Anarchic, hip, subversive and comic . . . " — The Times, London; One of the great comic novels of the decade, (WHIM) is pure delight, a book with a smile built into just about every line. In Whim Rhinehart gives us an innocent abroad in the tradition of Candide, Don Quixote and Michael Valentine Smith, while the comments of Billy, his pompous father, and the highly moral Dawn provide hilarious counterpoint to events in Whim’s life. --Peter Tennant, reviewing all of Luke’s books in The Third Alternative, Issue 27.