From "one of the greatest writers of science fiction and fantasy who ever lived" (Stephen King) here is a masterpiece of fiction - a haunting, meaningful and at times erotic novel that describes a wonderous transformation that takes place in an American town when a charismatic, Christ-like figure mysteriously appears in its midst. Godbody - sweetly innocent, as naked of guile as he is of worldly trappings - has returned to remind mankind of what it has lost. He will touch only a few lives before his preordained end, but they will be forever transformed. As one by one the members of a small rural town fall under Godbody's spell, the burdens that had weighed down on them disappear, and a new vision of life as it can - and should - be suddenly reveals itself to them.