A Cure for Innocence

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“We walked into the kitchen. Jo was smoking a cigarette. I leaned against the sink full of dirty dishes. Jo and Larry sat at the small table, daggers passing between them.
I said: Larry, why don’t you think about AA?
I been in that before, he slurred.
Are you willing to do it again?
He paused, took a shot. A couple tears fell from his eyes. Yeah, I’ll do it.
Jo’s face brightened.
Let’s not waste time, I said, grabbing the gallon of Canadian Mist and pouring it over the greasy dishes and down the drain.
Do you have a phone book?
Jo handed me the directory. I looked up Alcoholics Anonymous and dialed the number. The phone line connected. A woman’s voice answered. Adrenalin pumping, I spoke rapidly: I’m in Borough Park with a man who needs help.
Larry was trembling, hanging on every word I spoke. I didn’t give the woman a chance to speak. This man is willing to make the commitment to sobriety and I believe in him. Can I get information on meetings, times, places?
Larry shook his head like a sad puppy dog.
Then the woman said: I’m sorry sir, this is AAA.
My face fell. I had mistakenly called the auto club. They both looked at me, asking: What happened?
I hung up the phone and said: Sorry, that was Triple A.
Larry stared at the sink like he wanted to lick the Canadian Mist off the dishes. Jo, on the other hand, looked at me as if to say: You’re more fucked up than we are.”

This scene from A Cure for Innocence reeks of authenticity as does the entire book. Candidly written, this memoir will make you laugh and cry at the same time as it takes you through the trials and adventures of a young man studying to be a priest.

You will witness his internal struggles and his conflicting desires: “The lust I felt did not feel like sin; it felt like life coursing through me. I desired her. I respected her. I loved Carmen and, though I didn’t know why, Carmen loved me.”

You will gain access to his journey in a Honduran Mission, a Brooklyn parish and at the Vatican as he navigates the turbulent and hilarious waters of his own existential dilemma. “I was a twenty-two year old celibate virgin being faithful to a married woman I wasn’t even sleeping with. Ridiculous? Maybe?”

You will journey with him to the Vatican and experience the wonder of Saint Peter’s Basilica: “Within this beautiful mind-altering dome, I spend time with the Pieta and feel a breath of the Renaissance, the human-heartedness that allowed artists to depict people so tenderly.”

Lastly, you will travel with him to over 20 European countries and return to Rome where he must, finally, make a life-altering decision.