As near as I can tell, the “reluctant messiah” part of the subtitle refers to both Richard and Don, but perhaps more so to Don. He teaches Richard how the world works, and the novel essentially shows vignettes of those teachings. Don is also a barnstormer, and he and Richard begin traveling together from town to town. Donald used to be a messiah but “quit” the job because people weren’t listening to him. Richard (the narrator, not the author) meets Donald Shimoda while barnstorming: flying from farm town to farm town and taking locals for airplane rides. It has some of what I think would be considered postmodern elements, and I needed the re-read to help me separate the fiction from the philosophy of how to view the world. I needed the time to process and absorb it. I finished this book just before the new year, then immediately reread it and finished it again yesterday.
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