A great seredipitous find at the local library, only now apparently it's out of print. Bummer! (Actually "unavailable indefinitely" from the publisher. What does that mean?) Anyway, Peter the Abbot is about to close down his 1600 year old monastery. the powers that be are bringing "rationalization" to the desert. and he will, too, if he can only solve the spiritual crisis of Carol, who can't decide between sex and a bishopric, Tear-Sing the Sad, who's only looking for people to understand him, avoid Dalip, who only "wants to help," get rid of the terrorists occupying the monastery, keep track of Constantine the Boy, who is lost in the mist of senile dementia, and. . . if he can only find a ladder. . . It's wry, funny, sad, horrifying, and uplifting in turns. One of those quirky stories that ends up haunting you long after you've read it.