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The Final Beast
A young widowed minister's actions are misconstrued when he leaves his parish, seemingly because he is in search of a wild young matron in his congregation.
- GenresFictionSpirituality
276 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1965
140 people want to read
About the author
Frederick Buechner
92 books1,229 followersFrederick Buechner is a highly influential writer and theologian who has won awards for his poetry, short stories, novels and theological writings. His work pioneered the genre of spiritual memoir, laying the groundwork for writers such as Anne Lamott, Rob Bell and Lauren Winner.
His first book, A Long Day's Dying, was published to acclaim just two years after he graduated from Princeton. He entered Union Theological Seminary in 1954 where he studied under renowned theologians that included Reinhold Niebuhr, Paul Tillich, and James Muilenberg. In 1955, his short story "The Tiger" which had been published in the New Yorker won the O. Henry Prize.
After seminary he spent nine years at Phillips Exeter Academy, establishing a religion department and teaching courses in both religion and English. Among his students was the future author, John Irving. In 1969 he gave the Noble Lectures at Harvard. He presented a theological autobiography on a day in his life, which was published as The Alphabet of Grace.
In the years that followed he began publishing more novels, including the Pulitzer Prize finalist Godric. At the same time, he was also writing a series of spiritual autobiographies. A central theme in his theological writing is looking for God in the everyday, listening and paying attention, to hear God speak to people through their personal lives.
His first book, A Long Day's Dying, was published to acclaim just two years after he graduated from Princeton. He entered Union Theological Seminary in 1954 where he studied under renowned theologians that included Reinhold Niebuhr, Paul Tillich, and James Muilenberg. In 1955, his short story "The Tiger" which had been published in the New Yorker won the O. Henry Prize.
After seminary he spent nine years at Phillips Exeter Academy, establishing a religion department and teaching courses in both religion and English. Among his students was the future author, John Irving. In 1969 he gave the Noble Lectures at Harvard. He presented a theological autobiography on a day in his life, which was published as The Alphabet of Grace.
In the years that followed he began publishing more novels, including the Pulitzer Prize finalist Godric. At the same time, he was also writing a series of spiritual autobiographies. A central theme in his theological writing is looking for God in the everyday, listening and paying attention, to hear God speak to people through their personal lives.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 22, 2025
"The Final Beast" is one of those works of fiction that is true. People exist in their grief and brokenness throughout. People live in hope. . . hope for this life, hope for communal life, and hope for new life. The mingled nature of grief and hope speaks to the truth of how we can all survive this time.
June 18, 2025
I have generally admired and enjoyed what I have read of Buechner, and I expected to enjoy this as well. I gave it 3 stars rather than 4 mainly because to me in this case the flightiness of the story telling was too much and perhaps a bit distracting—maybe there was too much descriptive detail. For instance, a sentence would start describing what the main character was thinking and might zork off in multiple directions before being finished. It did effectively describe what he was thinking, but.... If I had been reading it more patiently, I think I would have enjoyed it more; but I was in a hurry to get to the end, to find out what happened. Come to think of it, maybe I just wasn't in a good place/time to read it.
March 19, 2020
I just started reading Buechner this year. I began with Godric (five stars) and began this for a reading group. Buechner is an unsung hero of the kind of Christian fiction that is not cloying and does not preach. This is the tale of a small-town pastor bereaved of his mother and on an errand to either leave town with another man's wife or return her to the fold. Great characters, great humor, great honesty. I will be reading more Buechner.
January 29, 2018
Not sure yet. Interesting story and writing but sometimes confusing for a while. Not simple entertainment but challenging. I need to reflect more.
A week later: The more I think about it, the more I appreciate this novel. It is not simplistic, and the issues explored are real, always tinged with a "this could go either way" toward good or evil. The redemption is subtle and the settled conclusion is still adequately unsettling to keep the reader engaged after the reading.
A week later: The more I think about it, the more I appreciate this novel. It is not simplistic, and the issues explored are real, always tinged with a "this could go either way" toward good or evil. The redemption is subtle and the settled conclusion is still adequately unsettling to keep the reader engaged after the reading.
August 31, 2018
revelational
July 25, 2024
There were points where the writing in this book was a little confusing for me, but there is something about Frederick Buechner’s writing-maybe what he gives attention to, the depth behind the surface, something-that always connects deeply with me.
April 22, 2014
"Our Father who aren't in Heaven, Harold be thy name."
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews