The First Annual Grand Prairie Rabbit Festival

by Ken Wheaton

Welcome to Grand Prairie, Louisiana—land of confounding accents, hard-drinking senior citizens, and charming sinners—brought to hilarious life in a bracing, heartfelt debut novel simmering with Cajun spice…

Father Steve Sibille has come home to the bayou to take charge of St. Pete’s church. Among his challenges are teenybopper altar girls, insomnia-curing confessions, and alarmingly alluring congregant Vicky Carrier. Then there’s Miss Rita, an irrepressible centenarian with a taste for whiskey, cracklins, and sticking her nose in other people’s business.

When an outsider threatens to poach Father Steve’s flock, Miss Rita suggests he fight back by staging an event that will keep St. Pete’s parishioners loyal forever. As The First Annual Grand Prairie Rabbit Festival draws near, help comes from the strangest places. And while the road to the festival may be paved with good intentions—not to mention bake sales, an elephant, and the most bizarre cook-out ever—where it will lead is anyone’s guess…

Genres: Fiction, Humor, Book Club, Adult Fiction, Religion, Contemporary, Romance

306 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Born and raised in Opelousas, Louisiana, Ken Wheaton is the author of "The First Annual Grand Prairie Rabbit Festival," "Bacon and Egg Man," "Sweet as Cane, Salty as Tears," and "Duck Duck Gator." He now lives in Colorado.

Reviews

[Dyana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would love to read a really good book that would draw me in, but this one was not it. I picked up this book because of the intriguing cover, but it did not live up to the expectations on the back cover. The main character is a Catholic priest who constantly abuses his vows (swearing, drinking to excess, uncontrollable anger, a whiner and more) with no mention of the impact of faith on one's life. Also, lots of unnecessary profanity, gay bar scenes, and focus on his alarmingly alluring congregant Vicky. This could have been a really good book about life in a small Louisiana town, but the book is riddled with unlikable characters. When Father Steve encounters a charismatic preacher building a Pentecostal church on the other side of town and who threatens to poach his flock, 100 year-old Miss Rita suggests he fight back by putting on a festival that will keep his parishioners loyal. It's to be called the First Annual Grand Prairie Rabbit Festival. There are a couple of funny moments when the two rival churches try to out-do each other, otherwise a depressing book. The ending was really unsatisfactory so don't waste your time reading this one.

[Margo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmm, well. I'm not exactly sorry that I read this book, but my life would have been just fine without it. I'm thinking of it as the "anti-Mitford" book. Similarities: very-human priest, small-town life, modest plot, colorful characters. Differences: too much swearing for me, too much angst over sex or the lack thereof, little impact of FAITH on LIFE, disappointing outcome. No redemption?

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

"[Miss Rita] has me there. She was my only ally in the battle against Mawmaw and her okra gumbo. Any other gumbo I loved--chicken and sausage, gizzard and hearts, seafood, squirrel. But okra? No way. I could write sermons about the pure evil that is okra. Fry it, saute it, cover it in sugar and chocolate, or wrap it in bacon, but no way is anyone going to convince me that okra, especially in its slimy gumbo manifestation, isn't concrete proof that Satan walks the earth."

Meet Steven Sibille--you can call him Father Steve for short. He's a Catholic priest presiding over a remote hamlet Parish, Grand Prairie, in rural Louisiana. The challenges are numerous. He can't seem to find any willing alter boys to help him deliver Mass--so he enlists the help of alter girls. The previous priest has a daughter (no one is quite sure how that happened). In any event, when he abandoned the post to Steve, his daughter, age unstated but probably mid 20's, stayed behind. She's befriended Steve, but his celibate state is having a hard time making peace with uncomplicated friendship.

If that wasn't enough, Steve stumbles across a group of men bulldozing nearby acreage in preparation for building something big. When he stops to introduce himself (and be downright nosy), he meets Reverend Paul Tomkins, Pentecostal preacher, and proud builder of a brand new (very large and fancy) church. Concerned that his flock might prefer the flash and theatrics of the Pentecostals over his weekly Mass, he appeals for advice to his centurion ex-nanny, Miss Rita. Her idea? Throw a large festival on the rectory grounds to bring the community together. Vicky, the aforementioned daughter of a priest is roped in to help plan the festival. And so the craziness leading up to the First Annual Grand Prairie Rabbit Festival beings.

Bottom line: Be warned: this offering, while humorous, is rife with an inordinately LARGE amount of cussing. Also, while I understand the inclusion of a gay priest as a way to show crisis of faith, doubt, conflict, and ultimately--growth and understanding, Wheaton is borderline over the top graphic with some of the scenes...so be aware of that going in. And one final gripe--the ending felt artificial and predictable. With that being said, the book is laugh out loud funny, and I enjoyed the glimpse Wheaton gave us into Cajun culture. Given a rating of 3 stars or "Good". Recommended as a library checkout for those who like enjoyable Southern Fiction.

Example quote: "Once a year, a reporter-slash-photographer from the Daily World will trek out from Opelousas to take a picture of Lem going down a dirt road in his wagon. And Lem, in excruciatingly broken English, will smile and tell the reporter how Lem's granddaddy made the wagon by hand and how he, Lem, lives in the woods and survives on the squirrel, rabbit, and catfish he kills or catches and whatever his wife grows in the backyard. He always apologizes for his bad English 'cause we don't got much use for it back here.'
I wonder why the paper doesn't just keep the story on file instead [...] because it is a lie. And not just a little lie. To borrow an expression common to the area, it's a damn lie.[...]
Lem prefers Popeyes fried chicken to squirrel and, from what I hear, will only eat squirrel if someone else kills, cleans, and cooks it for him. His wife grows nothing in any yard, gardening being a tough hobby for a woman who's never existed in the first place."

Things I learned: Here's a great link to an explanation of Zydeco music--http://www.louisianafolklife.org/LT/A...
For those (like me) who aren't Catholic, here's a link to an explanation of celibacy in the Church and whether the practice is here to stay--ttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/201...
And finally, Grand Prairie is fictional, but Opelousas is a very real place. Here's a link to their website--https://www.cityofopelousas.com/

[Carrie Dadey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pathetic man-child suffers two break ups and goes and hides from future heartbreak in the priesthood. Pathetic man-child priest has inappropriate fantasies about his alter girls, drinks and plays video games, thinks his parishioners are boring because they cannot even keep him entertained in the confessional, shirks his professional responsibilities, carries on with some idiotic rivalry with a Pentecostal pastor, and shits on his closest friends. It’s hard to like a book when the main character is so unlikable and he still gets what he wants in the end. There are only two signs of selflessness in the whole book, and one is ruined because he used the worst possible kind of blackmail to get it. I think this book is insulting to priests, women, gay men and thinking people. Incels would probably enjoy it. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

To be fair, it'd be surprising if I didn't like this one, since it was pushing all sorts of my buttons: madcap romp, Catholicism, places I've lived (in this case, Louisiana), sexuality, joyfulness, community.

[Mary Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one should certainly give book clubs something to talk about! I loved it.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had no idea what to rate this book. Parts of it were a 1 and parts a 5.
Found this book on the bagain shelf at the used book store. The cover (a priest leading an elephant) and the title were intriguing, so I purchased it.
The main reason I didn't like it was the vulgar language. I can read some "bad" words, but to have the "F" word over and over is unnecessary. It did not contribute to the story and the characters are some that you wouldn't expect to be having potty mouth all the time.
The story is about a young priest,Father Steve Sibille, who has been assigned to a church near his home. He has all kinds of challenges including immaturity, a mind that wanders while he doing Mass, alcohol, loneliness, flirty alter girls, and a sexy woman,Vicky, in his congregation who is the daughter of the last priest who served at St. Pete's.
One of the ongoing highpoints in the story is visits of Father Steve to Miss Rita. She is the former maid of Father Steve's grandmother. She is very elderly and bossy. At each visit, Father Steve must bring her a bottle of Royal Crown and cracklings. She is always telling him that he needs a woman in his life.
Father Steve finds out a large Penticostal church is being built in the area....so where are all the people going to come from to fill the church...maybe St. Pete's. Miss Rita tells Father Steve that he needs to have a festival to build community in his congregration. And then the problems begin.
By the way it is Father Steve and his friends, Father Mark and Vicky, who use some of the worst language.

[Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wheaton's characters and setting are charming. He gives the reader a real feel for rural Louisiana. The dialogue is snappy, sometimes bordering on snarky, but Wheaton keeps you chuckling here and there. However, his portrayal of the protagonist, Father Steve, is just a bit too much of a two-dimensional caricature. He is so much of an anti-priest (cussing, drinking, thinking constantly about sex, etc.) that it comes off as inauthentic. This is reinforced because pretty much all the priests mentioned in the book are portrayed in a similar light. Better portrayals of priest protagonists can be found in The Diary of a Country Priest, or, for a better example of a heroic yet all-too-human priest, Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory. I would be interested to read something by Wheaton with a main character that Wheaton knows more about and can provide a more believable rendering.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

First Annual Grand Prairie Rabbit Festival tells the story of Father Steve and his parishoners, the teenybopper alter girls, insomnia curing confessions, Father Mark, the gay priest, and Miss Rita, a centenarian who has a penchant for Crown Royal and cracklins. It was a fun read and memorable characters and a story to remember. A typical paragraph reads: "I'll say this much for guys, gay or straight: it's easy to pick up a friendship and act like nothing's happened. I can only imagine how quickly Christianity would have collapsed had Jesus and the Apostles been a bunch of women. Jesus would never have gotten over the fact that they abandoned him during the Crucifixion. 'I can't believe you guys would do that to me. I'm never speaking to you again. Ever!' Then, out of spite, He would have run off and joined up with the Zoroastrians."

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic book about life in a really small town in Louisiana where a Catholic priest is having a bit of a crisis. It's not just the Altar girls (yes, girls), the inane confessions, the neighboring Pentecostal church being built -- it's the boredom! But this isn't a slow, dry, woe-is-me tale about a Priest. There's cursing, sexual tension, and legitimate exploration of the issues a priest faces when he realizes the noble possibilities of saving people's souls don't really pan out.

Wheaton's got a great sense of humor and isn't afraid to fill his world with morally torn people (both religious and otherwise). I highly recommend this book!

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not really what I was expecting after reading the reviews, I was a little disappointed,

[Laurie D'ghent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very well written, but the swearing was severe and I imagine a Catholic would have found the overall plot offensive. Moderate-to-severe innuendo

[Reading Fury · Rating 4 out of 5]

Um, quirky. A lot of un-PC comments, but that were totally in character given who said them. Some explicit sexual content. Given that this book is about a parish priest in a very small Louisiana town, a whole lot goes on involving drinking, swearing, and sex. And yet there is a real and genuinely kind and innocent plot that drives the story. It winds up being a romance, which is not my favorite read. I once worked in a bookstore where we had to stock Harlequin romances by the boxful every other day. I never want to see one again. Anyway, back from the digression. There is some laugh out loud funny stuff and a happy ending, although some lose ends left untied. Because it was so offbeat, and I did laugh, I am giving it four stars.

[Vicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed The First Annual Grand Prairie Rabbit Festival by Ken Wheaton. This was a fun, delightful story following a priest as he tries to save his Parish from the beckoning pentacostals that have just moved in down the road. This out of the way little town of Grand Prairie is full of colorful and sometimes insightful characters. Father Sibile fights hard to stay true to his vows and his faith. He is a very likable priest, bringing alcohol and cracklin' (both contraban) to an old friend in a nursing home, his best friend being a fellow priest (who happens to be gay), developing feelings for a lady friend, his (privately) foul mouth, and his own desires for cigarettes and alcohol.

[Susan Miller · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one's promo looked good, and the first 30 pages were humorous. I liked the character of Miss Rita and the fact that her one visitor was Father Sibille. However, for me, there was too much swearing, drinking, foul language and whining. I do not expect religious figures to be perfect, and this main character certainly is not. Father Steve's only saving grace was his acceptance of his gay friend. I did like the way the small town worked together to put on a festival, but it seemed to me the reason was spite and not a wonderful community activity, even though it turned out that way. I would probably not read this author again.

Donated to a Little Free Library in Savannah.

[Shari Sinclair · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. The people in this book have some problems. I found this book a very unrealistic portrayal of
priests, Southern festivals, gay cliches, etc. I'm not easily offended by cursing either, but the characters in this book curse as frequently as one uses the word "the." It isn't used to a great effect either. For a book that was supposed to be fun telling of a Southern festival no one seemed to have any fun.

[Pat Roberts · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pure trash. I read the whole thing because family members visited Little Free Libraries To present me with 16 books for Christmas. I have made it my goal to read each and every one. Had I personally picked this one up, I’d have dumped it in a heartbeat. Everything about it is disgusting. The big joke is that there are questions in the back for book club discussions. No intelligent book group would bother. I know, because I have been in excellent ones.

[Kitty Tomlinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Father Steve Sibille came home to the bayou to take charge of St. Pete's Catholic Church. When a Pentecostal preacher down the road begins building a humongous church and tries to steal from Father's Steve's flock, the Rabbit Festival is born. It comes to fruition with the help of gay Father Mark and Vicky Carrier, a local from Grand Prairie and the daughter of the former priest. Enjoyable. Good Louisiana presence from a Louisiana Cajun native.

[Judy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was sure I would love this book. The cover artwork, the summary, even the title gave the impression of a book of good-natured small town humor. I didn't find it funny for the priest to use bad language, have such a degrading attitude for a local church, and being conceited. This is proof that you can't judge a book by it's cover.

[Melanie Hembree · Rating 3 out of 5]

Things I liked: Miz Rita, many of the characters, the basic plot, priest who is very human, acceptance and care of the people of the parish for the priest
Things I didn’t like: somewhat graphic nature, priest is a bit self centered and whiny, feels a bit over done as if the author tried to outdo himself with outrageous southern characters

[Linda Jennings · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun entertaining read. Some humorous situations. I didn’t laugh out loud like my friends say they did but I did find humor in the book. The catholic priest in the book definitely had his issues. Devout Catholics might not appreciate the humor though.

[Ronn · Rating 4 out of 5]

There seem to be a lot of very mixed reactions to this book. To each, their own, I guess. This reader enjoyed the characters, the storyline, the setting, pretty much everything. I wouldnt mind a sequel featuring these folks.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Made me laugh out loud, which always gets at least 4 stars from me. If you don't take it seriously (as many reviewers have), it's a good fun, irreverent romp.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took me a few chapters to get into it, but, it did manage to pull me in.

[Jennie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The longer I read, the less I liked this book.

[Tracy2004 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun summer read. Not for those who are feeling reverent and protective about Catholicism, but that's not me, so I enjoyed it. ;)

[Lucy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Odd book mainly about a priest struggling with his vows, homophobia, & true friendship.

[✿Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story line was good enough, I thought it could have been written without using the cussing that was used throughout.

[SLello · Rating 2 out of 5]

The synopsis of this book does not represent it well.