Dante's Indiana

by Randy Boyagoda

A Divine Comedy of our times.--John Irving, author of The World According to Garp

This book is a miracle."--Junot Díaz, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Following Original Prin, a NYTBR Editor's Choice and Globe and Mail Best Book, Dante's Indiana is an extraordinary journey through the divine comedies and tragedies of our time.

Middle-aged, married, but living on his own, Prin has lost his way. Desperate for money and purpose, he moves to small-town Indiana to work for an evangelical millionaire who's building a theme park inspired by Dante's Inferno. He quickly becomes involved in the difficult lives of his co-workers and in the wider struggles of their opioid-ravaged community while trying to reconcile with his distant wife and distant God. Both projects spin out of control, and when a Black teenager is killed, creationists, politicians and protesters alike descend. In the midst of this American chaos, Prin risks everything to help the lost and angry souls around him while searching for his own way home. Affecting and strange, intimate and big-hearted, Dante's Indiana is a darkly divine comedy for our time.

Genres: Fiction, Book Club, Contemporary, Canada

224 pages, Paperback

Published September 7, 2021

Reviews

[Jared · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a fascinating and comedically wild ride. It includes an unemployed professor fighting to save his marriage, a middle-America town embattled over opioid addiction, cancel culture, and racial justice, some discussion of Italian Catholic theology [I loved that one minor character, a persnickety nun, is named Sister Contra Melanchton], and an evangelical philanthropist (with honorary degrees from Wheaton, Grove City, Baylor, and Dordt) who builds a theme park based on Dante’s Divine Comedy.

[Stuart]

A comic romp with a big heart. This kind of novel was popular in the 1950s-1980s. Editors and readers seem stuck on tragic tales and dystopias nowadays, the sadder the better. This book will maybe sell 3000 copies. I honestly don’t understand why the contemporary book market is hostile to novels that make you laugh. FWIW the movie market has gone that way, too. Theater as well. TV seems to be the only place where comedy still has a home. It’s a head scratcher for me.

[Kevin Vanhoozer · Rating 3 out of 5]

"'Charlie, what's a Dante theme park?'
'Well sure, everybody has that question'"
'... a cross between Disney World and a Biblical theme park'" (79).

"'Inferno will open on Halloween, and Paradiso twenty-four hours later.'
'What about Purgatory?'
'Fair ball. Look, there were only two vacant arenas, and, well, everybody gets heaven and hell'" (83.

"Academic-looking young people, white and slight, were giving lectures to each other about how to be anti-racist, about the whitewashing of the Middle Ages, about the misogynistic, Islamophobic, homophobic, transphobic, speciesist, and fat-shaming affects and effects of the Divine Comedy (238).

[Elma Schemenauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like it. It's funny, realistic in a crazy way, and ultimately encouraging.

[Brigid · Rating 5 out of 5]

I noticed that I never reviewed Original Prin either (the first book in the trilogy), so I will roll both up into one review:

First, I hardly EVER laugh out loud when reading anymore, and both books got me laughing. The humor, I think, originates mostly in the fearlessness of the author. There are many times when Boyagoda and his characters say what we are all thinking but aren’t allowed to say anymore. (Kudos to the publisher— Biblioasis— for that as well.) It is also this candidness that made me root for both author and protagonist. Prin is imperfect, bumbling, and even immoral at times, but throughout both books, there is an undeniable feeling that God is searching for him.

Can’t wait to read the third.

[Ali Miremadi · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very well written satire which manages to shoe-horn in the opiate crisis, police shootings, late capitalism, Netflix and social media, marital problems, Catholicism and religious belief generally in present day America as well as, obviously, lots of Dante, into an inconsequential story. Why not a higher rating? Because I didn’t care about a single character in the book even for a minute. And while the whole book is comic (divinely so, geddit?) it barely once made me smile, never mind laugh.

[Kathleen]

He spoke at the 2016 Festival of Faith and Writing at Calvin University.

See the full book review in America Magazine, March 2023:

"Using the literary framework of Dante's three-part epic poem "The Divine Comedy" as a lens through which to cast a sardonic eye on the present moment is hardly a new idea, but it has proven to be a durable one.....This is the second novel in a planned trilogy. It continues the story that began with Original Prin . There we met the eponymous Prin (short for Pincely, son of Kingsley), a somewhat feckless academic of Sri Lankan heritage...." Wikipedia - Boyagoda (born in Canada), his parents are from Sri Lanka. He is also the author of a biography of Richard John Neuhaus (2015). He is the past principal and vice-president of the University of St. Michael's College in Toronto, where he held the Basilian Chair in Christianity, Arts and Letters. He is currently the Vice-Dean, Undergraduate, of the Faculty of Arts and Science at the University of Toronto. Boyagoda is also a professor in the University of Toronto's English Department, and currently chairs the PEN Canada Advisory Board." He also wrote Beggar's Feast.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't read this if you haven't read Original Prin by the same author. I think it would just be too confusing if you don't know Prin's backstory.

This book is quirky and amusing. I heard Randy Boyagoda be interviewed by John Irving on a PEN Canada broadcast, and they have similar outlooks on life. At least on the absurdities of life. However, I do think that Randy Boyagoda is trying to impart a moral lesson in this book which I never found in any of Irving's books. Fortunately, that exhortation is on the last page and not an obvious theme throughout the book.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

*** | 3 stars

I wanted to like this book more than I actually did. It’s framed as entertaining satire, but I mostly found it awkward rather than sharp. I also think my very surface-level knowledge of Dante worked against me, as there were layers I just wasn’t equipped to fully appreciate. If you know the source material well, there’s probably a lot more here to catch and appreciate than I did.

For me, the strongest parts of the book were its engagement with the opioid crisis and its commentary on police brutality, particularly the loss of young Black men at the hands of police. Those moments felt grounded in a way the rest of the novel often didn’t. The characters felt pretty underdeveloped, more like vehicles for ideas than people I could connect with or care about. That made it hard to stay invested, even when the themes themselves were compelling.

Not a bad book, just not really for me. I can see it working better for readers who know Dante well or really enjoy literary satire.

[Megan McSherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

made me want to reread the divine comedy

about Prin, a man who’s literally just lost in every area of his life. he somehow winds up in the middle of nowhere Indiana building a dante themed amusement park to serve as an alternative to disney world and a christian equivalent called “Biblioasis” lol. touches on a lot of timely issues - police violence (esp. against Black boys) (but isn’t focused on the act itself, it shows more of the trauma afterward for the family members), drug addiction, corporate greed, family dynamics, cultural dynamics, money, etc. etc.

LOVE the commentary regarding religion, God, sin, judgement throughout.

I swear this was Prin’s purgatory - potentially borderline inferno - but while he’s still alive. poor guy needs a break.

[Jonathon Crump · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this! And how can you not? It’s a hilarious and heartfelt story about a scholar who gets roped into helping (and sabotaging) an old evangelical midwestern tycoon build a theme park around Dante’s Divine Comedy. It’s got lots of great emotional beats and tons of effortless humor. Wish it had more of beginning and more of an ending and wish some characters (probably Molly mostly) were fleshed out more. But this book is great and I recommended it to many people as I was reading it.

[Christiana Robey]

DNF at 30%
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.
.
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This book could possibly be good, but there are too many call backs to a previous novel. Upon researching I noted that this is intended to be a second in a trilogy. Writing was fine, heavy on the lost in life trope with the narrator being a Catholic man at a cross (lol) roads in life. I might go back and try this one and it's predecessor but for now I feel like I'm wasting my time being confused and trying to muddle through characters established previously.

[Enid Wray]

Guess I should have done some research on this before diving in... and I definitely should have paused to do the research before I did (almost page 100)...

Apparently this is the second in a planned trilogy... no wonder I found it confusing...

But honestly, it's not my cup of tea - where all things literary are concerned - regardless of the confusion I felt.

[Kbeckermann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quirky, fun and full of surprises. I don't know The Divine Comedy well so I'm sure I missed many references but still enjoyed it. I appreciated how Boyagoda drew on modern day issues, connected the characters and revealed Prin's inner struggle. The maps of the two theme parks (inferno and paradise) in the interior book flaps kept reminding me of just how crazy and yet realistic the concept is.

[Zack Clemmons · Rating 4 out of 5]

American Contrapasso.

It takes me a bit to get on Boyogoda’s satiric wavelength, and it’s sometimes too heavy handed and sometime too obtuse, but on the whole I found this one significantly better than Original Prin.

Bites off a lot, in terms of cultural targets, but the chewing is worthwhile.

The depictions of big(gish) family life were spot on: filling water bottles…

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Must be something about me that really doesn’t get satire or about the book that it doesn’t always land. Prin recovering from an act of terrorism is the only hinged guide through Dante’s divine comedy in the form was of a theme park. What is more American than trying to teach people about the most precious by creating a themed roller coaster.

[Rhia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know. Maybe actually 3.5. The weirdness didn't quite land - things got more true to life and less confusing & some of the initial weird just was there and didn't play out. It was interesting just not ... quite... coherent.

[Jorn Barger · Rating 2 out of 5]

The best ideas for attractions were withheld until the very end, which disappointed me. The BTM and opioid subplots were an unnecessary giant pc-drag. The marriage crisis was unconvincing. So potentially a great idea that sank.

[Ruth D · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was fun and creative, but it was definitely ambitious in what it tried to cover: marriage, addiction, changing industrial towns, racism, multiculturalism. At the end, I felt like the conclusion was actually not having one.

[Katherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

A satirical but not particularly funny to me book that is written about the extremes of life in the late 2010s/2020s. Second in a series which I did not realize until the protagonist literally thinks about the title of the first book. Kind of like a more mean spirited prairie home companion.

[Benton Ma Ma · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointed

[Jane Drinkwater · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is so bad. In addition, it sucks. I'm giving it 1 star because I love Terre Haute, Indiana and 1 more star because I love Florence, Italy. That's it.

[Paula Schumm · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this novel, Prin is hired to build an amusement park based on Dante’s Inferno. Recommended.

[Lukas Evan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I used to know this guy.

[Kelly Karbowicz Riley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining read- also fun to read because of the geographical setting in Indiana.

[Sam Kuhlman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly did not enjoy it. It was a decent story and entertaining but the characters overall were not very redeemable. It forces a fiction into modern times in an unbelievable fashion.

[Jed Park · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read! Hilarious and inspiring—gives hope for humanity.

[Emma Oliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prin's journey in search of forgiveness, meaning, and hope is brimming with satire and thoughtful comedy - a pleasure to read!

[Zell Murdy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the dark humor of this book, and thought Prin's character was a charming one. However, I found a lot of the plot points unbelievable and forced, and was not a fan of the pacing of this book. It felt like a lot of big topics were being jammed down the reader's throat without time to give them the attention they deserve. Prin, while an interesting character, is also very self pitying and wishy washy, and although he is charming he is also duplicitous and self-serving, in an unrealistic way.

[Ashleigh Fletcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a true 3.5 stars for me.

I found this book to be good but not great because I failed to connect with the characters. That being said I probably am not the target demographic for this novel either so I rounded up for fairness.

Note this book has 273 pages not 224 as stated