A Handbook of American Prayer

A man walks into a bar; a dispute ensues, and the bartender kills him. The bartender is sentenced to ten years for manslaughter.

While in prison, the bartender writes prayers addressed to no particular God. His prayers, whether a request for a girlfriend or a special favour for a fellow inmate, are always answered.

When his collection of supplications ('A Handbook of American Prayer') is published, the bartender emerges from prison a celebrity author.

In this story about America's conflicting love triangle (celebrity, spirituality, money) Shepard negotiates the thin line between the real and the surreal, expounding upon violence and redemption along the way. This story of an unlikely American messiah shows why 'The Wall Street Journal' has compared Shepard to Graham Greene, Robert Stone, and Ward Just.