Lion Country by Frederick Buechner

Bebb is described and one is sure not to like him but is slowly drawn into his web as is the narrator Antonio. Flawed, a con, a manipulator, is he better than he seems or am I worse? Deep writing, whimsical and distracted. Buechner avoids the ordinary and winds his way through clichés, deftly avoiding any obvious preaching, but there is a message, many messages; some are uncomfortable and meant just for the particular reader. I was discovering more than I wanted to know about a character I didn't want to meet or talk to and finding myself attacking him and defending him at the same time.