A Difficult, Emotionally Demanding and Rewarding Read…
(Originally published in Brother Cobweb book page on Amazon.com)
“Brother Cobweb” isn’t about the patriarchal love that is so often worshipped by the contemporary evangelical church. You could possibly say it’s about the “red letter” love, though even that feels sort of incomplete in a world that so loves to piecemeal the teachings of Christ into something comfortable and familiar and safe and risk-free.
There’s risk galore to be found in “Brother Cobweb” and that’s a huge part of what makes the book such a wondrous read.
“Brother Cobweb” doesn’t flinch in portraying the brutal realities of Calvin’s life, but it also doesn’t flinch in celebrating his magnificence amidst it all. The cycle of abuse and violence in which Calvin lives bruises him and batters him and scars him and tells his soul stories, but somehow he starts to figure out what love is anyway and his glorious imperfections inch toward breaking the cyclical nature of his life and chopping down that family tree.
It’s nothing short of a miracle that Eaker never exploits Calvin, instead holding him up as a sacred truth that there’s nothing in this imperfect life can truly define us and that if we choose wrong we can always choose again.
And again.
Those who find themselves in The Lighthouse have perpetuated their cycles, so often choosing hate instead of love and dogma over spiritual truths and anything resembling a true faith journey. Calvin, far from alone but clearly in the driver’s seat, chooses love and chooses spiritual truth and chooses the vulnerable unpredictability of a faith journey and becomes more of a believer than everyone in The Lighthouse combined.
“Brother Cobweb” calls out hypocrisy and lies and bad theology and the damage that we do to one another, yet it does so with humor intact and a surprising amount of tenderness toward everyone including those who have failed and failed and failed.
If you are familiar with Eaker’s works, you’ll recognize pieces of his history here from BlueMahler to PinkFreud to explorations of his spirituality that can so often be found in his painting and in his remarkable cinematic work.
I’ve long felt a connection to Eaker’s world, both as a film journalist who has reviewed his directorial efforts and as the recipient of his own review of my book “The Hallelujah Life.” While our paths haven’t crossed, our life experiences and spiritual journeys seem irrevocably intertwined and and almost familial in their expressions. Eaker had offered me the chance to read an advance copy of “Brother Cobweb” not long ago, yet I was busy taking yet another detour in my life as my spina bifida kicked my a** one more time and I lost another limb.
It was a brutal experience and an opportunity to learn how to give and receive love one more time.
So, instead, I picked up a copy of “Brother Cobweb” myself, drawn to the Eaker I’ve come to respect and admire and adore who possesses an aesthetic spirituality, an artistic curiosity, and both heart and mind that demand truth in all its brilliance and brutality.
For some, “Brother Cobweb” will be a difficult, emotionally demanding read but it is an absolute must read for those who have been wounded by faith organizations, Pentecostal and otherwise, and the flawed yet fascinating characters who fill their sanctuaries.
Published by Open Press Books, “Brother Cobweb” is available in both print and Kindle versions and is illustrated with sublime insight and wonder by Todd M. Coe.
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Look inside Brother Cobweb kindle edition here:
About Richard Propes:
Richard Propes is a Publisher/Film Journalist at The Independent Critic, and activist with initiatives such as The tenderness tour.
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About Alfred Eaker:
Alfred Eaker is a prolific fine arts painter and muralist, an award-winning filmmaker and film critic, and a traditionally-published author. Following on the success of his debut novel, “Brother Cobweb,” Eaker is currently collaborating with Todd M. Coe on the related Graphic novel: “The Brother Cobweb Chronicles.” It will be available in the spring 2021. The audiobook version of Brother Cobweb is also being produced, and will soon be released too.
As an inquisitive American artist, he has always been deeply engaged in social, religious, and political climates. Eaker is currently working on a mural painting entitled “Elvis: An American Hymn.” Through it, Eaker is trying to bring affirming answers to issues of race, integration and hope so desperately needed at this moment in America.
Alfred Eaker 