The Edge of Sadness Author:Edwin O'Connor This is the story of a middle-aged priest, and the several worlds in which he finds himslef: the exuberant, turbulent, bubbling Irish-American world in which he was born and raised, and the far different, somber, silent, shabby world to which, through various circumstances, his life has taken him. — In this story of past and present, told through... more » the narration of Father Hugh Kennedy, the ordinary, day-to-day life of a priest is portrayed with thououghness, sympathy, and truth. And what emerges is not merely the history of one man, but a rich cross section of secular adn religious life. In this novel, filled with rewarding and completely memorable characters, emcompassing several generations of Irish American life, Edwin O'Connor has again created a full and exhilarating world among these people he knows so well. Comedy and pathos, love and despair, loneliness and compassion, a sense of human longing and of human frailty make THE EDGE OF SADNESS an unforgettable reading experience.« less