The Heart Is a Full-Wild Beast

The Heart Is a Full-Wild Beast collects thirty-four short stories from John L'Heureux's five-decade career, including both previously published works and new pieces. The stories span multiple genres and styles, from realism to dark comedy to surrealism. The characters include priests questioning their faith, married couples facing crises, writers struggling with their craft, and ordinary people confronting extraordinary circumstances. L'Heureux draws from his experiences as a former Jesuit priest and professor to create narratives that examine both religious and secular life. These stories explore the boundaries between sacred and profane, focusing on moments when people must confront their deepest beliefs and desires. The collection reveals L'Heureux's perspective on faith, doubt, love, and the complexity of human nature.

This collection of L'Heureux's short stories maintains a 4.0/5 rating on Goodreads and 4.2/5 on Amazon, based on limited reviews. Readers highlight the dark humor and Catholic themes throughout the stories. Several reviewers note the author's ability to explore human nature through flawed characters, particularly priests and academics. Multiple reviews mention the strong characterization and psychological depth. Common criticisms include the uneven quality between stories and occasional meandering narratives. Some readers found certain stories too abstract or difficult to follow. A few reviews mention that the religious themes can feel heavy-handed. Sample reader comment: "L'Heureux has a gift for revealing the messy contradictions in how people think and behave" - Goodreads reviewer Ratings breakdown: Goodreads: 4.0/5 (23 ratings) Amazon: 4.2/5 (11 ratings) Kirkus Reviews: Starred review Library Journal: Positive review

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🖋️ John L'Heureux was both a Jesuit priest and a prolific writer, leaving the priesthood after 17 years to pursue his literary career 📚 The book is a posthumously published collection, featuring L'Heureux's personally selected "best" stories from his five-decade writing career 🎭 The title comes from a quote by Rainer Maria Rilke: "The heart is a full-wild beast that has in it all the jungle darkness" ✍️ Throughout his career, L'Heureux directed the Stanford Creative Writing Program and mentored notable writers including David Henry Hwang and Tobias Wolff 💫 The collection explores themes of faith, mortality, and human desire, drawing from L'Heureux's unique perspective as both a former priest and secular writer