Laudadio

It’s 2008. The Pacific Northwest is captivated by a new religion, the Striationists. Its faithful are all convinced that they derive spiritual and physical well-being from glacial striations, the portals of terrestrial energy from the centre of the Earth. But lately, the religion finds itself enmeshed in a financial and real estate scandal, and enlists its legal team to get them out of it. Carlo Buonsante, a thirty-something lawyer just returning to Vancouver after three years in Rome, took a job as an associate with the Striationists’ general counsel, and quickly discovers that he left ＂normal＂ behind him in Europe. Along the way, he runs into an assortment of memorable characters, including a renowned but bumbling financial pundit peddling a bridge to Vancouver Island, a bevy of eccentric Striationist elders, and an international con man who prefers the company of his cat. After he uncovers their outrageous scheme, Carlo has little time to think about an obvious question: is there really any point in trying to save people from themselves?

Elco Parks takes a satiric look at popular delusion, the treacherous state of contemporary political culture, and the legal profession, all set against the idyllic backdrop of the South Coast of British Columbia.