MORTE D’URBAN <i> by J. F. Powers (Washington Square: $8.95) </i>

This 1963 National Book Award-winning novel offers a tongue-in-cheek portrait of Catholic life in the Midwest during the ‘50s. Despite his ecclesiastical office, Father Urban displays the sort of unflagging boosterism that George F. Babbitt admired. To his enormous chagrin, this man of extravagant ambition finds himself stuck in the Clementines, a monastic order noted only for its utter lack of distinction. If he sometimes treats his parishioners as cannon fodder in a grand campaign, Father Urban always strives for the greater glory to God, the Clementines and himself, though not necessarily in that order. J. F. Powers’ droll, understated account of life at an obscure Minnesota retreat will remind listeners of Garrison Keillor’s Father Emil and the goings-on at Our Lady of Perpetual Responsibility in Lake Woebegon.