Squat by Taylor Field: Literary Fiction

His name is Squid, and for most of his life he's known nothing but poverty and hardship. After fleeing abuse at the hands of his mother's boyfriend, a young boy with undiagnosed obsessive compulsiveness ekes a life out on the streets, finding scraps of joy when and were he can.

Living just blocks away from the wealthy, Squid's life revolves around a goodwill soup kitchen and a wonderful, caring volunteer named Rachel, who constantly harps on him about faith, love, and a God who might actually care about someone like him.

Squid isn't completely alone; though his friends aren't exactly the cream of the crop. Bonehead has just enough marbles to play half a crap-shoot, and Unc specializes in reading classic literature, getting drunk, and taking devious delight in attacking the faith of those who help him.

In many real ways, Squid is alone - bereft true friends or true hope for a better life.

Sadly, Squid is also his own worst enemy. When he angers Saw, a ruthless homeless person prone to Satanism, drug trafficking, and coercing "rent" out of fellow squatters, even what little he has is in jeopardy. As he races frantically from day to day, he's pushed to the edges of desperation - wondering if there was a God, why would he allow such bad things to happen?

Squat is a wonderful entry into the world of Christian fiction - edgy, literary, and striking in a way few faith novels are these days. Taylor Fields has clearly spent time ministering and working with the homeless; his narrative and references are authentic, and his characterizations of Squid, Bonehead, and Unc have depth.

Most importantly, there is no "agenda" in this novel. Fields has set out to raise consciousness about the homeless, and the novel is told from the perspective of a homeless person who's never had any reason to trust Christ as his personal savior. There's no quick fix here; no pot of gold at the end of the salvation rainbow; this is life as it is on the streets: gritty, uncompromising, and harsh.

Of particular note is the way Field handles the issue of realistic language and writing a novel of faith. Many Christian novels these days try to depict rough, harsh characters in an effort to be more relevant and realistic, but they are faced with the usual conundrum: how to do this without swearing and using profanity, which even the most liberal Christian wishes to avoid?

Usually what happens is the insertion of the infamous "substitute words" - dang, heck, shucks, goldarn - which are considered safe, of course, but still ring untrue in the ears of some readers, because quite honestly: these are the words of Opie or Richie Cunningham, not hardened crack users living on the streets.

What Fields does is something other Christian writers should try more often: concentrate on writing as people really speak, keep the profane words out, without using substitute words at all. There is no profanity in Squat, very few - if any - substitute words, and the dialogue of the characters still rings true to ear.

Also impressive - Field has 'put his money where his mouth is', so to speak: all the proceeds of this book will be going to Graffiti Community Ministries, Inc, a street-ministering organization in Manhattan, NY.

Read Chapter 1 of the novel, or buy it here.