You Can't Judge a Book

Suttree looks, behaves, and lives like a derelict; however, he clearly has a depth and intelligence far beyond average. Looking at this character drunk, in jail, in fights, sleeping with prostitutes, and hanging out with alcoholic friends, one would never suspect that he is a kind-hearted deep thinker, and that his compassion for the less fortunate is so deep that he must become one of them to understand them. Suttree approaches everyone else in that vein as well. The blind, deaf, black, Indian, poor, female, ignorant, old, senile, and crazy are all just as valuable in Suttree's eyes as anyone else.

Suttree's wife and family have judged him with hatred and disgust because of the lifestyle he has chosen. However, they do not realize how deeply he is grieving for his son, and do not understand the dark nature of the demons that torment...