Description: Meet Richard Steick, PhD, Esquire, professor of literature and attorney-at-law in Hallelujah, Alabama, a good man who wants to do good despite feeling a bit unsteady in his own moral universe. When he discovers that a wealthy corporation has made billions over the decades off mineral rights rightfully belonging to the descendants of a group of ex-slaves--one of whom is his own former client Ninety McWilliams--the gentlemanly barrister takes tooled leather briefcase in hand and mounts the judicial ramparts. His plan will have the side benefit of stopping a scheme to store nuclear waste in a remote Alabama county. Steick's maneuvering brings him into an unusual alliance with a powerful black legislator and up against moralizing Governor Sid Scroulous and assorted state bureaucrats. Along the way, he discovers the true meaning of love and happiness. Hallelujah, Alabama! is a wickedly funny and wise satire of contemporary Southern politics and culture.
Brief description: ROBERT ELY is a native of Indiana and lives now in Montgomery. He teaches English at Alabama State University and practices law. He spends his spare time writing poems, book reviews, and critical essays. He is the author of Mose T's Slapout Family Album.