PAGAN BABIES by Greg Johnson (Plume:...

PAGAN BABIES by Greg Johnson (Plume: $9.95; 312 pp.). Johnson’s novel traces the lives of brooding, artistic Clifford Bannon and defiant Janice Rungren from the optimism of the Kennedy Administration to the chilly, disillusioned era of AIDS. Two misfits, Clifford and Janice are drawn to each other when they meet in a parochial elementary school in rural Texas. Their emotionally tangled relationship reflects the problems of growing up Catholic in an era of rebellion: The doctrinal rigidity of the Church, provides a target for young people chafing at the strictures of authority. Janice and Clifford pursue paths that separate and cross as they struggle to forge lives for themselves. Their ties compel them return to each other, sharing joy, sorrow and, to their considerable surprise, a sexual partner.