Balaam is a novel-in-progress that explores the life of a prophet in the Book of Numbers in the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. Balaam is a prophet who is summoned by the princes of Moab and Midian to come and curse the Israelites, who are encamped on their borders, asking for access to the Promised Land on the other side of the River Jordan. Balaam consults God, who tells him not to go. Finally, God allows him to go. So Balaam sets off on his donkey. While Balaam is en route, God becomes angry and sends an angel to stand in the way of the donkey. The donkey (but not Balaam) sees the angel and veers off the road, at which point Balaam hits her. This happens three times before the donkey collapses. Then this happens:

Then the LORD opened the donkey's mouth, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?"

Balaam answered the donkey, "You have made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now."

The donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?"

"No," he said.

At this point, Balaam's eyes are opened and he sees the angel of the Lord, who tells him that he is lucky the donkey veered off the path or the angel would have killed him. Balaam promises to return home, but the angel tells him to continue to Moab and to wait for God's instructions.

When Balaam arrives at Moab, instead of cursing the children of Israel, he praises them four times, incurring the wrath of Balak, King of Moab, and they part in disgust. Balaam, however, is killed in battle a few chapters later, having been accused of perverting the Israelites by making them worship false gods.

Balaam tells the story of Balaam's life as a prophet before his fateful encounter with God. It imagines what happens to him on the road to Moab and wonders what might have been said if the donkey had carried on talking. It seeks to understand the costs and consequences of revelation and our treatment of animals, and the tragedy that lies behind all those who called upon to speak out against the currents of their time.

Balaam will be finished in September 2005.