God Is Dead

When God descends to Earth as a Dinka woman from Sudan and subsequently dies in the Darfur desert, the result is a world both bizarrely new yet eerily familiar. In Ron Currie's provocative, wise, and emotionally resonant novel we meet God himself; the Dinka woman whose mortality He must suffer when He inhabits her body; people all over the world coping with the devastating news of God's demise; a group of young men who, fearing the end of the world, take fate into their own hands; mental patients who insist that a god still exists; armies taking up the eternal war between fate and free will; and parents who, in the absence of a deity and the "lack of anything to do on Sundays," worship their children. On the surface, this is a world utterly transformed yet certain things remain unchanged: protective parents clash with willful, idealistic teenagers; idols are exalted; small-town rumor mills run unabated; and children often don't realize how to forgive their parents until it's too late. In God Is Dead, Currie brings together a prescient satirical gift worthy of Jonathan Swift, the raw appeal of Chuck Palahniuk's blackest comedy, and the thought provoking ethical questions of Kurt Vonnegut, all with a light touch, empathy, and wisdom that make for an exhilarating experience. Off-beat yet accessible, God Is Dead is an exciting debut from a fresh new voice in contemporary fiction. Ron Currie, Jr.'s prizewinning fiction has appeared in Glimmer Train. He has been short-listed for the Fish International Short Story Award and Swink magazine's Emerging Writer Award. He lives in Waterville, Maine. Gabriel Baron is an actor and director with extensive experience in stage, commercials and voiceover work. He has been honored with the Genius Award for theater and the Footlight Award for acting and directing. Baron's work in theater, dance and spoken word poetry have earned him a reputation as one of Seattle's most diverse performance artists.