Ambivalent Book Review

I read a book last Saturday on the plane and I'm still not sure how I feel about it. The book is God Is Dead by Ron Currie Jr. Usually I know right away whether or not I like a book. But I can't seem to make up my mind about this one.

The book is a fictional look at what would happen to the world if God assumed human form and then died. The world doesn't end, rather it keeps on spinning but in a very bleak and tragic way. Everyone knows that God no longer exists so the questions of morality and sin fall by the wayside and all shit breaks loose. It's more of a collection of stories than a novel. I found the idea intriguing, but overall I can't seem to form a solid opinion about the book as a whole. The concept was great. The premises of the stories in the book were all very bizarre and terrifying, in a good way. But I thought the writing style was a little... off? It was sort of like Larry Doyle was ghost writing for Steven King. It just didn't flow right.

I'll admit that I bought the book for the sheer thrill of shopping at City Lights. It would have been way too obvious if I'd walked up to the counter with some Allen Ginsberg so I grabbed something else that looked mildly hip. Thus, God Is Dead. So, in all I guess I'll always have the book as a souvenir if not a literary favorite. If anyone is interested in buying the book and then letting me know what you think so I can steal your opinions about it, it's available on amazon.com for the crazy low price of $4.99. On HARDBACK even! Like everything else in San Francisco, I definitely overpaid for mine.