Description
Description
From the award-winning author of Denial comes a novel about a New Age writer whose life is irrevocably changed when a devastating climate disaster forces him to confront his belief in the existence of God. What if God spoke to you? Would you hear Him? Would you obey His command? Arthur Zinn, an author of high-end spiritual texts, has fallen in love with a librarian married to a newfound close friend. When an environmental disaster threatens her life, Arthur's frantic prayers lead to a mystifying event that challenges his assumptions about the nature of the universe and the divine. In God and Sex, Oregon Book Award winner and acclaimed screenwriter Jon Raymond masterfully entwines themes of ecology, mortality, art, faith, and the tangled complexities of carnal love.
About the Author
About the Author
Jon Raymond is the author of five works of fiction, including the Oregon Book Award-winning story collection Livability and the Oregon Book Award-nominated novel Denial. As a screenwriter, he has collaborated on numerous films with the director Kelly Reichardt, including Old Joy, Wendy and Lucy, and First Cow. He also received an Emmy Award nomination for his screenwriting on the HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce directed by Todd Haynes and starring Kate Winslet. He was the editor of Plazm Magazine, associate and contributing editor at Tin House magazine, and a member of the Board of Directors at Literary Arts. His writing has appeared in Zoetrope, Playboy, Tin House, The Village Voice, Artforum, Bookforum, and many other places. He lives in Portland, Oregon.
Critical Reviews
Critical Reviews
"Exceptional... an unexpected answer to readers' prayers for fiction that dares to approach the treacherous border of faith."--Ron Charles "Washington Post"
"A profound literary experience."--Jeffrey Condran "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette"
"A novel that lives up to its epic title."--Sam Dolnick "New York Times Book Review"
"As book titles go, God and Sex is pretty provocative, but it's also honest advertising... The exact relationship between desire, belief, and where we all fit into this Earthly creation is messy and unclear but nonetheless potent. Raymond's book, at its core, captures the power of the feeling."-- "Portland Mercury"
"I'm a big fan of Raymond's--both his screenplays and his fiction--and this feels like a level-up for him. With near-hallucinatory intensity, he tells the freighted story of a struggling spiritualist writer in Oregon who embarks on an affair with his friend's wife, then faces potential blowback from God him(?)self. The action is spare and straightforward, but there's an almost inexplicable momentum to the narrative, making it easy to devour in a weekend."--Conner Reed "Publishers Weekly"
Publishing Information
Publishing Information
Publisher:
Simon & Schuster
Pub date:
2025-08-05
Length:
256 pages

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