God Is Dead

by Ron Currie Jr.

Traces the world impact of God's descent to Earth in the body of a Dinka woman and His subsequent suffering and death in the Darfur desert, events that profoundly impact every aspect of human life, from warfare and parenting to religious practices and health care. A first novel.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Religion, Fantasy, Contemporary, Dystopia, Science Fiction

182 pages, Hardcover

First published July 5, 2007

About the author

Ron Currie, Jr. was born and raised in Waterville, Maine, where he still lives. His first book, God is Dead, won the Young Lions Fiction Award from the New York Public Library and the Addison M. Metcalf Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His debut novel, Everything Matters!, will be translated into a dozen languages, and is a July Indie Next Pick and Amazon Best of June 2009 selection.

His short fiction has appeared in many magazines and anthologies, including Alaska Quarterly Review, The Sun, Ninth Letter, Swink, The Southeast Review, Glimmer Train, Willow Springs, The Cincinnati Review, Harpur Palate, and New Sudden Fiction (W.W. Norton, 2007).

Reviews

[Paul Bryant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well this is a tough review to write because this is Ron Currie's first book and I wish him well. And I really wanted to like this one a lot - you know when you get good vibes from a book as soon as you hear about it. And it isn't bad. But I just didn't really get where Ron Currie was coming from. The concept, which is in the blurb is that God, having taken human form, actually physically dies and never comes back. And the news gets out, and the book traces what then follows from this revelation. Except it doesn't really. It's a series of short stories strung together like Julian Barnes' "A History of the World in 10 and a Half Chapters" rather than an actual novel, and all of these short stories would fit right into any "Year's Best Science Fiction" collection because that's what they are. Science fiction is as obsessed with God as everyone else, and frequently throws up theological speculations - "The Sparrow" by Mary Doria Russell, "A Case of Conscience" by James Blish, and "Only Begotten Daughter" by James Morrow in which God is born again as a human being, this time as a girl.
Okay so what was the problem here? Ron is a very smooth writer, this is a fast read, and I loved the opening riff with Colin Powell (yes, that Colin Powell) - I thought I was in for a real treat. In fact the first chapter is the best short story I've read for a long time. After God's death we jump cut immediately to society-collapsing-and-everybody-dying. But here's the thing - why would it? Let's grant Ron his outre premise - okay, God's dead. Now what? Would everyone freak out? If so, why? Why would everyone believe this crazy God is dead stuff anyway? (Ron doesn't say). If they did why wouldn't they carry on turning up to work anyway, except for a few nutters? (Ron doesn't say). As I realised that Ron wasn't going to be focusing on the nuts and bolts of his conceit I got less interested and began to figure that he could therefore throw in any zany scenario (such as the war between the Post Modern Anthropologists and the Evolutionary Anthropologists) with the underlying unstated assumption that this is all happening because humans now know God is dead. So it began to feel slightly like I'd fallen for a carnival barker "Step right up folks, see God die, yep right here in this show starts in five minutes only ten dollars God will actually die right in front of your very eyes, ten dollars only thankyew kind sir, step inside, find yourself a seat". So the book began bouncing about like a balloon being batted by belligerent boys - caricatured, superficially political, not really serious, vaguely philosophical, like a book scampering around during a game of Musical Chairs, and finally not finding a chair to sit on, and then being out of the game completely.

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books reminds me of a man you meet in a cool bar, you have had a few drinks and the lighting is low. However you are bumping and groovin' to the beat when a man approaches you. He seems exciting at first, unlike the usual guy that you run into at this bar. Thing get going, you dance, he seems incredibly exotic and intoxicating, exactly what you have been looking for. He doesn't need to explain his opinions, he just has them, but he is so confident in what he says you can't help but hang onto his words, they seem to refreshing and new!

Then the two of you decide to clear your heads and get some fresh air. You leave the bar hand in hand, wild thought flying through your head that finally you have met someone who are connecting with on ALL levels. Then POW! You go into the night air and you can see what he truly looks like, not as good as you had originally thought, but despite this you still feel the intellectual connection is there. The POW again, he starts to talk and finally you can understand what he has been whispering in your ear all night, and it turns out to be total crap! You are highly disappointed, despite all this you still stay around, maybe he will turn back into the man, who thought him to be back in the darken bar.

Turns out not to be. Where . . .where did that man go?!

This is exactly how, 'God is Dead' reads, and finishes!

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whaapow! Jealous and inspired. The book starts out phenomenally and then just gets better and better. It’s like watching someone tiptoe out onto a frozen pond, then slowly gain confidence, and soon he’s jumping up and down, trying as hard as he can to smash his safety, inviting his friends out there, inviting a marching band, just confident and having a great time. A deft, highwire act of a book, never mind debut.

Quick synopsis: God comes to earth in the form of a Darfur refugee and is killed by humans and eaten by feral dogs. Heartbreak, confusion, violence, loneliness, world war ensue.

[Miss Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

First, you have to assume that God exists. Then, you have to assume that it would be possible for him to die. I can do these things. Willing suspension of disbelief and all that.

However, that didn't stop the book from reading a little like a writing exercise, more for the benefit of the author than the reader. And I found the sole character who is featured in more than one chapter to be pretty un-compelling. And the ending felt kind of rushed.

Still, the ideas explored are interesting. The book suggests that both worship and war are human nature, and if we have no deity we will find other things to revere and on which to disagree.

It was a fun, easy read, but not awesome.

[Gohnar23 (hiatus but still reading) · Rating 4 out of 5]

#️⃣2️⃣3️⃣3️⃣ Read & Reviewed in 2025 🐠 🍭
Date 🌬️: Tuesday, May 20, 2025 ☄️
Word Count📃: 51k Words,

╔⏤⏤⏤╝❀🌸💮🌸❀╚⏤⏤⏤╗
૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♡ My 41th read in summertime read-a-thon "since idk wtf to do with my life for one thousand — two hundred — twenty four hours straight" (⁠^⁠-⁠^⁠ ⁠)

4️⃣🌟, hes ded
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"God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him" written by Friedrich Nietzsche. A very famous philosophical quote that i'm actually studying right now..


But what if God actually is like literally like deadass turned into a human being & just died. Fr fr he ded, LITERALLY. Not philosophically or religiously speaking.. WHAT IF HE'S ACTUALLY LITERALLY DEAD. Killed by humans, by animals that crawl on the earth, by loneliness, by misery, by a broken heart, by failure and by violence. That's all. It's actually a collection of short stories in the first story is this ☝️, but all the other short stories, all being mildly nonsensical, all takes place after they events of the first short story which is "God is dead". It's overtly satirical making it linear and flat.. which is kind of the point of satirical content. I do wish that this wasn't satirical though, this is a great philosophical discussion to expand 😔

[Dr X · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book on a City Lights staff recommendation. I thought it would be one of those "funny" books without much of substance, and I read it to read something enjoyable after finishing a torturous novel. Unlike that book of similar length, this one flew by, and in fact, I didn't want it to end as quickly as it did.

It is a funny book, but is certainly not without substance. Comparisons to Vonnegut are appropriate, and that is no doubt partly why I liked it. This book contains a lot of absurdity, like God taking the form of a human woman who is then eaten by dogs who are then able to talk; like people turning to the worship of children to replace their dead God; like a full on physical, bloody war between the Postmodern Anthropologists and Evolutionary Psychologists. Great fun, but more importantly, beneath the silliness lurks all kinds of weighty issues. Why do people need God to give meaning to their lives? If they can't worship one god, will they create another? How do we find meaning to our actions and lives without some great hereafter? How does our capability for morality lead us to be both more and less moral than creatures without such a capability? Do we control our actions or our fate? Does it matter? In his private moments, does Colin Powell really say things like, "I'm black as night, motherfucker!"?

When I finished reading, I almost turned right around and read it again. I figure that's as good a recommendation as any.

[Mon · Rating 3 out of 5]

God is Dead is technically a collection of short stories loosely spanned over a period of several decades after God's death as a mortal on Earth. Its format becomes the greatest challenge, you never quite know what's happening and at what point you're in terms of the overall 'plot'. Except for the first story (which is truly remarkable), the rest fell short once you take them apart. They last couple of stories depend largely on the strength of the first one, and it becomes obvious as the narratives are increasingly literal and flat. By the way, the cover art is slightly deceiving. I was expecting some sort of Christopher Moore comedy but instead got a Philip Dick Dystopia.

[Elizabeth Addison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this book. The concept is simple but the execution is DEEPLY complex. A story that begins with God dying in human form could play out in a pretty easy, cliche way but Ron Currie Jr. really digs deep into how the world would really change, bureaucratically, theologically, sociologically. It was absolutely fascinating. I wish every segment was twenty pages longer.

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review buried in comments below (#2)....

[Yennie · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first finished this book, I wrote an 800-word review (because that’s what critics do). I thought I’d completed the review until I met with my book club, but now I have a slew of other things to say, so bear with me for an extra 200 or so words.

When I began reading God Is Dead, I didn’t know (or perhaps had forgotten) that this is actually an interrelated short story collection/novel in stories, which is my jam. And since I’ve been hearing for years now that this book is all kinds of awesome, I’m kicking myself for not reading this sooner. It’s rich and complex, hilarious and devastating.

As can be expected from a collection, the effectiveness of the stories varies. The first two sections, for example, work well as exposition for the book as a whole: Currie sets up God’s death in the titular first story, and then he takes us through the subsequent shift from innocent optimism to shock and despondence in the second. Both stories are well written, engaging, and full of upward momentum for the entire collection.

But for me, the book truly begins to shine with the third story, “Indian Summer.” In it, a group of high school friends, seeing no hope for themselves in a post-deity society, agree to put bullets through one another’s brains. The intensity of the suicide pact, coupled with the bleakness of their situation, makes for some dark, quietly desperate moments. The stylization feels a trifle heavy-handed when the narrator and his buddy Rick have a heart-to-heart near the end, as their long paragraphs of dialogue sound more like one of Keith Morrison’s over-the-top narrations on Dateline than they do earnest accounts of events. But the more I think about it, the more I feel that the hints of purpleness (more like a faint shade of lavender, really) and overwriting actually reveal the narrator’s unreliability. Memory is always a revision of events, so in recreating the scene for us decades later, the narrator presents readers with a romanticized account of their discussion and colors the way the scene is interpreted. Is he trying to justify the events or cope with them? Or is there something else at play?

Such open-endedness seems to be one of the things that frustrate people about the collection (and literary short stories in general), so it’s no surprise that several of my book club cohorts felt that “Grace,” a three-page story in the center of the collection, was something of a throwaway. I, on the other hand, loved it. (Flash fiction: also my jam.) I love that a preacher, now useless as a saver of souls, is rescued by a retired paramedic with a hearing aid—a saver of lives who is literally deaf to confessions, particularly his own son’s confession that he, too, needs saving. I love that we don’t realize until the very end that this son can identify with the downtrodden preacher’s misery and loss.

Most of all, I love that when contemplating this story on its own, outside the confines of the collection, the situation sounds fairly ordinary, as if we’re just reading about a mentally unstable drunk, not a man of the cloth who has lost his meaning in life. The layers created by context make me contemplate these characters from different perspectives (not just their various POVs, but my own), and it all reminds me that these aren’t just characters; they’re people and therefore far more complex than we ever allow ourselves to assume with a quick read.

If you’re looking for a book that actually speculates on what the world would be like if God died, this isn’t it. The stories have less to do with God being dead and more to do with humanity's search for reasons to live. In two of the three character-linked stories, for example, the scenarios have more to do with society’s dependence on faith—our need to reach out for something bigger than or at least beyond ourselves. So often, that faith is simply in one another. Or, when that’s not enough, it’s something that can’t and won’t judge us in this lifetime (even if we behave as if it will). The false idols that Currie chooses are comical, sometimes eerie reflections of the direction we’re already headed in: the teen crush whom sixteen-year-old Arnold never talks to but text messages with all the frankness and introspection of prayer, the children whom parents coddle and idealize, the material goods we all purchase to distract us from the harshness of the world.

This last example—from the final story, “Retreat”—particularly strikes me. In this, Arnold arrives in a town full of people forced to ingest pills that erased their memories. The only person whose memory is intact is a boy named Ty, who hid his pill under his tongue and spit it out later. The tactic is so obvious that it’s initially a wonder the adults hadn’t thought of it, but the narrative intimates that the pills were taken willingly, in an attempt to forget all the tragedies of the world. These adults bury themselves in the superficial satisfaction of infomercial gadgetry, but when Arnold confronts Ty’s mother, she cries, revealing that either consciously or subconsciously, she remembers her suffering. This moment calls to mind the ending of Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron,” which made the scene even stronger for me, as they create the same startling, haunting effect. And though the whole book feels evocative of Vonnegut in humor and pathos, Currie succeeds in not feeling derivative at all.

Basically, I can’t say enough good things about this book. Since I’m not Christian, I know I missed many of the religious references, so I’m glad that my lack of knowledge in this area didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the characters or the craftwork. That said, I’m ready to read this again and attempt to uncover everything I’d missed.

[Elia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very ambitious title. A collection of short stories describing what could happen following god's death. Each is very unique and the best is kept to the last part.

[silly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like the title to this book is so provocative and ambitious, that there is no way to live up to it.
There is so much violence, which is fitting the tone of the book but something within the writing style is missing to "make up" for it. There is no atmosphere, more just very pragmatic words, describing the scenes in such a cruel way, often times it felt like reading a report and I didn't really enjoy that. Violence can be a very powerful tool to create gripping atmosphere, which this book was clearly lacking. There is no coherence in the different chapters, which was probably intended, but it makes it difficult to read, it becomes exhausting really quickly. Every new chapter I had to readjust to the story, piece the different elements together to locate the focus of the different chapters.
The characters lack...something that I cannot quite pinpoint but the whole books feels rather empty, more blank pages than actual story.

A bit disappointed, the provoking title lured me in though.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fell head over heels in love with this book and it’s hands down one of my favorites. The writer understands the human condition so well, and he manages to comment on it without judging it. He’s merely observing the insanity of it…of us.

This book is relatively short but a absolute literary powerhouse. Some stories got under my skin so much that I had to take a break (Indian Summer for example). I feel changed for having read this book. And it’s the only book I’ve ever reread again immediately after finishing. Nothing short of a glorious debut and my favorite book of the year.

I’m keeping my copy of it in my possession forever.

[Iman Danial Hakim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, not bad for a debut. But still, I am expecting more; looking at the compelling title of the book. Dont judge a book bt its cover they said.

[C. Bella · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is positively,hard to put down.

[Anita Dalton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book at Christmas time, and I very nearly put it back on the shelf because the cover appalled me. It features a dog sitting outside a cage. Inside the cage is another dog, curled up in a miserable little pile. I couldn’t tell if the caged dog was dead or asleep and not knowing made it worse. In fact, just thinking about the picture is making my stomach hurt a little. I cannot abide it when bad things happen to animals. This reaction taints a lot of my interaction with the world. I bought a Jack Ketchum book knowing full well the plot begins with the death of a dog and even so, I had to stop reading it. I just couldn’t take it. I hope Rugero Deodato, if there is an afterlife, spends a few years getting smacked around by a very large turtle and a couple of very angry pigs. So of course, given this tender-hearted tendency of mine coupled with my perverse desire to torture myself, I had to buy this book that featured a potentially dead dog on the cover being mourned by one of his own.

My instincts were right. This book was going to break my heart and I knew it before I opened it. The plot of this book is a cliche, a hackneyed conversation every wine-cooler and cheap beer-filled college freshman has had: what would happen if God died? But despite the fact that the premise is not original, this book is surprisingly fresh and frightening, at turns tender and sickening, hopeful and horrible. While there were elements that did not work as well as others, the fearlessness in which Currie approaches this story allows me to overlook its weaker parts. Read my entire discussion here.

[Wendy K · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was interesting but overall not as compelling as I think it could have been. There were so many big ideas that I felt just weren't fleshed out well enough. I mean, I guess it's up to you to invent whatever kind of world you want to envision god being dead in, but this felt like so many loose ends to me. I don't know if the alternative is writing a crazy long, epic novel, but there were many roads I would've continued down happily if I could have. Except the one about the wild dogs who ate god's body. That was a little too sad and bleak to me.

What I really did enjoy about the book was the general exploration of what we would do in the true absence of religion. Like if something like this happened that could convince humanity, once and for all, that god doesn't really exist. Not only does "he" (I hate using that pronoun to represent god, who would surely transcend our earthly notions of gender) not exist, but actually dies. This is so different from there being no god in the first place. In the book, humanity is wracked by this sense of loss and confusion, and then this desperate drive to find something that would replace god. I think that this is a rather generous view of our species in many ways, because really, if you take a look around at where we're collectively headed, surely god is already dead and we are living with that reality. If we believed that a benevolent creator was looking down on us from on high, maybe we wouldn't be destroying the planet, letting people starve, defunding education, etc. I guess this is a bigger discussion than I'm prepared to have in this review, though. The end.

[Beth · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to love this book -- I really, really did.  In fact, after reading Everything Matters!, I couldn't wait to read it to the point where I abandoned the other book I was reading to buy and read this one first.  So, believe me, giving it one star really hurts :(

This book starts out very strong -- I was in love with the first story, and the next couple stories were fairly good too... but, then, the book seems to meet the same fate God did, and I found myself trudging along painfully through the rest, first in hopes that it would get better, and then simply out of obligation to finish what I began.

Towards the end, there was one other story I truly enjoyed, but not enough to warrant finishing the book.

I wish I had just stopped while I was ahead with Everything Matters!, and not let this one crush my soul instead :( 

[Dessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in the airport when my flight was delayed. At one point, the fellow sitting across from me leaned forward.
"Excuse me," he said, "but that's a very provocative title. Does the author make a good argument?"
"It's fiction," I said, "but yes."
#awkwardairport2015

[Ricky Villarreal · Rating 2 out of 5]

What would happen if God came to earth as a human and died? This book attempts to answer this question with a series of stories from different places and times.

The book is dated. The book was written at the start of the post-9/11 era. Most references and viewpoints won't hit anyone one younger than 30. Some of the stores were thrilleresque and depressing, dealing with suicide and family structures dissolving. Others were humorous like the exaggeration of child worship.

The highlight of the book to me was the dog who became sentient after consuming the body of God. The book would have been steller if this was the main focal point of the book. It was such an interesting concept that never occurred to me. Now I want to read that novel.

The books final point is that people would wage wars over philosophical differences now that religion didn't exist fell flat with me. It felt shoehorned into the end despite giving no reason or expanding on why there was such a major war between two philosophies. As if the entire world would just agree to two trains of thought when there were thousands of beliefs that couldn't agree on the existence of God.

I don't regret reading the book. However, 280 pages weren't enough pages to truely flesh out an answer to such a profound and interesting question.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ron Currie's first book is a satire based on the concept that god came down to earth and was killed in the Sudan, eaten by dogs, and the people of the earth then struggle to find meaning in a godless world..and something else to do on Sundays.
Essentially a set of related short stories beginning with god coming to earth, taking the form of a Dinka woman in war torn Sudan, and meeting with Colin Powell (that Colin Powell). While Powell is having a psychological melt down of sorts (which I found hilarious), the camp is attacked and everyone is killed including god.
Once the news of god's death is spread, people find different ways of coping with not having a diety to blame or pray to for help and guidance. The stories that follow focus on different ways that humanity finds to cope without god. Do people change? Not much.
There are some profound and thought provoking moments in this short book, and it is satire at its best, sure to enrage and discombobulate a few individuals. Well done!

[Deanna Lack · Rating 1 out of 5]

It started off promising. If he had actually told the story he started I might have enjoyed this. But instead it jumped all over the place, more of a collection of vignettes (I can’t even call them short stories, since those have a beginning, middle, end, and some sense of logical progression). They freely switch viewpoint, tense... it was just utterly disjointed. It never answered the questions it raised. It felt utterly pointless.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5

I think the premise of this book (God coming to Earth, assuming a corporeal form, and then subsequently dying, leading to worldwide panic and dystopian outbreak) was super interesting. At times I really liked the direction the book took, but overall I found it a bit too bizarro and fragmented. This story isn't told in a linear fashion; I would consider this a roughly connected anthology. The story of the world's aftermath is told in a series of short stories, some related, and some not. Given that format, there were some stories I enjoyed, and some not. The story that focused on the psychiatrist (Arnold's father) and the new mandatory therapies all community residents had to partake in was so strange but SO unique! However, then the novel began to have a military focus and it really lost me there. If Currie wanted to take the novel into the war-torn direction he began to, then I think the book should have been longer to fully encompass all those ideas. Overall it was okay: I liked a good amount of it, but the rest was give-or-take.

[Gregorcyk · Rating 1 out of 5]

bad bc wrong??? god is not dead (2)

[Mireille · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story didn't reach its full potential.

[Henry Sharpe · Rating 4 out of 5]

bush era teas

[Debbie Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

There will always be apocalypse: Not just genre writers like Stephen King, but literary writers love (particularly nowadays) to say something about us as we all die. There is Cormac McCarthy with his skies etched in lead, streets littered with corpses, and a man and boy who prove love is the only real thing that survives. And then Delillo who may not say the world is at end but shows that with 9/11 the world is at a point of tremendous change that impacts humanity on a very intimate level-- FALLING MAN. Not to mention other short stories new books coming out (I cannot recall the name of one I read about concerning a terrorist nuclear attack on New York. I am too frightened to read that one) yada yada. What do we look like when the doo doo hits the fan? Everyone wants to know. (because well, after the past seven years of crap in our country? We start thinking about the end.)

But I doubt any of the books tackle the human race, the question of survival, our ultimate ridiculousness like this generation Y writer, Ron Currie. This man is a force to be reckoned with. He writes with energy, courage and a satirical twinkle. He tackles our greatest fears, our eternal flaws, and senseless wars (this one looking to be the beginning of apocalypse) with humor and absurdity because lets face it, if we blow ourselves up, ruin our world, it’s absurd.

Unlike McCarthy who doesn’t say boo about the why, Ron says a whole lot about why. By using absurdism, his statement about why is even more powerful. God comes down to Sudan as Dinka woman in the Darfur region. If God wants to suffer, be spit upon, stoop as low as one can get in order to be as miserable as us humans, yeah, a woman is the right choice, and a woman in Darfur is perfect.

God is not omniscient and powerful. God does not know everything. He just started everything. God is a regular guy. God is feeling a bit guilty. And God is killed, of course, like thousands of other women in Sudan, by men. And this sets off chaos. Dogs eat God and are empowered. They speak Aramaic, have compassion, and obtain magical gifts. One dog survives and is interviewed. It’s hard to tell if he gives truthful answers because he feels so sorry for humans he lies to them to bring hope. And what does this kind of powerless and hopeless dog-God say to the ultimate question: now what? “You’re as naked and alone in this world as you were before finding me.”

And that idea, naked and alone, creates chaos. Bored and thirsty for an idol, parents start worshipping children. (my favorite story). There are suicide packs. There is your basic insanity, the kind that has nothing to do with God being dead, but now takes on a new significance. The story of how the actions of an insane serial killer impacts family is very realistic, excellently portrayed and, of course, now oddly ironic. Who exactly is mad?

There is isolation, misunderstanding. And ultimately there is war. Without God, war now develops between philosophies—genetic proclivity versus free will. USA believes in free will and instigates this war that is fought elsewhere.

The story ends as opposing troops march through Mexico towards the US border where our government has put up a sign, a kind of surrender. The note on that sign is so hilarious, so right on, that there is no way to even express how perfect it is. You simply must read the whole book, then that sign, then the end.

This book is brilliant.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was fully expecting to love this book. Comparisons to Vonnegut? Great! Cover illustrations by Anders Nilsen? Fantastic! Interesting plot hook? I'm in!

But my experience with the book was, unfortunately, not as satisfying as I was hoping for. The first chapter, featuring a blustery, caricature-grade Colin Powell stomping around the Darfur region of the Sudan, presented a rocky start for me. It seemed, to me, as if Currie were trying too hard to be funny and edgy. As a result, I found the first chapter to be neither very funny nor very edgy.

The second chapter, following Dani Kitchen as she drove around in her Grand Am on the day of her graduation from high school, recaptured my attention. Dani felt real in a way that Currie's version of Colin Powell did not. And the end to the chapter, in particular, showed me what Currie is capable of as a writer.

But then the third chapter lost me again, as ten boys, in the aftermath of God's death, make a suicide pact as civilization falls apart around them. Here, the problem was not caricature or overabundant edginess, but a lack of believability. Most teenage boys I knew in high school, faced with nationwide anarchy, would thrive--or at least try to thrive. Yes, a handful of kids might lose it, but ten close friends all deciding to give up together? Lord of the Flies I believe; the male version of The Virgin Suicides , not so much.

But then the fourth chapter was near-brilliant. The government-sponsored (government-mandated, really) Child Adulation Prevention Psychiatrist is ingenious.

And so it went. I enjoyed the chapter that introduced the world war between the Postmodern Anthropologists and the Evolutionary Psychologists, but at the same time I felt as if Currie were focusing on his characters so narrowly that these inevitable, fascinating changes in a culture that knows, beyond a doubt, that God is dead, were just out of my peripheral vision. I loved the detail of teenagers writing devotional text messages to some other random teenager they'd never met, whom they prayed to as a sort of indifferent deity-figure (and also had a supplicant of his/her own, from whom he/she received devotional text messages that he/she deleted without reading). But I wanted more of these kinds of details. I understand there's a fine line between telling too little and going overboard into expository world-building mode, which will irrevocably bog down even the most interesting novel--but I felt as if I were missing some essential information in those later chapters, which led to a sort of detachment on my part.

I can see why Currie has garnered such attention as an inventive writer, and I look forward to giving one of his other books a shot, but this one didn't quite charm me the way I thought it would.

[Dukie Pookie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’d like to start this with: Maybe I expected something more like his “Everything Matters” book, maybe I overhyped this book in my head and that’s why it fell short. Either way this book felt somehow incomplete.

I wish these short stories were published separately. It feels like none of the ideas are fully expanded on, and once the story gets good it seems to abruptly cut off, thus switching into a new story that is connected to all the others by a very thin thread. It’s hard to write a book that goes through basically 2-3 lifetimes, so I can commend the effort but it falls incredibly short.

The first chapter felt, wrong to me? I was put off by how the characters were written. I wish after God died it switched to the dogs perspective since the dog ate god. Then following the dog would help make the first half of the story fully cohesive.

I wish we could have followed the dogs journey for a bit, but alas instead all we got was an interview segment. However, the interview segment was a lovely read. I personally hated how non-linear the story was. It felt like it had other parts start interjecting in the middle of a characters story.

I liked how the book handles the idea of propaganda, especially when growing up. In fact the sections with, Selia, Arnold, and his father which I’m forgetting his name… HOWEVER it should be a completely different story. It doesn’t flow smoothly from the first part… Why can’t we stay with them and watch via news/ personal accounts of the changing world? The father lived through the changes, why don’t we view it from his perspective? Why must we constantly jump around and yet, get no information that truly matters? Why have the chapter with the 10 kids committing suicide to show how hopeless the world is, when the father tells us how him and Selia felt hopeless and locked themselves inside? Why do we change perspectives just to be told over and over what happened, YET somehow get no information. Cause then just suddenly the ending is that America erased everyone’s memory and that is that. A fun twist,,, But just didn’t seem to fit in my mind.

Overall: This book tried to do too much in too small an amount of pages. It tried to tackle everything and couldn’t.

[Yağmur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kitabın konusu oldukça ilginç. Kısaca bahsetmek gerekirse, Tanrı bir gün kadın kılığında Sudan'da ölü bulunuyor. Aslında onun ölü bedenini sıradan bir ceset olmaktan çıkaran hadise, köpeklerin onun etinden tatmasıyla tanrısal özellikler göstermeleri. Bu hadisenin insanlar arasında duyulmasıyla dünyaya kaos hakim oluyor ve insanlar Tanrı'nın yokluğu nedeniyle oluşan boşluğu doldurmakla uğraşıyorlar. Kapağında yazdığı gibi, oldukça güçlü bir mizah içerdiği de inkar edilemez. Kitap birbirinden bağımsızmış gibi görünen ve ilerleyen sayfalarda birbiriyle bütünleşen 9 hikayeden oluşuyor. Benim birkaç favori hikayem oldu. Bunlardan ilki, kitaba ismini veren, "Tanrı Öldü" isimli hikaye. İkincisi, insanların çocuklara tapması ve bununla mücadele eden Çocuklara Tapmayı Önleme Derneği'nin konu edildiği "Pastırma Yazı". Üçüncüsü ise, isminden konusu hakkında yeterince ipucu veren, "Tanrı'nın Cesedini Yiyen Yabani Köpek Sürüsünün Hayatta Kalan Son Üyesiyle Söyleşi" isimli hikaye. Bu hikayeyle yazar okuru, tekrar, hikayenin başladığı yere götürüyor. Buraya kadar her şey yolunda gidiyor. Ancak kitabı yarıladıktan sonra bağlantı kuramadığım hikayeler olduğunu ve kafamda soru işaretleri olduğunu da eklemeliyim. Bir süre sonra, kafamdaki soru işaretlerini gidermek için tekrar okuyabilirim belki. Çünkü kitap, her şeye rağmen, okunmayı hak ediyor. Siren Yayınlarından çıkan Tanrı Öldü, Seçil Kıvrak'ın çevirisiyle Türkiye'deki okurla buluşuyor. Başarılı bir çeviri olduğunu söylemeliyim.