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God and Sex
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.
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.
256 pages, Hardcover
Published August 5, 2025
60 people are currently reading
3279 people want to read
About the author
Jon Raymond
13 books99 followersJonathan Raymond is an American writer living in Portland, Oregon. He is best known for writing the novels The Half-Life and Rain Dragon, and for writing the short stories and screenplays for the films Old Joy and Wendy and Lucy (both directed by Kelly Reichardt). He also wrote the screenplays for Meek's Cutoff and Night Moves, and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for his writing on the HBO miniseries, Mildred Pierce.
Raymond grew up in Lake Grove, Oregon, attended Lake Oswego High School and graduated from Swarthmore College. He received his MFA from New School University in New York.
Raymond grew up in Lake Grove, Oregon, attended Lake Oswego High School and graduated from Swarthmore College. He received his MFA from New School University in New York.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 92 reviews
December 16, 2025
When politicians talk about divine intervention, God help us. Only a Being of infinite forbearance could endure the implications of negligence lodged against Him.
This month, as Texas parents were still looking for the bodies of their children, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem said, “I’m extremely grateful for God’s hand in that whole situation because hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people were saved.”
That blinkered accounting is shocking but not unusual. We’ve heard repeatedly that God nudged an assassin’s bullet away from Donald Trump’s head in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. Why He didn’t offer that same protection to firefighter Corey Comperatore is left unmentioned.
Don’t press too hard on the sloppy logic of public praise for His preferential protection. God, we’re left to assume, is either a capricious gangster or a distracted lifeguard.
Miracles are a tough challenge for modern theology — the happy twin to the problem of evil. As the subject of political bromides, angel-touched TV shows and life-after-death bestsellers, divine intervention hovers outside the world of rational thought and scientific investigation. Miracles are even less likely to break through into the realm of literary fiction.
That’s what makes Jon Raymond’s new novel, “God and Sex,” so fascinating — and so unsettling. Without a hint of religious posturing or angelic wing-flapping, Raymond asks, Could you really stand to have your prayers answered?
The story takes place in laid-back Ashland, Oregon. Raymond — the author of several novels, including “The Half-Life,” and the screenwriter for HBO’s “Mildred Pierce” — is in no hurry to get it going. The narrator, Arthur, describes himself as “a minor writer of spiritual texts.” His books are those quasi-academic, Emersonian titles that thoughtful people exchange on holidays. Arthur drills down on single subjects — such as “light” — and offers up neatly packaged discoveries, profiles and reflections ranging from scientific to mythopoetic....
To read the rest of this review, go to The Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/...
This month, as Texas parents were still looking for the bodies of their children, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem said, “I’m extremely grateful for God’s hand in that whole situation because hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people were saved.”
That blinkered accounting is shocking but not unusual. We’ve heard repeatedly that God nudged an assassin’s bullet away from Donald Trump’s head in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. Why He didn’t offer that same protection to firefighter Corey Comperatore is left unmentioned.
Don’t press too hard on the sloppy logic of public praise for His preferential protection. God, we’re left to assume, is either a capricious gangster or a distracted lifeguard.
Miracles are a tough challenge for modern theology — the happy twin to the problem of evil. As the subject of political bromides, angel-touched TV shows and life-after-death bestsellers, divine intervention hovers outside the world of rational thought and scientific investigation. Miracles are even less likely to break through into the realm of literary fiction.
That’s what makes Jon Raymond’s new novel, “God and Sex,” so fascinating — and so unsettling. Without a hint of religious posturing or angelic wing-flapping, Raymond asks, Could you really stand to have your prayers answered?
The story takes place in laid-back Ashland, Oregon. Raymond — the author of several novels, including “The Half-Life,” and the screenwriter for HBO’s “Mildred Pierce” — is in no hurry to get it going. The narrator, Arthur, describes himself as “a minor writer of spiritual texts.” His books are those quasi-academic, Emersonian titles that thoughtful people exchange on holidays. Arthur drills down on single subjects — such as “light” — and offers up neatly packaged discoveries, profiles and reflections ranging from scientific to mythopoetic....
To read the rest of this review, go to The Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/...
August 9, 2025
"His maturity was galling. He was so capacious, so deep. Was he telling me the truth? I wondered. I wasn't sure. This might be yet another punishment he'd devised. He was roasting me in the fire of his kindness, branding me with his red-hot poker of forgiveness."
August 22, 2025
I picked this up because of its title of course... And actually had a great time with it. We have a sympathetic writer who moves back to his mom's place in Oregon after his latest flop caused him a depression. Once there he decides to write a book about trees and gets in touch with the kindest biology professor Phil and his wife Sarah...with whom he falls in love and starts an affair...
I didn't think the ideas were particularly thought-provoking - as the title might have suggested. I probably would have preferred for the characters of Phil and Sarah to be deepened further, but that's OK, it was all very entertaining.
I didn't think the ideas were particularly thought-provoking - as the title might have suggested. I probably would have preferred for the characters of Phil and Sarah to be deepened further, but that's OK, it was all very entertaining.
September 11, 2025
2.5 predictable and underwhelming. the writing was really good which kept me reading, even though i wanted to give up. the god aspect of it was very surface level and definitely just gave straight male spiritual anxiety vibes. would’ve loved if he got a bit deeper with this one and spent more time on the aftermath post-climax instead of the super long buildup, which felt unessecary and boring…
August 22, 2025
Contains much promise. Reminded me in passing of another novel about a less-than-fervent reaction by an adulterer to possible divine intervention, set down the same Pacific Coast back in the 1980s, Brian Moore's Cold Heaven. I thought Jon Raymond's screenplays for Mildred Pierce and Meek's Crossing were great; I haven't seen Night Moves. He uses his native Oregonian settings well in print and in film.
However, as First Cow to me (as directed by frequent collaborator Kelly Reichardt) indulged in "Co-Exist" hipster sentiment and very anachronistic Upper Left Coast sensibilities, so Sarah in this novel has a dig at her husband's cozy, campus-bound, snobby sinecure. Whereas our rambling narrator of Sex + God can't shake skepticism endemic in coddled college towns in the Heartland and bicoastal segregation into smug enclaves at odds ("Trust the Science") with inland "rednecks" of surprisingly diverse complexions and ethnicities. (Even if both Americas can't get going without gallons of coffee.) Wisdom needed to be divulged in this investigation of our mindsets but Raymond’s attempt at evenhanded satire or social commentary lacks depth or nuance.
Raymond lofts feeble potshots (compare Spokane native Jess Walker: see my reviews, especially of his recent So Far Gone) at the red-state big-truck denizens, but his earnest alter ego (at least in crucial scenes) is not convincing as a writer somehow able to eke out a living without much to show beyond little-read studies. Arthur’s “Tree Book” project hints of inspiration, if often a pat synthesis of secondary sources, early in the narrative, but I wearied of the novel’s uneven pace. I happened to wait for a flight today, on a few hours' layover diving into this arguably nevertheless thoughtful summer pick for eggheads. Yet it’s glaring how pedestrian Arthur’s style remains; this may reflect Raymond’s depiction of a mid-level but marginal, muddled professional failing to rise to a provocative set and setting at Mount Hood. Or it may betray its storyteller’s blinkered vision of mystery of deities amid doubt.
Fittingly, bogged down by its scribe grappling with shuffling among shopworn scenarios, eager Arthur quotes Rumi, Aquinas, and Meister Eckhart while seducing the cute wife of Phil, his doddering mentor; messy couplings carry the rush of passion by a fortyish, cagy, balding, dumpy, nattering guy. He engages intermittently in insight amidst too clunky a quotidian plod-plot. A lumbering gait fills smoky, forested pages. Feeble minds trying to figure out the cosmic meaning of questions baffling the smartest.
A semi-climactic and “act of God” (?) reveal keeps enough uncertainty to spark a credible what-if? But Raymond, if he may be aiming at another cinematic adaptation, fumbles the aftermath. In a power pivot reminiscent of The Salesman, by Joseph O'Connor, or even bits of any tall tale, tables get overturned.
A brisk, casual, offstage way Raymond recounts the tragedy of key figures may possess sudden and shocking verisimilitude, but his twist left me rolling my eyes, as I would if viewing this as arthouse movie.
Nevertheless, potentially rich themes--Northwest culture clash; Western wildfires; the publishing "moment" we're in for sylvan saunters; the difficulty many if not most in his audience will share with belief in a personal God of caprice, detachment, and irony; the challenge of sussing out love long term from sexual attraction; the folly of having an affair while talking one's self, and two selves, into rationalizing affection as biological, a baby-making imperative.
So I'd recommend it with reservations. Raymond lacks the chops to cut this chattering tale-teller to efficient size. This could have worked if 40% its length, a strong editor, and a disciplined creator. Perhaps Raymond's ties to cinema generated a clever pitch he's prepping for in print. Yet the conceit doesn't sustain momentum. It's tangled up into self-conscious prose too chatty to match its epic topics.
It's amply pitched at our current WTF moment, but in Arthur's clumsy hands, Sex + God doesn't deliver the knockout punch in its wobbly stance. It may be accurate (I learned of it at Powell's Books at Portland's airport) as to its constituents, but the overeager, self-righteous, New Age-tangled narrator runs after an ethereal concept which can't do justice to the two big ideas of his grandiose title. Author and protagonist pant, bested by these raw primal drives.
However, as First Cow to me (as directed by frequent collaborator Kelly Reichardt) indulged in "Co-Exist" hipster sentiment and very anachronistic Upper Left Coast sensibilities, so Sarah in this novel has a dig at her husband's cozy, campus-bound, snobby sinecure. Whereas our rambling narrator of Sex + God can't shake skepticism endemic in coddled college towns in the Heartland and bicoastal segregation into smug enclaves at odds ("Trust the Science") with inland "rednecks" of surprisingly diverse complexions and ethnicities. (Even if both Americas can't get going without gallons of coffee.) Wisdom needed to be divulged in this investigation of our mindsets but Raymond’s attempt at evenhanded satire or social commentary lacks depth or nuance.
Raymond lofts feeble potshots (compare Spokane native Jess Walker: see my reviews, especially of his recent So Far Gone) at the red-state big-truck denizens, but his earnest alter ego (at least in crucial scenes) is not convincing as a writer somehow able to eke out a living without much to show beyond little-read studies. Arthur’s “Tree Book” project hints of inspiration, if often a pat synthesis of secondary sources, early in the narrative, but I wearied of the novel’s uneven pace. I happened to wait for a flight today, on a few hours' layover diving into this arguably nevertheless thoughtful summer pick for eggheads. Yet it’s glaring how pedestrian Arthur’s style remains; this may reflect Raymond’s depiction of a mid-level but marginal, muddled professional failing to rise to a provocative set and setting at Mount Hood. Or it may betray its storyteller’s blinkered vision of mystery of deities amid doubt.
Fittingly, bogged down by its scribe grappling with shuffling among shopworn scenarios, eager Arthur quotes Rumi, Aquinas, and Meister Eckhart while seducing the cute wife of Phil, his doddering mentor; messy couplings carry the rush of passion by a fortyish, cagy, balding, dumpy, nattering guy. He engages intermittently in insight amidst too clunky a quotidian plod-plot. A lumbering gait fills smoky, forested pages. Feeble minds trying to figure out the cosmic meaning of questions baffling the smartest.
A semi-climactic and “act of God” (?) reveal keeps enough uncertainty to spark a credible what-if? But Raymond, if he may be aiming at another cinematic adaptation, fumbles the aftermath. In a power pivot reminiscent of The Salesman, by Joseph O'Connor, or even bits of any tall tale, tables get overturned.
A brisk, casual, offstage way Raymond recounts the tragedy of key figures may possess sudden and shocking verisimilitude, but his twist left me rolling my eyes, as I would if viewing this as arthouse movie.
Nevertheless, potentially rich themes--Northwest culture clash; Western wildfires; the publishing "moment" we're in for sylvan saunters; the difficulty many if not most in his audience will share with belief in a personal God of caprice, detachment, and irony; the challenge of sussing out love long term from sexual attraction; the folly of having an affair while talking one's self, and two selves, into rationalizing affection as biological, a baby-making imperative.
So I'd recommend it with reservations. Raymond lacks the chops to cut this chattering tale-teller to efficient size. This could have worked if 40% its length, a strong editor, and a disciplined creator. Perhaps Raymond's ties to cinema generated a clever pitch he's prepping for in print. Yet the conceit doesn't sustain momentum. It's tangled up into self-conscious prose too chatty to match its epic topics.
It's amply pitched at our current WTF moment, but in Arthur's clumsy hands, Sex + God doesn't deliver the knockout punch in its wobbly stance. It may be accurate (I learned of it at Powell's Books at Portland's airport) as to its constituents, but the overeager, self-righteous, New Age-tangled narrator runs after an ethereal concept which can't do justice to the two big ideas of his grandiose title. Author and protagonist pant, bested by these raw primal drives.
October 20, 2025
As someone who grew up religious, this book hit probably the right cord for me. A look at choice and coincidence and where we assign ownership of outcome. This delves into providence and whether we ourselves actually have a choice in God's plan.
But what is this book about, this book with such a strange title? Well, it is about both sex and God. There are some spicy scenes that kind of grossed me out. I think this author really failed at writing these moments in the book, case in point the below quote (hidden because it is just gross):
But if you can get past this truly bad moment (or 2) there is actually a good book here. A book about love, lust, and betrayal. A book about loss and yearning. A book that explores the themes I shared at the start of this review in a really dynamic way. It has an unsettling way of exploring our control and the secrets we keep and for me, despite the gripes, was a well crafted short novel that hit home.
But what is this book about, this book with such a strange title? Well, it is about both sex and God. There are some spicy scenes that kind of grossed me out. I think this author really failed at writing these moments in the book, case in point the below quote (hidden because it is just gross):
But if you can get past this truly bad moment (or 2) there is actually a good book here. A book about love, lust, and betrayal. A book about loss and yearning. A book that explores the themes I shared at the start of this review in a really dynamic way. It has an unsettling way of exploring our control and the secrets we keep and for me, despite the gripes, was a well crafted short novel that hit home.
May 20, 2025
I am not an enthusiastic fan of this book. I was intrigued by the description, and I tend to gravitate toward novels that explore spirituality. I guess the tip -off on this one should have been sex in the title and term carnal knowledge in the promotional blurb. The intimate scenes were too graphic for my taste and seemed devoid of morality based on the protagonist’s books that reflect spirituality with science.
Arthur Zinn is a forty-something author who has had a mildly successful career. After his last book on Light failed to achieve any recognition, he retreats to his mother’s home in Ashland, Oregon to regroup and plan his next writing project. As Arthur contemplates writing a unique perspective on trees, he meets Phil, a college professor with a focus on ecology. Through his deepening friendship with Phil, Arthur becomes acquainted with Phil’s wife, Sarah, with whom he begins a lust fueled affair.
The pace of the novel is slow with detailed explanations of trees – both from a natural and symbolic viewpoint. The pace picks up with a description of a monstrous wildfire on Mount Hood which leads to an event that calls into question Arthur’s beliefs about God and spirituality. His dilemma is understandable, but it left me wondering how far he would go to rationalize his behavior in the betrayal of his friend. This is a flawed protagonist that does not engender much goodwill.
My appreciation to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
.
Arthur Zinn is a forty-something author who has had a mildly successful career. After his last book on Light failed to achieve any recognition, he retreats to his mother’s home in Ashland, Oregon to regroup and plan his next writing project. As Arthur contemplates writing a unique perspective on trees, he meets Phil, a college professor with a focus on ecology. Through his deepening friendship with Phil, Arthur becomes acquainted with Phil’s wife, Sarah, with whom he begins a lust fueled affair.
The pace of the novel is slow with detailed explanations of trees – both from a natural and symbolic viewpoint. The pace picks up with a description of a monstrous wildfire on Mount Hood which leads to an event that calls into question Arthur’s beliefs about God and spirituality. His dilemma is understandable, but it left me wondering how far he would go to rationalize his behavior in the betrayal of his friend. This is a flawed protagonist that does not engender much goodwill.
My appreciation to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
.
October 3, 2025
sick title!
read the full review here!!!
as the new york times says, "god and sex" is two of the biggest small words in the dictionary, and it's a great task for an author to write about two of the most difficult and vast themes in literature.
and he did a great job!!
the first half of this book mainly focuses on the "sex" part, while the second half of the book discusses the "god" part, and i thought that it was all lovely. It was beautifully written, and even though the book is only like 240 pages, its content is so large that i really don't think I'll be able to sum it up adequately in this review.
Along with god and sex, Raymond also discusses what it's like to be a writer, how being an author means you're essentially a thief, stealing ideas and stories from other people. He spends almost 80% of the book talking about and describing nature. The scenes of nature in this book are grandiose and epic, and even the wildfire is one of the most sublime things I have ever read. The descriptions of the wildfire are terrifyingly beautiful, as the gothics would probably describe the sublime to be.
but is god real? does it matter if he's real? god is only as real as you wish him to be. god is only real if you're looking out for him.
the narrator mentions the story of Abraham and how he's willing to murder his child just because god said so. to the eyes of the believer, Abraham is faithful, loyal, and the ideal religious guy. but to the eyes of everyone else, he's a psychopath who probably needs to be put in a mental hospital for trying to kill his own child. who is to say one interpretation is right? are you even a true believer if you've never actually questioned your faith? isn't believing in god also ultimately a selfish act, to believe that your actions and desires and beliefs and deals with god can actually change the lives of those around you and your environment? isn't believing that a simple prayer could change your life (and others' lives) ultimately conceited?
all that is to say, i loved the discussions of religion in this book. because the narrator wasn't religious to begin with, his ideas about miracles and all that jazz are really interesting, and I loved how he tried to reason with religion without it being to preachy. it was wonderful.
and the sex part was good too, I guess LOL. i love a good story about adultery, but that's just me.
anyway, solid story! if you want to read about religion from a rational point of view, i highly recommend this one. ok bye!!!!
read the full review here!!!
as the new york times says, "god and sex" is two of the biggest small words in the dictionary, and it's a great task for an author to write about two of the most difficult and vast themes in literature.
and he did a great job!!
the first half of this book mainly focuses on the "sex" part, while the second half of the book discusses the "god" part, and i thought that it was all lovely. It was beautifully written, and even though the book is only like 240 pages, its content is so large that i really don't think I'll be able to sum it up adequately in this review.
Along with god and sex, Raymond also discusses what it's like to be a writer, how being an author means you're essentially a thief, stealing ideas and stories from other people. He spends almost 80% of the book talking about and describing nature. The scenes of nature in this book are grandiose and epic, and even the wildfire is one of the most sublime things I have ever read. The descriptions of the wildfire are terrifyingly beautiful, as the gothics would probably describe the sublime to be.
but is god real? does it matter if he's real? god is only as real as you wish him to be. god is only real if you're looking out for him.
the narrator mentions the story of Abraham and how he's willing to murder his child just because god said so. to the eyes of the believer, Abraham is faithful, loyal, and the ideal religious guy. but to the eyes of everyone else, he's a psychopath who probably needs to be put in a mental hospital for trying to kill his own child. who is to say one interpretation is right? are you even a true believer if you've never actually questioned your faith? isn't believing in god also ultimately a selfish act, to believe that your actions and desires and beliefs and deals with god can actually change the lives of those around you and your environment? isn't believing that a simple prayer could change your life (and others' lives) ultimately conceited?
all that is to say, i loved the discussions of religion in this book. because the narrator wasn't religious to begin with, his ideas about miracles and all that jazz are really interesting, and I loved how he tried to reason with religion without it being to preachy. it was wonderful.
and the sex part was good too, I guess LOL. i love a good story about adultery, but that's just me.
anyway, solid story! if you want to read about religion from a rational point of view, i highly recommend this one. ok bye!!!!
August 22, 2025
Dull
Pretentious and overwritten, there is little in this book to enjoy and less to admire. The story is banal, the characters flimsy, and the spiritualism shallow. The narrator sounds like an over wrought sophomore.
Pretentious and overwritten, there is little in this book to enjoy and less to admire. The story is banal, the characters flimsy, and the spiritualism shallow. The narrator sounds like an over wrought sophomore.
November 13, 2025
Raymond captures life so beautifully in his writing. And as always the characters and dialogue take center stage. The three main characters share the spotlight equally. I always enjoy a character who is wholly good, no matter the scenario and Phil continued to be felt, even when he wasn’t being mentioned. I did feel like having Arthur explain his shock and grief in the book sometimes felt underwhelming— and that’s not how information gets revealed in Raymond’s books, but I digress
Plot wise it was satisfying. I enjoyed learning about the trees, nature and just living in the PNW. My favorite passage is when Arthur calls his mom and we get some of the best characters interactions as well as the first mention of “god” in the context. Great storytelling as always and excited for the next one, be it on the screen or the page.
Plot wise it was satisfying. I enjoyed learning about the trees, nature and just living in the PNW. My favorite passage is when Arthur calls his mom and we get some of the best characters interactions as well as the first mention of “god” in the context. Great storytelling as always and excited for the next one, be it on the screen or the page.
August 18, 2025
Book of the year.
August 11, 2025
Wow! I haven't listened to a book that good in months. The first half was good but the second half was PHENOMENAL!
Read
September 5, 2025The only thing a librarian does is shelve
January 6, 2026
Three stars at the most, and the longer I think about it, the less I like this book. Here is some praise, though: the story explores the sacred nature of trees in a touching fashion; and there is a chilling and skillful account of what it's like to fight for safety and limit destruction in the middle of one of the huge forest fires, this time in Oregon, that are becoming ever more common, given the advancing Climate Catastrophe. But here are some criticisms: the narrator/author is most concerned about himself as a writer, with lots of musings on what all that's like; the over-arching love affair that drives the story is described from his view only; neither the narrator nor the woman, possibly fathered by the controversial Guru Rajneesh, ever explores that counter-cultural history in any depth; the book is feathered with musings about the nature of G-d that offer neither the narrator nor the reader any particular insight; and the ending offers no resolution to the various plights described. I don't plan to read any of Raymond's other books, or to see his movies, but he is not altogether without talent, either. Sort of like the narrator often describes himself, sincere but mediocre.
January 23, 2026
honestly closer to 4.5 maybe even 5 but it’s abt a man and written by a man so it can never quite get there. best book i’ve read this year tho. deeply readable and i greatly enjoyed how arthur is so severely unlikeable. choosing to believe that we are meant to see him as such and anyone who doesn’t think that is dumb. everything was done so well and nothing was overdone. very real.
August 28, 2025
beautiful, thoughtful and extremely well written! One I’m glad I purchased
January 21, 2026
This book surprised me. Obviously the title intrigued me but the first 50 pages almost made put this on a dnf list but man did it pick up.
January 4, 2026
Quick read.
I picked up this book in hopes to understand more about a character’s relationship with God and sex, as the title would suggest. It’s not quite really about that - is there God? Yes. Sex? Yes. However, both of those themes aren’t truly the point of the novel.
The novel explores a man’s friendship with a knowledgeable mentor and peer, and eventually his journey of breaking their trust in this friendship.
Jon Raymond does a brilliant job of describing the internal struggle and monologue of the protagonist, and taking me through the mind of such a flawed character - so much so, I’ve found myself utterly hating him for being imperfect, but this is just the nature of being human.
The writing is descriptive, somewhat predictable to see where the story is heading through intentional cues.
There were a few opportunities I wish Raymond would’ve dug deeper and explored, one of them being the conversation with Arthur’s mom: the idea that women are obsessed with their holes and men are obsessed with God and power.
This book was strong, yet safe.
I picked up this book in hopes to understand more about a character’s relationship with God and sex, as the title would suggest. It’s not quite really about that - is there God? Yes. Sex? Yes. However, both of those themes aren’t truly the point of the novel.
The novel explores a man’s friendship with a knowledgeable mentor and peer, and eventually his journey of breaking their trust in this friendship.
Jon Raymond does a brilliant job of describing the internal struggle and monologue of the protagonist, and taking me through the mind of such a flawed character - so much so, I’ve found myself utterly hating him for being imperfect, but this is just the nature of being human.
The writing is descriptive, somewhat predictable to see where the story is heading through intentional cues.
There were a few opportunities I wish Raymond would’ve dug deeper and explored, one of them being the conversation with Arthur’s mom: the idea that women are obsessed with their holes and men are obsessed with God and power.
This book was strong, yet safe.
September 12, 2025
Very nuanced book. As the title says about God and sex, but also about relationships and the stories we tell ourselves.
October 12, 2025
I've been in a novel reading slump for a few months, and even though on the surface this book is about very little (mostly about writing a book, having an affair, and making deals with God), it gripped me enough to get me out of my slump. Very good writing and very good exploration of creativity, love, guilt, and grief.
December 9, 2025
There’s something almost capital-R Romantic about this novel — Perhaps it’s the navel-gazing quality, or the lack of modernity in its content. Almost would’ve preferred it as an epistolary work, rather than a novelist noveling about himself.
The blurb writer did me dirty on this. Environmental issues are pretty secondary to guilt issues…
The blurb writer did me dirty on this. Environmental issues are pretty secondary to guilt issues…
Read
August 16, 2025I have long loved Raymond’s work in cinema, but never read his books. It’s clear that his work is in Reichardt’s, but her pre-Raymond style lets us know that she brings the slower, more understated tones out in front. This book was good, moved fast, and has an interesting thesis: love is one thing that can convince you miracles exist. Granted, Love & Miracles is a much worse title, but God & Sex is also awful.
I have a feeling that Phillip Roth would have LOVED this one if he was still alive.
I have a feeling that Phillip Roth would have LOVED this one if he was still alive.
October 18, 2025
2.5 stars. It was alright. The writing is ordinary, but it works. It reads like a smart person who isn’t a writer wrote a book. I found it boring a lot of the time, skimming over sections. The story was interesting enough to hold me until the end, which I guess says something, since I often DNF books.
November 26, 2025
Very thought provoking. Really enjoyed the premise and the questions the book raised. It’s very short, but really worth reading.
September 17, 2025
How interesting to read the blurb on this new book, which makes it all about the confluence of climate change and spiritual belief. In a way this mirrors directly the narrator in the novel, who positions his book about trees to ride the wave of public interest in, for example, how trees communicate with each other. Riding the wave.
I've been trying to remember who or what recommended the book to me. All I can own up to is that the title rides the very long wave of my interest in sex, and promises some kind of tantalizing spiritual connection.
I was moderately satisfied on both wavelengths.
The sex and relationship story is quite well told, with some honesty about how people simply fall into what is often called a love triangle. It also depicts a remarkably close relationship between the two men on opposite "legs" of the triangle, even though as Arthur frankly acknowledges the impact "the fact was, we'd sent an exterminating love into Phil's life and he was awakening to the terror of his loss."
And also I can relate to the character who says
The God story felt at some levels rather trite, but is at least partially redeemed by the deeper spirituality of the characters' connection with nature and its redemptive powers. I love the way one of the nature reclamation activists in the story puts it
I've been trying to remember who or what recommended the book to me. All I can own up to is that the title rides the very long wave of my interest in sex, and promises some kind of tantalizing spiritual connection.
I was moderately satisfied on both wavelengths.
The sex and relationship story is quite well told, with some honesty about how people simply fall into what is often called a love triangle. It also depicts a remarkably close relationship between the two men on opposite "legs" of the triangle, even though as Arthur frankly acknowledges the impact "the fact was, we'd sent an exterminating love into Phil's life and he was awakening to the terror of his loss."
And also I can relate to the character who says
If everyone else wasn't walking around with these movies in their heads, these visions at once utterly depraved and utterly inconsequential, if they weren't imagining their fellow humans in every possible state of excitement and undress, I truly had no idea of what was going on in the world at all.Very frank and honest and more common than most people realize.
The God story felt at some levels rather trite, but is at least partially redeemed by the deeper spirituality of the characters' connection with nature and its redemptive powers. I love the way one of the nature reclamation activists in the story puts it
This is a nerve ending of the world ... we're doing earth acupuncture here, opening up larger channels. When you do that, big things happen.What felt like a bonus for me, given the obvious promises contained in the title, was some quite deep and interesting exploration of what it is to write. Having written a couple of books and lots of other published writing in my various blogs, I could relate a lot to the joy of simply diving, or sinking, into different phases of writing - from research to early drafts to crafting and refining a coherent piece of work.
September 8, 2025
3.5 stars
The title of this novel isn’t a marketing tool, for sure. Having now read the book, I understand that it expresses well the book’s major theme, but still, it doesn’t make you (well, me) want to grab the book off the shelf, does it? But once I learned that the author is a screenwriter-collaborator with Kelly Reichardt on many of her sui generis films, especially the completely heart-rending Wendy and Lucy, I had to try this. I don’t want to give too much away, so I’ll just say that it involves a writer of non-fiction books who plans to write a book about trees, knows very little about the subject, so consults a local academic expert. The two men bond immediately, becoming close friends very quickly, and then the writer meets his new friend’s wife. Well. A passionate affair ensues. And events progress to the point of making a desperate bargain with God (by a non-believer) in exchange for a miracle. So in addition to exploring themes of betrayal and guilt and love and passion, we have looks in at the existence and nature of God and man’s relationship to the divine. A major plot point involves an environmental disaster, so there’s that too. Most of all, I enjoyed the narrative voice (told in the first person by the betraying friend), intelligent and impassioned both, from a man who carefully considers every facet of his life and mostly lets himself be guided by his heart.
The title of this novel isn’t a marketing tool, for sure. Having now read the book, I understand that it expresses well the book’s major theme, but still, it doesn’t make you (well, me) want to grab the book off the shelf, does it? But once I learned that the author is a screenwriter-collaborator with Kelly Reichardt on many of her sui generis films, especially the completely heart-rending Wendy and Lucy, I had to try this. I don’t want to give too much away, so I’ll just say that it involves a writer of non-fiction books who plans to write a book about trees, knows very little about the subject, so consults a local academic expert. The two men bond immediately, becoming close friends very quickly, and then the writer meets his new friend’s wife. Well. A passionate affair ensues. And events progress to the point of making a desperate bargain with God (by a non-believer) in exchange for a miracle. So in addition to exploring themes of betrayal and guilt and love and passion, we have looks in at the existence and nature of God and man’s relationship to the divine. A major plot point involves an environmental disaster, so there’s that too. Most of all, I enjoyed the narrative voice (told in the first person by the betraying friend), intelligent and impassioned both, from a man who carefully considers every facet of his life and mostly lets himself be guided by his heart.
January 7, 2026
I wouldn’t likely be friends with any of the primary characters: Phil, the unflappable zen professor; Arthur, the cowardly and deceitful writer; and Sarah, the sometimes-intellectual, sometimes-new age librarian who seems to crash through the world. But that’s what I appreciated about it. Aside from Phil, who I believe was made intentionally one-note in order to act as a foil to Arthur (whose character flaws shone next to Arthur’s sincerity and above-it-all-ness), Sarah and Arthur were unlikable because they were complex. They were human. They reminded me of real people I know or have known.
I particularly appreciated the way Sarah’s shift in identity handled. I won’t spoil it here, but suffice it to say that while the move might too easily be discounted as cheap, a heteronormative expression of the patriarchy, the conflict Sarah has with who she’s been, what she decided about her life, and how she’s changing is a real and urgent-feeling thing. Women blow their lives up all the time over this exact internal shift.
I’m not a mystical person myself, but the small bit of magic, or God, we see in the second half of the book creates a massive amount of tension and intrigue, making the final 100+ pages fly.
I have to note here, too, the cleverness of the plot’s structure. Is this the tree book Arthur was writing IN the book? Seems to be.
I particularly appreciated the way Sarah’s shift in identity handled. I won’t spoil it here, but suffice it to say that while the move might too easily be discounted as cheap, a heteronormative expression of the patriarchy, the conflict Sarah has with who she’s been, what she decided about her life, and how she’s changing is a real and urgent-feeling thing. Women blow their lives up all the time over this exact internal shift.
I’m not a mystical person myself, but the small bit of magic, or God, we see in the second half of the book creates a massive amount of tension and intrigue, making the final 100+ pages fly.
I have to note here, too, the cleverness of the plot’s structure. Is this the tree book Arthur was writing IN the book? Seems to be.
May 26, 2025
God and Sex
By Jon Raymond
Arthur is a somewhat successful writer of spiritual books. He is searching for inspiration on a new book when he meets Phil, a college professor who becomes a close friend and mentor. He also meets Phil's wife, Sarah, a college librarian.
As the couple draws him into their circle of close friends, Arthur's feelings about them begin to change. Sarah and Arthur fall in love and have an affair. The lovers eventually decide that they want to have a life together, thus requiring that Sarah tell Phil and ask for a divorce. But before that conversation can happen, Sarah's life is threatened in a forest fire and Arthur goes to search for her. When he finds her, trapped and apparently lifeless, Arthur prays for a miracle. He bargains with a God he doesn't believe in and vows to give up Sarah if her life is spared.
What happens then is mysterious – is it a miracle, is there really a God, is Arthur bound to uphold his end of the bargain? What exactly is it that holds the universe together?
This is a well written but very strange book. If you have doubts – as many of us do – about the existence of a creator, this book leaves you with much to think about.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.
By Jon Raymond
Arthur is a somewhat successful writer of spiritual books. He is searching for inspiration on a new book when he meets Phil, a college professor who becomes a close friend and mentor. He also meets Phil's wife, Sarah, a college librarian.
As the couple draws him into their circle of close friends, Arthur's feelings about them begin to change. Sarah and Arthur fall in love and have an affair. The lovers eventually decide that they want to have a life together, thus requiring that Sarah tell Phil and ask for a divorce. But before that conversation can happen, Sarah's life is threatened in a forest fire and Arthur goes to search for her. When he finds her, trapped and apparently lifeless, Arthur prays for a miracle. He bargains with a God he doesn't believe in and vows to give up Sarah if her life is spared.
What happens then is mysterious – is it a miracle, is there really a God, is Arthur bound to uphold his end of the bargain? What exactly is it that holds the universe together?
This is a well written but very strange book. If you have doubts – as many of us do – about the existence of a creator, this book leaves you with much to think about.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.
April 1, 2025
God and Sex is about writing a book about writing a book about trees. It is also a love story and an in ternal debate about belief in God. Arthur, a kind of naturalist author, whose previous book was about light (?). It is also a graphic and erotic novel about love, sex and friendship. It takes place in Oregon, where Arthur is living in his other's old house and researching a book following a less than well-reviewed previous tome. Arthur meets Phil, a professor at a local university and they become friends. Arthur also meets and falls in love with Phil's wife, Sarah.
The only really gripping portion of the novel describes a fast-moving forest fire. Much of the information about the life of trees and the reclamation of meadows left me skipping pages and fighting boredom. The other somewhat interesting and thought-provoking writing are the chapters dealing with negotiating with God. This novel may appeal to some readers, but it was not, unfortunately, my cup of tea.
Thanks to Net Galley and Simon and Schuster for the chance to read this strangely titled ARC. (But I guess I can see why Jon Raymond chose it.
The only really gripping portion of the novel describes a fast-moving forest fire. Much of the information about the life of trees and the reclamation of meadows left me skipping pages and fighting boredom. The other somewhat interesting and thought-provoking writing are the chapters dealing with negotiating with God. This novel may appeal to some readers, but it was not, unfortunately, my cup of tea.
Thanks to Net Galley and Simon and Schuster for the chance to read this strangely titled ARC. (But I guess I can see why Jon Raymond chose it.
August 6, 2025
God and Sex
by Jon Raymond
Pub Date: Aug 05 2025
God and Sex is a well written but very different kind of book. If you have doubts – as some do – about the existence of a creator, this book leaves you with much to think about. What exactly is it that holds the universe together?
Synopsis: 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.
Many thanks to #GodandSex #NetGalley and #Simon&Schuster for providing me an E-ARC of this book.
by Jon Raymond
Pub Date: Aug 05 2025
God and Sex is a well written but very different kind of book. If you have doubts – as some do – about the existence of a creator, this book leaves you with much to think about. What exactly is it that holds the universe together?
Synopsis: 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.
Many thanks to #GodandSex #NetGalley and #Simon&Schuster for providing me an E-ARC of this book.
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