The Shack, A contemporary spiritual tale of healing.

[Dover]

Amazon site: http://www.amazon.com/Shack-William-P-Young/dp/0964729237

I've been hearing about this book, titled The Shack here and there, but haven't read it...though I'm tempted to mainly because it seems to have touched a lot of people. Would love to get your impressions if you've read this book.

Here's one review:

Mr. Nowak, a maintenance worker near Yakima, Wash., first bought a copy of “The Shack,” a slim paperback novel by an unknown author about a grieving father who meets God in the form of a jolly African-American woman, at a Borders bookstore in March. He was so taken by the story of redemption and God’s love that he promptly bought 10 more copies to give to family and friends.

“Everybody that I know has bought at least 10 copies,” Mr. Nowak said. “There’s definitely something about the book that makes people want to share it.”

Thousands of readers like Mr. Nowak, a regular churchgoer, have helped propel “The Shack,” written by William P. Young, a former office manager and hotel night clerk in Gresham, Ore., and privately published by a pair of former pastors near Los Angeles, into a surprise best seller. It is the most compelling recent example of how a word-of-mouth phenomenon can explode into a blockbuster when the momentum hits chain bookstores, and the marketing and distribution power of a major commercial publisher is thrown behind it.

Just over a year after it was originally published as a paperback, “The Shack” had its debut at No. 1 on the New York Times trade paperback fiction best-seller list on June 8 and has stayed there ever since. It is No. 1 on Borders Group’s trade paperback fiction list, and at Barnes & Noble it has been No. 1 on the trade paperback list since the end of May, outselling even Mr. Tolle’s spiritual guide “A New Earth,” selected by Ms. Winfrey’s book club in January.

Its publisher, Windblown Media, a company that was formed expressly to publish “The Shack” in May of last year, estimates that the book has sold more than one million copies. According to Nielsen Bookscan, which usually tracks about 70 percent of sales, the book has sold about 350,000 copies, although those numbers do not include sales at stores like Wal-Mart or direct sales from the publisher’s Web site, theshackbook.com, which may have accounted for an unusually large percentage of the book’s sales.

Early in the novel the young daughter of the protagonist, Mack, is abducted. Four years later he visits the shack where evidence of the girl’s murder was discovered. He spends a weekend there in a kind of spiritual therapy session with God, who calls herself “Papa”; Jesus, who appears as a Jewish workman; and Sarayu, an indeterminately Asian woman who incarnates the Holy Spirit...cont'd

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/books/24shack.html?em



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Excerpt:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/23/books/24shack-excerpt.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1

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Website: http://theshackbook.com/

[Matariki]

1. That's my favorite conception/image of god

'A Jolly African American woman'. My partner and I make up stories about her sitting on a rocking chair on her porch, with a cup of whiskey, telling stories to her children (us), and thus creating the world. I'll have to check this book out. Thanks!

[mysticalchick]

2. I had two people ...

... mention that book to me within a week of each other so I know that was the Universe nudging me to read it. I'm working my way through it - the writing isn't stellar but I think I am just getting to the "meat" of the story. I'd love to hear what you guys all think of it.

[rosesaylavee]

3. Me too!

I met someone like that a couple of decades ago and I still enjoy that memory. She reminded me very much of Ella Fitzgerald.

And when you think about, considering we ALL came out of Africa at one time or the other, seeing the Great Entity as a black woman makes a lot of sense.

[Matariki]

5. Yeah. I like to mix it up though - my image of god

I don't think my tiny meat brain can comprehend the mystery, so I like to think of god from every angle I can think of. A wise and jolly black woman is one of my favorite images for god though.

[japple]

6. I've always pictured god as looking somewhat like Toni Morrison.

And she certainly has a godlike voice (though I'd never think of her as jolly.) I've listened to her read some of her works on audiobooks and her voice is truly mesmerizing.

[rosesaylavee]

7. Or Maya Angelou

Capable of such depth and emotion with such a lovely voice. And a great laugh.

[Matariki]

10. wow. she's a gorgeous woman.

[Dover]

8. Me three. Actually this archetypal Mother has shown up in my dreams.

She is as deep and rich as the earth with a timeless wisdom.

I do like the author's unorthodox 'trinity' of gods and goddesses, even if he is unseasoned as a writer.

I hope someone has read it and can provide some commentary.

[rosesaylavee]

12. Ooops. Sorry!

Didn't mean to hijack the thread. Will track down a copy - maybe from the library and give an opinion.

:blush:

[Kind of Blue]

4. "Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity"

:hi: Wow! That certainly caught my eye. It would be interesting to see how the author thinks it all fits in the grand scheme of things. And the intrigue of it written by an unknown author is fascinating. I'd love to read this book.
Thank you for this, Dover.

[diddlysquat]

9. Discussion in fiction books:

There was a discussion in fiction Books here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=208&topic_id=16003

Read down to the comments by the person who has a Buddhist mother.
Some of this is pretty interesting.

[Dover]

11. Oh, thanks so much for this link! FirstLight and LWolf are regulars here at ASAH

and I hold their opinions in high regard.

Both of their comments in that thread sum up or confirm my instincts about the little bit of info I've received about this book and my general outlook. The fact that this book couldn't find a major publisher was a bit of red flag, although this is becoming a common enough practice these days like indy films. But I wondered if there wasn't some hype involved. I agree with FirstLight (who also had not yet read the book at the time of her comments in that thread) that Christianity has gotten a bad rap due to fundamentalist literalism and abuse of the doctrine and we need not throw out the true Word with the fundamentalist bath water..so to speak.

But I also trust LWolf's impressions (who HAS read the book). I suppose it all depends on where one is in their own spiritual journey.

While I sensed this book might be a big disappointment for me, that didn't diminish my curiosity about what others were drawn to about it. And I'm still curious about that. At the book's website it suggests that it answers a question that seems to be on many people's minds which is essentially why God allows bad things to happen to good people.

I have found that 'bad things' or difficulties are excellent teachers. Others might feel that God has singled them out for punishment. So I'm wondering how the book addresses that issue.

And I'm curious how he treats the 'trinity'.

[Kind of Blue]

13. Second synchronicity like this

happening in 2 weeks!
Edited a local morning news broadcast and guess who one of the guest was? Paul Young, author of The Shack. Here's the link.
http://www.sandiego6.com/content/morning/default.aspx
It's on the right side of the page under On Demand. You have to click the arrows until the story appears. He certainly is interesting and down to earth.