Customer Reviews

The Divinely Human Comedy of James Morrow

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This was a great read for me. I'm a very big fan of James Morrow and was delighted with this collection. There is some very thought-provoking stuff in his work and the essays clearly illustrate that. If you're a fan of Morrow, I suggest this book for it's fantastic analysis of his wonderful satire.

Update: I don't remember reading the book or writing the review, so while I agree with how wonderful James Morrow is, I'm going to have to reread it to make sure I wasn't just hallucinating.

A special issue of the ParaDoxa literary journal (volume 5, issue 12 [1999]) dedicated to author James Morrow in general and his Godhead Trilogy in specific. For those not familiar with the Godhead Trilogy -- Towing Jehovah [1994], Blameless in Abaddon [1996], and The Eternal Footman [1999] -- it is considered one of the greatest modern satiric fantasies, being a brilliant mixture of techno-speculative humor, corporeal theology and razor-sharp satire.

Guest editor James Winchell (of Northwest Academy, Portland) provides an useful introduction that stresses the reader's role in remembering a dismembered deity, a significant aspect to Morrow's trilogy. Followed by several interesting critical works concerning Morrow or one of his works, the reader is soon provided an true polished gem: hardcore philologist and author of The Hidden Book in the Bible, Richard Elliott Friedman, recounts an astonishing tale of synchronistic connectivity between his own scholarly work (i.e. Who Wrote the Bible? and The Hidden Face of God) and his initial encounter with Morrow's writing. In a humorous turn of events and coincidental shared enthusiasm, Morrow provides "Raiders of the Lost Novel: An Appreciation of Richard Elliott Friedman's The Hidden Book in the Bible" -- a review with dual functions: clarity regarding Friedman's book as well as unprecedented insights into the views on biblical scholarship and artistic composition that Morrow hold true.

In "Lord, What Fools These Mortal Be! Confrontation with Death in The Eternal Footman," noted scholar Brian Stableford provides critical analysis of Morrow's final volume in the Godhead Trilogy, The Eternal Footman, which had been recently released at the time of publication. To round out the stream-of-thought that Stableford begins, George Aichele's essay explores the thanato-theological condition as found in the first two volumes in the Godhead Trilogy. Aichele's meditation culminates with the provocative post-Nietzschean concept that the death of God might have no lasting ramifications or consequences.

A true highlight of this release, though, is Samuel R. Delany's exchanged "questions and answers" with James Morrow. Delany proves able to coax thoughtful discourse from Morrow on numerous subjects, leaving "no stone unturned" as it were in their extended dialogue. Of even greater interest than Delany's interview is "A Vulnerable Athiest: The Author Responds to His Interpreters," which -- as the title implies -- is a forum for Morrow to respond to the critical thoughts previously expressed in this volume. A charming and detailed endnote, Morrow articulates how the essays mesh or oppose his own current thoughts.