Customer Reviews

Escape From Heaven

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I read the first part of ESCAPE FROM HEAVEN for free on line. That's the way J. Neil Schulman hooks you in. You're reading along, enjoying the story, getting into it, than right at the most exciting part, he cuts your water off. Sort of like Tom Lehrer's "Old Dope Peddler":

He gives the kids free samples,
Because he knows full well
That today's young innocent faces
Will be tomorrow's clientele.

I'm not complaining, though. I just had to read the rest, because it was such a rollicking good story and funny as, uh, hell. I especially appreciated the little inside jokes and references for science fiction fans, libertarians and gunnies. It kept me glued to the screen until I had read it "cover" to "cover."

A couple of caveats; if you think you don't like anything but "hardcore" science fiction, this is probably not the J. Neil Schulman book for you. (Though I strongly recommend you give it a chance--hey, it's free.) Ditto, if you take your religion too seriously. (Schulman seems to agree with Heinlein's observation "One man's theology is another man's belly laugh." ESCAPE FROM HEAVEN has something to offend everyone's religious sensibilities, therefore plenty of belly laughs.

This book just did not engage me at all. I found it boring and childishly written, not an enthralling page-turner.

Bad writing is bad writing...

This amazing--and FUNNY--book begins with the last earthly hours of radio talk show host Duj (rhymes with judge) Pepperman, as he receives an unheard of call-in from God, and is summoned home to heaven. There he receives an unexpected assignment and learns some surprising things about God, including the fact that God looks just like him. And that's just for starters.

Soon Duj is involved in the climactic battle of God and Satan, conducted as a political campaign, with assistance from some of the greatest minds in history, not least of which is a man author Schulman has always admired--Robert Heinlein. All this is related in snappy, irreverent dialogue that will keep you laughing. But there is more.

In fact, there is lots more, and I won't spoil it for you. Schulman turns all the major religions upside down and shakes them. His ideas about God, Jesus, Satan, Adam and Eve, are totally unorthodox. What is he doing? It sounds a lot like midrash--a kind of teaching story that Jewish scholars use to teach theological principles. What is he saying? That God is really, really good. That God took a tremendous risk in creation, and in giving us free will. That God wants us, his children to be free and creative and--well--godlike.

Is Schulman a mystic, teaching us Kabbalah or Gnosis? Is he doing midrash cloaked in outrageous humor? Or is he just having fun? You will have to decide for yourself. And I hope you will. This is a marvelous book and I hope you will read it. Maybe more than once. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber

I first ran into J. Neil Schulman when I came across a used paperback of his novel, Alongside Night, in 1985 -- and I've been a fan ever since. Alongside Night read like one of the better Heinlein juveniles but took place in contemporary times. Not a bad start for a first-time novelist, huh?

My next trip to the used book store (Acres of Books in Long Beach, CA, for true aficionados) found his second novel, The Rainbow Cadenza -- and as much as I liked Alongside Night, this one was heads above it. It was as crammed full of new ideas (a future art form based on Laserium, drafting women into public brothels, how all art is based on dialectics, and the ethics of cloning and "cerebral abortion") as Heinlein's later novels -- but without being as self-referential or talky. And it had a great plot and a young heroine worthy of Ayn Rand.

Then Schulman stopped writing novels for two decades. Bummer.

(Not that he stopped writing. He wrote one of the best episodes of the New Twilight Zone, "Profile in Silver" -- the one about the JFK assassination -- and some nonfiction, notably a book about gun rights and a book about the O.J. Simpson case -- and even though I think he's crazy about Simpson being innocent, it's a more-fun read than any other book about the Simpson case.)

He's back. Escape From Heaven is the new Schulman novel I've been waiting for.

For one thing, it's crammed full of as many new ideas as Rainbow Cadenza, but it's less than half as long. For another thing, there was always wit and sarcasm in Schulman's writing, but he outdoes himself this time: the book is fall-on-the-floor-and-roll-around funny. Especially chapter 13, where he lets Hollywood movie stars have it with both barrels.

Then there's the theology, which is enough to make an atheist believe in God (I think he's actually answered all the technical objections to belief in God that George Smith raises in Atheism: The Case Against God) but it's also enough to make a fundamentalist Christian start wondering whether the Bible might not have gotten the straight story. For the first time in my life, the character of Jesus made sense to me. I also love where the viewpoint character makes a good case at convincing Satan that she (yes, SHE; that's not a typo) is, in effect, making an existential error: looking for a reason behind her own existence instead of figuring out how to enjoy living forever.

Listen. You haven't read anything like this before, not even if you're a fan of Heinlein's Job: A Comedy of Justice, or Victor Koman's The Jehovah Contract, or C.S. Lewis's The Great Divorce.

Well done, J. Neil.

Mr. Shulman manages to extend the boundries of irreverence when it comes to poking fun at the mythology produced by Judaism and it's two derivative faiths Islam and Christianity.
Storming Heavin is also decidedly Heinleinesque, or perhaps I should say "Heinlein-insque" given that one of the secondary characters is Robert Heinlein. The work to an extent resembles some of the later works of Heinlein, especially JOB A COMEDY OF JUSTICE.
From the contents one wonders about how much of Mr. Shulman's personal life is being played out in ESCAPE FROM HEAVIN. While the idea of a romantic reconcillation between god and lucifer ("Lucy" in this case, the devil being bisexual) after thousands of years is interesting, one comes away with the impression that perhaps this plot line is referential to something in Mr. Shulman's personal life. The fact that his central character, a radio talk show host, is similiarly afflicted only reinforces this impression.
It also seemed interesting that Mr. Shulman was confident that his 18 year old daughter was a virgin. This brought to mind a passage out of his first book, ALONGSIDE NIGHT where the central character learns that the leading lady is a virgin. It would seem that more than most in the modern age, Mr. Shulman has a fixation on virginity.
In any case ESCAPE FROM HEAVIN is a work well worth reading, which I quite enjoyed.

I heartily recommend this book to all those who love Robert Heinlein. The Grand Master himself appears in this book, and is paid great tribute. Escape from Heaven has an impressive cast of characters--just imagine the guest list at the Great Libertarian Party at the End of Time.

This story is full of good humor, interesting twists, and gives an interesting look at how things might have been misinterpreted in religious texts. If you are the sort to be offended by this sort of book, you probably aren't reading this review anyway, so I won't bother cautioning the easily offended--they've long since burned their local libraries and bookstores and authors anyway.

But, should you actually read this and be offended by it, I will give you Mr. Schulman's own words regarding another of his books: "Feel free to buy this book and burn it...and remember that hard cover books burn longer and brighter."

Full text available :[on line] readers of libertarian fiction and non-fiction are familiar with J. Neil Schulman, whose classics Alongside Night and The Rainbow Cadenza have long stood as examples of how it's done and whose pioneering of the e-book field with Pulpless.Com changed the paradigm of publishing.

This time around, Schulman takes on God, and it's a read you'll remember. I'm a fan of fiction that deals with issues of religion. Don't ask me why -- it's just a fascination I have.

I'm also pretty much set in the notion that comparing a writer to Heinlein is nigh unto blasphemy in most cases. There was only one Old Man, and his like shall not pass this way again. Or maybe he shall. Maybe that's the point.

The only writer I recall comparing to Heinlein prior to now has been L. Neil Smith. I've made that comparison because, in my judgment, El Neil "gets" some of the same things that Heinlein "got" in a way that most writers don't.

With Escape from Heaven, I'm adding J. Neil Schulman to that list of one, for reasons that are both different and similar. I'm also thinking about naming my next kid Neil in case there's meaning in the trend.

What J. Neil "gets" -- what makes this book genuinely Heinleinesque -- is the wonder of creation, life and existence from a spiritual point of view. El Neil tends to "get" Heinlein's politics and moral philosophy. J. Neil obviously "gets" Heinlein's religious cosmology or something very like it.

Escape from Heaven is on a par with Heinlein's Job: A Comedy of Justice. It's the other side of the coin that Victor Koman flipped in The Jehovah Contract. It could be the new Screwtape Letters. It wasn't written as a substitute for, or to serve the precisely the same functions as, The Last Temptation of Christ or The Great Divorce, but I'd have no problem putting it on the shelf next to either or both of those classics.

A plot synopsis of any depth would give away elements that I want you to discover yourself, so I'll just flash some teasers:

The novel follows the post-death career of talk radio host Duj Pepperman, a key figure at the climax of the ultimate struggle between God and his crimson foe. The struggle, as it turns out, is political rather than military.

Pepperman gets to work with an all-star cast including Robert Heinlein, Thomas Jefferson and Charles Lindbergh. Think of it as a combination of the "late" show and hell's -- er, heaven's -- own precinct caucus.

Naturally, the work is thoroughly libertarian. It's also uproariously funny, continuously thought-provoking and worthy of even more adverb-laden encomia than I'm giving it here.

Schulman's fans will not be disappointed and those who are reading his work for the first time likely won't be reading it for the last time.

J. Neil Schulman is one of those writers whose work never fails to excite my imagination. His other two novels, Alongside Night and Rainbo Cadenza, each written about 20 years ago, still are among my favorites and ones I often reccomend to friends.

So it was with great delight that when I got the chance to meet him in person recently at a conference in Las Vegas, we talked for several hours about his work and just life in general. I also recieved from him, a signed copy of Escape from Heaven, his latest novel, and took to reading it right away, finishing it before I got home from the conference.

This is fun stuff! Few but Neil would have the ability to tell a story of what's really going on behind the scenes in the historical story of God vs Satan in such a funny way. Duj Pepperman is a radio talk-show host that, one day, remembers that he is, somehow, God. Well not exactly God, but his back-up copy, you see. This is explained to him once he dies with the help of two gorgous angels and goes to Heaven to meet with the Trinity, the royal family of the celestial realm. Satan is plotting a civil war and the scrawny little ... has all the style of a spoiled teenage girl rebelling against her rich parents.

So Duj is given the task of ralling the troops for the side of God in the earthly realm when the revolution comes. We learn facinating things like why Jesus has not made it to Earth more than a few times since his assention and what he likes to do fun (think: where do you go to make people laugh?) We also find out why humans are more loved by God than angels, even though they seem superior in so many ways? Who were Adam & Eve really? And why the question of Meaning in the universe is the very contention of God vs Satan.

This story will have you entertained in a way you have not been so by any other book. And incidently, I am a Bible-believing Christian saying this: many of Neil's concepts are not biblical, but that did not stop me from enjoying this story and got me thinking on a few points where the Bible is silent. As theological fantasy, it is a helluva good time!

Exactly what is this book? Maybe a religious, political, adventure, science fiction, fantasy satire? Well, the short anwser is that
it`s fun.
At first I wondered if deeply religious people would be offended by this book. But I don`t think so. If you can be offended by
a fictional religious comedy, your faith in your religious convictions must be rather weak.
Anyway, the story starts with an atheist talk radio show host, Duj Pepperman, who gets a call from God. Literally. Seems god has
a plan, and Pepperman is the poor dolt he has picked to carry it out. He is to run a political campain against satan. Seems that
armageddon will not be a shooting war, but an election. Winner take all.
Pepperman is joinned by some of the greatest figures in history in all out funny, political warfare against the forces of darkness.
Think of the story as a cross between the George Burns film "Oh, God!" and Robert Heinlein`s novel "A Comedy of Justice". And it`s
written very much in Heinlein`s style. Anyone who likes Heinlein`s books will probably like this story as well. Matter of fact
Heinlein`s ghost is one of the characters in the story.
Give it a try, if nothing else I`m sure you will find it different from just about anything else you have read lately.

J. Neil Schulman, known to many freedom-minded individuals as a scifi author, has written an intriguing theological fantasy. In "Escape from Heaven", Schulman explores deep theological and philosophical questions in a fast-paced, lighthearted tale. In doing so, he steps on just about every major religion's toes, as well as non-religion. If you are the sort who can't laugh at religious topics, this book is not for you ... but you probably should read it, in order to grow some.

The reincarnations of major personages was particularly amusing to me; who'da thunk Cleopatra reincarnated as Marilyn Monroe? The bulk of the novel is amusing in tone -- the only time Schulman really gets up on a soapbox is when Thomas Jefferson gives a bit of a pedantic lecture on the second amendment to Duj Pepperman -- which may disguise the deep nature of some of the ideas Schulman is exploring or may offend those whose religion or lack thereof is a Very Serious Matter.

As original as "Alongside Night" and "The Rainbow Cadenza," but not as obviously pro-freedom as they are, "Escape From Heaven" is very well written. Sure, he includes the usual members of the freedom pantheon, which most will either love or hate (I loved them), but the bulk of the story is not about freedom. It's about religion, done up in Schulman's unique style. As an atheist (former christian), this didn't particularly appeal to me, but the humor and the fast pace kept me reading clear through to the end. The light tone also makes it fairly easy to gloss over some of the Deep Ideas Schulman presents ... but if you re-read it, you may find yourself considering those ideas and asking some Deep Questions of your own.