Are You One Whom God Would Destroy?
What is the meaning of life? What is the nature of man? Does God exist? If He does, what is his plan? Philosophers have debated these questions for eons (or at least it seems that long), but a mysterious author writing under the unlikely nom de plume Commander Pants tackles these subjects as well as the role mental illness plays in society, man’s search for identity, super-ego vs. ego, and what makes a Big Mac so darn special in Whom God Would Destroy. And if all that sounds numbingly deep, don’t worry…Commander Pants knows that life is a joke and the only way we’ll make it through is by laughing (remember, when people laugh at a bad joke, it somehow seems funny). The spirit of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., hovers above Whom God Would Destroy, reminding readers to fasten their seatbelts, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride.
Whom God Would Destroy is not a book for people who honestly believe that God doesn’t have a sense of humor. With a goofy cast of characters, it amiably wades through religion, science, science fiction, alien abduction, fast food, the quest for happiness, and—more than anything else—how stupid we can be without even trying. It is a romp through the conscious, the sub-conscious, the unconscious, and the conscientious, giggling all the way.
The central character, Oliver (who nearly saves the world—from itself), is a fade-into-the-woodwork social worker who serves as outreach counselor to a group of oddballs who may or may not be mentally ill: a man who believes he’s a surgeon and was abducted by aliens who monitor his life, a schizophrenic with transference issues, a woman with multiple-personality disorder. Are they truly suffering from mental disorders? The reader, like Oliver, will ask that question over and over as the story unfolds. As if Oliver doesn’t meet enough interesting people through his job, his life is complicated by a man with a messianic complex—or is he the new messiah?
Just like real life, Whom God Would Destroy includes sex, lots of coffee, self-doubt, progress, disappointment, and inner musing. Commander Pants combines all these elements in an absurd, surreal tale that takes aim at much of what we hold dear with foam-rubber bullets. A surprise ending that we should see coming, but don’t, wraps up the story, taking it to yet another level.
Follow Technorati