‘The Shack’: Book on accessible God hits big

GRESHAM, Ore. | A year ago, William Paul Young was selling circuit boards in a Portland suburb, doing Web consulting and trying to market “The Shack,” an unorthodox novel aimed at disenchanted Christians.

Today, his 248-page allegory is in the Top 10 on Amazon.com, No. 1 in religious fiction in Publisher’s Weekly, the No. 1 trade paperback fiction at Barnes & Noble bookstores and on the New York Times best-seller list.

Rarely does a piece of Christian fiction sell more than a few thousand copies. But “The Shack,” with its cover of an arty drawing of a dilapidated building under a heavenly glow, has sold more than 2 million books. NBC’s “Today” show interviewed Mr. Young on July 17. Several film offers are on the table.

Sitting in a Gresham coffee shop, the 53-year-old author turned celebrity said the book had made God accessible to multitudes who see Him as “angry, distant and disappointed in us.”

“We’re so used to God being Gandalf with an attitude,” he added.

The novel’s hero, Mackenzie “Mack” Phillips, is the grief-stricken father of Missy, 6, who was slain during a family camping trip to northeastern Oregon’s Wallowa Mountains.

Drowning in bitterness and sorrow, he receives a mysterious note in his mailbox from God four years later inviting him to revisit the site of the crime. There, he finds Eden-like surroundings and three people representing the Trinity. God the Father is a jolly, middle-aged black woman; Jesus is a 30-something Israeli; and the Holy Spirit is Sarayu, a wiry Asian woman.

The rest of the book details Mack’s adventures and conversations he has with the trio over a 48-hour period about why God allows evil. Missy, now in heaven, also makes a brief appearance.

“This is about the character of God,” said the author, “and how He won’t abuse or violate us to accomplish His purposes.”

It also is about whether God is truly good. Born in Grand Prairie, Alberta, and then whisked off to New Guinea by his missionary parents, Mr. Young had early life experiences that seemed to confirm a malevolent deity.

First, he was sexually abused by the natives, then by fellow students at a boarding school. He found happiness with his wife, Kim, and then was overwhelmed by the deaths of three close family members. He nearly torpedoed his marriage by committing adultery 15 years ago and lost the family home when he and his wife went bankrupt in 2003.

Then Mrs. Young prodded her husband to write a book about his spiritual healing for their six children. He sent a copy to Wayne Jacobsen, an itinerant pastor out of Moorpark, Calif., and Brad Cummings, a pastor turned film producer.

“It was an incredible story,” Mr. Cummings said. “It so honestly dealt with pain and didn’t provide trite answers and unveiled a God incredibly present and in love with us.

“What was so fascinating was the interplay between the three members of the Trinity. I have never seen something that so described the relationship within the heart of God.”

Mr. Jacobsen sent the manuscript to a dozen Christian publishers, all of whom rejected it.

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