I recently started reading The God of Atheists and I have to say I got hooked: hooked like Hardy Boys under the covers as a young boy; hooked like Atlas Shrugged for the first time. This book truly delighted me.

I think what i felt most infectious about it is the joy, vulnerability and fearlessness of the writing and the characters. This book doesn't mince words or fade to a soft focus around the steamy or private lives of its characters. The full frontal approach to character development was very refreshing to me and felt very honest and a complete view of the characters' psychology.

I really connected and cared about the characters (even the villains). I would find myself laughing aloud at the plot twists and silliness of the some of the characters. For example, the ribald group of nihilistic ironic teenagers who end up as a boy band on MTV. There are touching moments as well, like when a character gets dressed down by a teacher over an idea he really cares about. Those are tears I know so well and they are beautifully represented in the book.

I guess what it was that really seduced me about this book is how engaging it is. It is so easy to achieve that delicious absorption that comes with reading fiction when time disappears and the pages melt under your imagination. The observations are penetrating but keep you in the story.

This is a good chance to try out this book if you have been putting it off or think you may be interested in it.

I had the pleasure of reading The God of Atheists over the holiday break. As you all know, I’m a big fan of anything that Stefan Molyneux writes but I was not sure what to expect in regards to his fiction writing, since I am only familiar with his non-fiction writing. I know that Stefan has a creative mind but I had no idea that he could write such a complicated story in such a fluid, entertaining and enlightening way. At first I was shocked by the number of characters that were introduced. I have admittedly had problems following characters in other fiction, so I was intimidated by how many names I had to remember. I was afraid that there was no possible way I could follow all of the characters and their complicated stories. Fortunately Stefan weaved three or four subplots, with at least three characters per subplot together almost seamlessly. I had a little trouble following each story and found myself becoming very emotionally involved with the characters and relating to each one in some way or another. I also found myself playing a game of “find which character is the author”. I think I figured it out, but as most literature, I think each character had a little bit of the author weaved in.

This book is now one of my favorites. I highly suggest picking up a copy. I also wrote a little more about it on my blog if you are interested in discussing the story at all:
http://www.miniatureamericanflags.com/2008/01/03/the-god-of-atheists-a-review/