This slim novel is ostensibly about a schlubby writer sleeping with his friend’s wife, but profound, ancient questions animate the book, and justify its oversize title. And these questions, which grow more urgent with every season of fire and floods, have haunted me since I finished reading it.
Fascinating — and so unsettling ... Much of the early section of God and Sex lacks enough of either. It focuses instead on the tedious process of writing ... But I’m so glad I hung on. It eventually becomes clear that this deliberate introduction to Arthur and his well-ordered process has all been set down for the express purpose of shattering that carefully constructed world ... In Raymond’s thoughtful handling, this makes for a fascinating, rare examination of a rational mind confronting the limits of rationality.
Raymond’s clarity allows philosophical questions about faith, love, and our place in the world to crystallize around specific moments, which give the reader bouys to grasp as the existential crises swirl within his text ... Mind-blowing.
Raymond is at his best when discussing the natural world, and the language he uses to describe the wildfire is inspired ... Importantly reminds us of personal tragedies that underlie these catastrophes, and the moments of love, friendship, hope — and loss — that make them such powerful stories.
Resonant ... Disastrous events and surprising twists ensue, testing Arthur’s sense of reality and the divine, as Raymond drives this potent gut-punch of a novel to its emotional conclusion. Readers will be floored.