By Peter Biggs

William P. Young, author of The Shack, seen last month at a House of James book signing, with store staffers Rob and Sandra Neiman.

The popularity of the book has made a big impression on Lando Klassen, owner of the House of James bookstore, where Young appeared for a signing.

“There is no other book like it,” he told BCCN. Some people are buying five copies to give to friends! We have sold 2,700 copies in six months.” Amazon has 168 reviews of The Shack, with an impressive 148 of them granting five stars.

Substantial Christian leaders such as Eugene Peterson are glowing in their endorsement of the novel. He writes: “This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress did for his. It’s that good!”

Anglican minister Dale Lang, father of a student killed in Columbine-copycat shooting, comments: “This book goes beyond being the well-written, suspenseful page-turner that it is. Since the death of our son Jason, the Lord has led us to a small number of life-changing books – and this one heads the list. When you close the back cover, you will be changed.”

Other celebrity endorsements have come from singers Michael W. Smith and Wynonna Judd.

Just what is all the buzz about? Nashville novelist Eric Wilson encapsulates the story in his online review: 

“Years ago, a father named MacKenzie Phillips took his children camping – and lost one of them to a man who has kidnapped and killed others.

“Mack has grieved since then. His marriage has struggled. Understandably, his relationship with God has suffered. Then, one wintry day, he receives a note in his mailbox inviting him back to the woods, to the shack in which his daughter’s dress and bloodstains were found. The note, it would seem, is from God. 

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“From this simple yet effective premise, Young leads Mack Phillips back to his point of despair and anger. The encounters he then has with God there in ‘The Shack’ serve as thought-provoking moments for both Mack and the reader.”

A fresh portrayal of deity then emerges, Wilson notes: “This is not the God of stodgy Sunday school classes. This is not a flannelgraph Jesus. This is not limited to a fluttering dove of the Holy Spirit. The descriptions here are startling – while remaining true to the nature of God’s love and grace, as portrayed through scripture. Not only are they startling; they’re wise and moving and beautiful.”

BCCN reached author William P. Young at his home in Oregon.

Asked what inspired the book he responded: “I was trying to save my kids 40 years! I actually wrote it out of obedience to my wife, who thought I should record the big picture of how I think and what I believe. I did just that, and gave them [the manuscript] in a spiral binder.

“I wrote the book to explore the relational centrality of Christianity, as opposed to the ‘performance’ paradigm that seems to be so common.” 

Indeed, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are portrayed as individual people who visit Mack.

Relationship, said Young, “has to exist within the very nature of God; I just describe them relating to each other. It has been totally accidental, but some consider the book a significant contribution to understanding the nature of the trinity!”

With sales exceeding 200,000 according to Young, he jokes: “Our total marketing [cost] to date is under $300!”

The very emotional response of many Shack readers unquestionably indicates there is a widespread  longing  for an intimate and understanding relationship with God during times of extremity.

Young appears to have found a literary device which expresses that longing, in his first publication.

March 2008