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New York Times

‘God and Sex': A Novel That Lives Up to Its Epic Title

GOD AND SEX, by Jon Raymond Arthur, the narrator of Jon Raymond's new novel, is an uncelebrated writer of meandering books. His last was 'a compendium of theories about light through the ages,' and it did not do well. Now, he's trying to write a book about trees. He's an unlikely protagonist for a novel with such an epic title, 'God and Sex,' the two biggest short words in the English language. What do those mysterious, powerful forces have to do with a 'paunchy, balding, papery' nobody and his forgettable books? Let's start with sex. At the end of the first chapter, Arthur spots a woman in a raincoat who is waiting outside for Phil, a professor Arthur befriends while researching his tree book. 'That's the moment I first encountered Phil's wife,' he recalls. Her name is Sarah. From there, the book plunges into Arthur and Sarah's enthusiastic affair, which becomes a liberating romp for them both, with little attention paid to the betrayal of her oblivious husband. Sarah and Arthur have sex in grassy fields, in empty classrooms and on Sarah's living room floor. The book isn't bawdy, but it carries the heat and electricity of an illicit infatuation. Arthur, Sarah and poor Phil all have the grit, wrinkles and foibles of real people fumbling through it together. But where does God come into all this? Sarah leaves for a retreat on Mount Hood. Soon after, a forest fire breaks out along the flanks of the mountain. Raymond, who has previously written climate fiction, including the novel 'Denial,' and several lauded screenplays, writes with harrowing detail about the sounds that trees make as they're consumed, the sting of acrid smoke in your eyes, and the flames that 'blurred between orange and yellow and blue, bending into delicate new forms with every riffle of wind.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.