Gnawing, Biting, Breaking, Hacking, Burning...."The Shack"

First things first...  Apologies to one of my favorite Catholic fiction writers, J.R.R. Tolkien.  I couldn't resist a little fun with the blog title this evening.  Being a writer who is deeply connected with all the latest goings-on in the deepest reaches of the publishing world, I just heard about the legal controversy surrounding the awful little book called The Shack.  Of course, it is nearly a year-old and hardly breaking news, but that misses my main point: I really dislike this book.  


Seriously, though, I had really high hopes for the book when I purchased it while on a trip in Texas a couple years ago.  The photo above is one I took in the summer of 2007 at Lake Wallowa in the far northeastern corner of Oregon.  This is the setting for some critical passages of the book, and that's one of the reasons why I thought I'd enjoy it.  Sadly, being a fan of the Blue Mountains was hardly enough to salvage my opinion of this tale.  


Since I am a little pressed for time this weekend preparing for next week's radio interview, I thought I'd share my ...um...gentle review of this "interesting" little book.  Now, I realize in retrospect that my review may be considered a little long by today's standards, but please understand that I drank really strong coffee back then, so that clearly explains the slight tendency towards what might be technically characterized as a presentation style of the written word leaning or bending (or possibly swaying?)  towards what might be called by some (but not you) verbosity.  Again, sorry...  :)


Without further ado, then, I give you Tearing Down The Shack .  If nothing else, I hope my work will provide readers with one or two tools of destruction when it comes to shady books of this depressing ilk.


PS.  Did I mention that I really don't care for The Shack?  Just checking.