What in God’s Name by Simon Rich

What in God’s Name by Simon Rich is a comedic novel about Heaven, angels, and God. This is a funny take on the heavenly realm which may be a little bit too much for some people to see the humor in. However, if you can poke fun at things, and even yourself, this is a good book to read to enjoy a few laughs and forget about daily stresses in your own life.

Book Description

“Welcome to Heaven, Inc., the grossly mismanaged corporation in the sky. For as long as anyone can remember, the founder and CEO (known in some circles as "God") has been phoning it in. Lately, he's been spending most of his time on the golf course. And when he does show up at work, it's not to resolve wars or end famines, but to Google himself and read what humans have been blogging about him.

When God decides to retire (to pursue his lifelong dream of opening an Asian Fusion restaurant), he also decides to destroy Earth. His employees take the news in stride, except for Craig and Eliza, two underpaid angels in the lowly Department of Miracles. Unlike their boss, Craig and Eliza love their jobs - uncapping city fire hydrants on hot days, revealing lost keys in snow banks - and they refuse to accept that earth is going under.

The angels manage to strike a deal with their boss. He'll call off his Armageddon, if they can solve their toughest miracle yet: getting the two most socially awkward humans on the planet to fall in love. With doomsday fast approaching, and the humans ignoring every chance for happiness thrown their way, Craig and Eliza must move heaven and earth to rescue them - and the rest of us, too.” – What in God’s Name

My Thoughts

What in God’s Name is the kind of book you can read in a day. It isn’t too long, but isn’t too short to not be called a novel, either. The characters (including God) are funny and written to be extreme versions of their personalities.

God is bored and is close to destroying Earth. The only way he’ll stop Armageddon is if two angels can make two very socially awkward humans fall in love before the big day. Will the angels be able to play cupid and make them happy and in love before Earth is ruined? I’m not one to spoil the ending, so you’ll need to read this one to find out!

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It is funny in all the right ways and I quite liked it. I think that people with a good sense of humor will like this book, just don’t take anything too seriously in it, of course.

* Thank you to the publisher of What in God’s Name, Little, Brown and Company, for providing me with a copy of this book for review. All opinions expressed are my own.