Preface to THE SHAQ

This is my parody of The Shack by William Young. I don't think it's a proper parody, but I'm calling it one for lack of a better word. Unlike satire, parodies have no purpose but mockery. My parody, however, has a purpose. The point I intend to make is that God is treated with brazen irreverence in The Shack. That is my only point. Everything else is purely for the sake of mockery--I'm not going to lie. I'm not even going to defend my parody. Maybe it's out of place, perhaps I shouldn't be engaging in mockery, but this book upset me.

I made a point to parody characters, plot, and the writing style, although I doubt any of them are as effective as I'd like to think.

This parody is literary revenge. Mr. Young treated my God (and also Scripture) lightly. In return, I'm treating Mr. Young's book lightly. If he wants to be flippant with God, I'll be flippant with his story. If this makes people angry, I apologize. I don't mean to cause offense. I mean only to amuse myself and others who disliked his book.

If you loved The Shack, I'd love for you to tell me why--provided that you don't mention how it made you feel. I know that already. I felt it too. I nearly cried several times when I read it. But I still didn't like it. There is no necessary relationship between emotion and truth (or value, for that matter).

I admit, I'm being a little abrasive, but people are so divided over this book that I'm pretty sure anything I say is going to upset someone.

At any rate, I'll repeat it again. I did not write this parody to cause offense, and you're entirely free to dislike what I've written, to criticize it, to parody it, etc. I apologize if you're offended, but I do hope you'll enjoy it and join me for a chuckle.