What in God’s Name?

Simon Rich

Average Rating 8/10 (1 Review)

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.

'Divinely funny.'

Review by Ben Macnair (231022) Rating (8/10)

Review by Ben Macnair
Book Source: Not Known
Rating 8/10
The department of Miracles makes things happen. It is the work of office drones, but of course, God gets all of the credit. It is one of those organisations, and most of us will have worked in one, or know someone who does, where one person takes all of the credit. Only, here the CEO is God, and his word is what people believe.

Just promoted from the Prayers department, Eliza meets Craig, who shows her the ropes. He appears to be the only Angel in the apartment who cares about both Heaven, people and the fate of the earth.

When it appears that Earth is surplus to requirements and will be destroyed, unless Eliza and Craig can perform an almost impossible task, their work, and their commitment to it proves to be very useful.

Along with much of other Simon’s Rich work, What in God’s Name? is rich in humour, satire, but also humanity. We feel something for Eliza, promoted to the department she always wanted to work in, whilst working with a group of disillusioned people who feel that she is a do-gooder and should fit in with their way of working.

Craig is also well drawn and shows what the department could achieve if it was well run, and the right people were in charge. God is too busy watching sports, and changing things for a small group of people, that he has lost sight of the bigger picture. Eliza and Craig can only perform miracles that go along with the laws of the natural world. There is no zapping, no time travel, no physical harm, and nothing that could look like a supernatural action, so the act of getting two people to meet and fall in love, as they have to do is a difficult task for them to perform, and in wanting them to fail in their task, the powers that be aren’t going to go out of their ways to help them.

If you have ever wondered how the administration offices of heaven might work, What in God’s Name? will offer you some insight, as well as being a humorous, and thought-provoking read at the same time.
Ben Macnair (23rd October 2022)