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Wagon of Fools

Wagon of Fools by Samuel Bejamin Gray (pen name) is a collection of seven parable like stories that intertwine narrations of families, brokenness, an unloved wife, and a search for God in the midst of ritual and religion. I thought most of the stories were interesting but lacked a coherent point. The first story involves the narrator highlighting major points about his father, being an orthodox Jew but not talking like one at all. Early on in the story, we see the father teaching his son that talking to God is something we can do in a natural way.




The same thought is echoed in the last story. The father tells his daughter that "to know what God wants of us, we must simply have the heart to do what he tells us to do. And when he comes to us-we must do what he says on that day" (215). The ease of a father playing games with his son is the way a person should relate to God. Yet, in these stories I am largely confused as to what the author was seeking to do. Was he seeking to tell his readers that Christianity offers a different way of relating to God than other religions, even Judaism. Or, was he trying to tell a story of families and great struggles intertwined with spiritual lessons and themes. That was my big hangup with the book, what was the purpose of the spiritual discussion about God?



Thanks to Book Crash for the review copy of this book.

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