I liked this book, though not for reasons I would have expected.  Many of the reviews described it as laugh out loud funny.  Though I did find myself smiling from time to time at the author’s wry perspective on life, I was more impacted by the thoughtful way in which he describes what happens when people’s cherished beliefs are tested in an unsympathetic environment.  While some may find the Montana communities religious beliefs outlandish, I found them to be no more ludicrous than many religious systems I have encountered, and Kirn’s juxtaposition of this oddball faith against both a mercenary brand of fundamentalist Christianity and a greater world that just didn’t care really very much was thought-provoking.  I found his choice of ending within this context to be really quite fascinating.

I’m afraid, however, that I must take exception with a scene in which Kirn sends the main character sets off to become a mystery shopper at a Boulder store thinly disguised as a Wal-Mart.  Had Kirn spent any time in Boulder, he would know that our fair city would hang itself with its declining sales tax receipts before allowing such an abomination of mass retail culture to sully our pristine utopian landscape.  But, I will admit, this is only a minor complaint in an otherwise fine novel. 

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