Being best friends with God has its benefits…and its drawbacks. Author Daniel Maunz examines both in QUESTIONS OF PERSPECTIVE, a quirky and endearing novel about friendship, love, and the meaning of life. (Hint: The meaning of life is friendship and love.)
Our hero is Dave Randall, a talented attorney who hates his job, especially after his best friend at the firm, John Manta, mysteriously disappears. When John reappears two years later claiming to be God, Dave is skeptical…and worried about his friend’s mental state. But John gives Dave a momentary taste of omnipotence—a heady sensation of “oneness” with the universe, of knowing everything that has ever happen or will ever happen—and Dave’s life is forever changed. John leaves, promising to return, and Dave begins a spiritual transformation that involves saving a fly, quitting his job, and moving to Woodstock. Turn on, tune in, drop out, man!
QUESTIONS OF PERSPECTIVE asks big, philosophical questions. What is the point of anything if everything’s pointless? How can anything matter if, in the grand scheme of things, nothing does? The answers seem to lie in the connections we make with each other. Love complicates life as much as complements it, and once Dave falls in love his perspectives change again. Love does that. So does the loss of love. QUESTIONS OF PERSPECTIVE hits its stride when tackling the power of grief and how we cope with loss …or fail to.
QUESTIONS OF PERSPECTIVE succeeds because of the affability of narrator Dave Randall. Maunz creates a likable “everyman” that’s easy to root for. There are many stories of man struggling with God’s will (like Job and Abraham) but few with masturbatory gags about “The Golden Girls.” Maunz’s humor and humanity propel QUESTIONS OF PERSPECTIVE to a satisfying conclusion. Plus, a cat saves the world (which will come as no surprise to cat owners).
QUESTIONS OF PERSPECTIVE is an existential “buddy novel” driven by likable heroes, poignant moments, and unexpected humor that fans of “The Blues Brothers” and Neil Gaiman’s “American Gods” might appreciate.
~Rob Errera for IndieReader