By WM. PAUL YOUNG
Published by Hachette New Zealand $29.99 RRP, 13 Nov. 2012
From the author of the incredibly successful book The Shack comes the equally thought-provoking Cross Roads.
Tony Spencer is egotistical, proud of being a self-made business success at the peak of his game, even though the cost of winning was painfully high. A cerebral hemorrhage leaves Tony comatose in a hospital ICU. He 'awakens' to find himself in a surreal world, a 'living' landscape that mirrors dimensions of his earthly life, from the beautiful to the corrupt.
It is here that he has vivid interactions with others he assumes are projections of his own subconscious, but whose directions he follows nonetheless with the possibility that they might lead to authenticity and perhaps, redemption.
About the Author
Wm. Paul Young was the eldest of four, born 1955, in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada, but the majority of his first decade was lived with his missionary parents in the highlands of Netherlands New Guinea (West Papua), among the Dani, a technologically stone age tribal people. These became his family and as the first white child and outsider who ever spoke their language, he was granted unusual access into their culture and community. By the time he was six, he was flown away to a boarding school.
Wm. Paul Young’s wife urged him to write something for their six children. The resulting manuscript, that later became The Shack, was intended only for friends and family. Two of his close friends encouraged him to have it published and assisted with some editing and rewriting in order to prepare the manuscript for publication. Rejected by 26 publishers, Young and his friends published the book under the name of their newly created publishing company, Windblown Media in 2007. The company spent only $200 in advertising; word-of-mouth referrals eventually drove the book to number one on the New York Times trade paperback fiction best-seller list in June 2008. The Shack was the top-selling fiction and audio book of 2008 in America through November 30.
Wm. Paul Young now lives with his family in the Pacific Northwest, USA.