Hari Kunzru
Gods Without Men, 2011
2008. The California desert. A four year old boy disappears in the wilderness and his parents find themselves at the centre of a media witch-hunt. A British rock star hides out at a run-down motel. A teenage Iraqi refugee lives a surreal life as a role-player in a military simulation.
The present is connected to the past. The earth is connected to the sky. These stories connect with others – an eighteenth century Franciscan explorer; a Mormon miner who can hear the silver singing in the rocks; a guilt-ridden aircraft engineer trying to contact Venus. Behind them all is Coyote, the trickster, who subverts the laws of Gods and men.
A compulsively readable journey into the twists and turns of a handful of human lives, Gods Without Men is also a heartfelt exploration of our search for pattern and meaning in a random and chaotic universe.