The God Among Us: A Novel

By Stan Kempton

Book by Kempton, Stan This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1887650180
• ISBN13: 9781887650182
• Release Date: February 2000
• Publisher: Factor Pr
• Length: 337 Pages
• Weight: 0.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.8" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Kathy Hayes...

This is Mr. Kempton's first novel. The story is basically of ayoung baptist minister in his 20's who has never stepped outside ofhis own backyard into the real world. All his life, his life has beenplanned for him to be a Baptist Minister and he believes it himselfthat this was his path. He realizes his unhappiness and takes theopportunity after his parents death to seek out a dying unknown Auntin Atlanta Georgia. This also gives him time to think about his ownlife. He immediately befriends a group of  3 roommates who he decidesto "crash with" while seeking out his Aunt. What isinteresting is that he does seek out on each of the characters theirreason of leaving their church and loss of faith in God-although theyare of different religions. He faces issues he has not faced before oreven known. There is sex, language, drugs, abortion,race,homosexuality, and the world of 20 year olds who are verydifferent from him. He also learns of past secrets and issues of hisfamily that were unknown to him. I think the best statement or thoughtin the book was that even after a person dies, they continue tochange. Charles, as a preacher, falls too easily into this world,going with the flow of this new crowd without really thinking ofactions or consequences. They may cross his mind but they don't staythere. He does not want to preach, although at times he finds theright thing to say. I do believe a preacher would have stepped in morethough out of habit in a few instances but we really don't see Charlesdevelop as much as we would have liked.There were some reallydescriptive scenes of his past though and the valley that he grew upin that we liked. We did like the title as it represents "TheGod Among Us' as individuals and how these individualsrelate. Mr. Kempton is now working on his 3rd novel.

The God among us

I havwe just finished reading the god among us by stan kempton what a great book! Sex drugs rock and roll! it has it all in a well written story. I cared about Maddy,Stefan,Sam,and Charles. Thier life together was fun and risky somethign we all should of experienced. As I was reading I truely wish the best for them all, the author made you care about his characters.

The God among Us

What an amazing book! Stan Kempton rips away the curtain of respectability Reverand Charles Quail has used to hide from the world, and he parades his character's naked soul before the reader's eyes. These words were written by someone unafraid to lay his perception of life's truths on the line. In A God Among Us, Charles Quail examines the redundancy of his existence. And before you will have done much more than read `here's the church, here's the steeple' his feet of clay carry him away from that church-where he had been doing what was expected of him-away from a boring wife who mechanically performed her wifely-duty, down from a tiny northeast Georgia mountain town and into the bustling city of Atlanta. We soon learn that Charles Quail is a mere mortal-not a godlike entity simply because he once stood behind a pulpit-when he realizes he has needs more base than he can admit aloud. To say more would reveal too much. The reader needs to peel the layers of Charles Quail page by page and thereby discover the talent of the author. Thank you, Stan Kempton, for giving us this literary reminder that we all march through our daily lives on feet of clay. I look forward to your next novel, and can't help wondering what you will find next time you look inside yourself for a character.

The God Among Us

I enjoyed Mr. Kempton's first work. The story makes the book hard to put down, I read it in one sitting. It is a Pat Conroy-esque story, probing a man's discovery of hidden family secrets and the discovery of secrets he has long held within himself. I enjoyed the development of the Atlanta characters, Mr. Kempton makes the reader care about what happens to them, and I actually thought about the characters for a while after I finished the book which is rare for me in a fiction work. I would have liked to learn a little more about Charles' pre-Atlanta life -- a more in depth examination of what made him flee his pulpit. I look forward to Mr. Kempton's next novel and his continued growth as a storyteller.

The God Among Us

"It is clear from the start that the god within us, which Stan Kempton evokes, is not the Christian god of old. In fact, the protagonist, Charles Quayle, begins our acquaintance by walking out on his child bride, who has, to her detriment, refused to come into the 20th century and has remained a child-leaving Pastor Quayle a hungry man. The gods he finds are all defined by women, not the Baptist parish he also abandons. His mother, his child bride, and the three women he meets when he escapes small town Georgia for two weeks' relief in Atlanta. He finds there a dying aunt, whose diaries reveal a joyous lesbianism long hid from Quayle. Also on scene, is a mulatto college student hiding her racial-identity crisis in aggressive sexual innuendo. And a punk waitress who survives her mother's alcoholism only to worry an unwanted pregnancy to an abortion clinic. Kempton clearly knows the way by giving crystalline characters, which defines the old sweet magic of redemption."