The Shaq
February 16th, 2009
Author Ted Kluck has written a brilliant review on a runaway theological bestseller:
…Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Shaq receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, but actually from Pat Riley, inviting him back to that shack, actually a 14,000 square foot Miami mansion, for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at a gated community, in a Cadillac Escalade, and walks back into his darkest nightmare. A nightmare which includes the movies Blue Chips and Kazaam! as well as recordings of all of his many ill-fated rap albums including Shaq Diesel and You Can’t Stop the Reign. What he finds there will change Shaq’s world forever. The three members of His Trinity include The Father, Pat Riley; The Son, Shaq Fu – the Orlando Magic/Bad Movies/Rap Music version of the current Shaq; and the Un/Holy Spirit, Kobe Bryant. The growing and bonding that they do will astound you. There’s lots of crying. And hugging. And understanding. And hope. And food. And pain that like, sort of, eases at times. Lots of loads lifted. Loads lightened. That sort of thing.
In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant “The Shaq” wrestles with the timeless question, “Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable game?” The answers Shaq gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him. You’ll want everyone you know to read this book about the NBA’s favorite huge, mumbling formerly dominant big man!
See what others are saying:
Do you ever stand by the ocean, just close your eyes and breath deeply, filling your lungs with purity? That’s what The Shaq is like. – Dick Motta, former NBA coach
When the imagination of a writer and the passion of a theologian cross-fertilize the result is a novel on the order of The Shaq. This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress did for his. It’s that good! – Dickie Simpkins, former NBA forward
This book has a lot of pages. – Vlade Divac, former NBA star
I am the number one Ninja and I have killed all the Shoguns in front of me. – Shaq
I read and wept and slept and read again. I am full of words, inexpressible thoughts, shades and hues of hope and light and joy. – Charles Barkley, cultural commentator, visionary, futurist, activist, discussion leader, NBA on TNT Analyst, transformational change architect, former NBA player.
That is why one day I said my game will be like the Pythagorean Theorem – hard to figure out. A lot of people really don’t know the Pythagorean Theory (sic). They don’t make them like me anymore. They don’t want to make them like that anymore. – Shaq