Who's Shacking Up at Loyola?

Katie Murray

The Shack by William Paul Young was published in May of 2007 with a publishing budget of only $300 (1). Originally, Young wrote this novel as a gift for his children at the request of his wife, and since then it has been heralded by many as a miraculous success. It is, essentially, the story of Young’s spiritual journey, translated into a fictional story about Mack, a man who encounters God and the trinity after encountering a tragedy in his life. Young compressed years of spiritual growth into one weekend for the character Mack (1).

From http://www.friedmanarchives.com


For a book that had no real endorsement and was largely self-published, The Shack has achieved wide-spread fame in a relatively short period of time, mostly through word of mouth (2). For my project, I have conducted some informal surveys and interviews about the reception of The Shack at Loyola and in the larger Christian community. As a Catholic community, Loyola received the novel largely with endorsement, with about 10% of students surveyed having read the novel, and 100% of interviewed students saying that they would recommend the novel to others.

Get to know the author

Get to know the students

Media reviews of The Shack

 

Sources

1. Young, William Paul. Windrumors. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Dec. 2009. <http://windrumors.com/>.

2. Witherington, Ben. “Shacking Up With God- William P. Young’s The Shack.” Ben Witherington. N.p., 22 July 2008. Web. 9 Dec. 2009. <http://benwitherington.blogspot.com/2008/07/shacking-up-with-godwilliam-p-youngs.html>.