William P. Young

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William Paul Young - 2015

William Paul Young (* 11. May 1955 in Grande Prairie ) is a Canadian author, known for his novel The Shack ( The Shack ), who in 2008 at-fiction best-seller list of The New York Times and the best-selling book for fiction in the USA was.

Life

Young was born in Grande Prairie, Canada, the oldest of four children. He spent the first years of his life with his parents, who were evangelical missionaries , in Dutch New Guinea with the Dani people . These became a kind of family for him, and he was the first white man to speak their language. At the age of six, Young went to boarding school , where he was sexually abused by older boys, which degraded him, overshadowed his life and had a negative impact.

Young first wrote for his children and friends whom he wanted to give a present. His wife Kim encouraged him to write down his new vision of God and the inner healing he had experienced as an adult for his children. This manuscript, which later became his book Die Hütte , was only intended for his children and a few good friends.

Young lives with his wife in Happy Valley ( Oregon ). You have six children.

reception

Maclean’s , the Canadian news magazine, described Young in August 2008 as a Canadian raised from birth by his missionary parents in Dutch New Guinea . Young let himself drift through life as an adult, a little boost from his faith and a lot from his wife Kim, who kept his secrets and built his hut. "The place where we hide all our crap," as he calls it. At 38, Young had hit rock bottom and said, “I had a three-month affair with one of my wife's best friends. That's it, that's what drove my little world of faith apart. I either had to get on my knees and face my wife's pain and anger or kill myself. "

Works

Young initially had 15 copies of the book printed for his six children and a few friends. Two friends encouraged him to publish the book and helped him revise the manuscript for publication. After 26 publishers, both Christian and secular, rejected the book manuscript for publication, they founded their own publishing house called Windblown Media . They released the debut, spending only about $ 300 on advertising. Through word of mouth , this book reached number 1 on the New York Times' best-selling fiction list in June 2008. The Shack was the best-selling fiction book in the United States between January and November 2008. By 2018, it had been translated into 51 languages ​​and sold 23 million copies.
  • The way: If God gives you a second chance
In this novel, published in 2012, Young tells the story of the greedy multimillionaire Tony Spencer, who - lying in a coma - is stuck somewhere between heaven and earth and meets Jesus, God the Father, the Holy Spirit and himself. The unkempt country estate he lives in in this surreal intermediate world represents his own life and soul. Here he encounters his arrogance, his ego and the protective walls he himself - for lack of trust - erected. Spencer is given one last chance by God to do what is right. He is allowed to return to earth, but on the condition that he has to choose a person and heal him in order to atone for his own offenses. The corresponding healing power is given to him. He finds himself in the head of a Down syndrome boy, to whom he can also talk. Funnily enough, Tony, who is even mistaken for a demon, changes his head host during a kiss. First he wanders to the boy's mother, who suffers a "demonic attack" in the church, and from her to the church minister, whom she secretly admires and also kissed. When the visitors sleep, however, Tony necessarily returns to the intermediate world of his soul, where more experiences and insights await him. Tony has only one wish in his mother's head, namely to get to his comatose body in the hospital in order to heal it, because now he could do so much good with his wealth. The child's mother Maggie, who is a nurse herself, goes with him to the intensive care unit, where his comatose body lies. He decides at the last minute to cure a child suffering from cancer, brings about a fair inheritance and lets Maggie find his living will in his head so that he can die as a changed person after the coma treatment is discontinued. The book, which is sometimes witty and impressive in its descriptions of the spiritual world, suffers from the predictable happy ending and does not achieve the quality of the “hut”.
  • The hut for every day: 365 meditations and thoughts on God's goodness
The calendar quotes a passage from the hut for each day of the year.

Film adaptations

  • "William Paul Young and 'Die Hütte' (DVD)" by Susanne Aernecke tells how the book "Die Hütte" was created until it became a world bestseller. The film documents Young's first visit to Germany, Austria and Switzerland and shows the author in discussion with his German readers and pastor Christian Führer
  • “The Hut - A Weekend with God” was filmed in 2016 as a novel. Director: Stuart Hazeldine ; Leading actor: Sam Worthington .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b The hut "live" . An interview with William Paul Young about shame, abuse, and the masculine and feminine in God, AufAtmen, Witten 4/2018, pp. 14-19
  2. ↑ Paul Young's bio biography of the author (English) ( Memento from April 18, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ a b Interview: William “Paul” Young, Author of The Shack. Retrieved March 4, 2019 .
  4. ↑ A God Who Looks Like Aunt Jemima , Macleans. August 20, 2008. Archived from the original on May 18, 2011. Retrieved May 14, 2009. 
  5. ^ Motoko Rich: Christian Novel Is Surprise Best Seller , The New York Times . June 24, 2008. 
  6. ↑ Aim at 'spiritually interested' sparks 'The Shack' sales USA Today, April 30, 2008
  7. ↑ Tops In 2008 Best Selling Books, Audio Books. Retrieved March 4, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Young, William P.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Young, William Paul (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION best-selling Canadian author
DATE OF BIRTH May 11, 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH Grande Prairie