.jpg) Cover of first edition (hardcover) | |
| Author | James K. Morrow |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Publisher | William Morrow and Company |
Publication date | 1990 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover &paperback) |
| Pages | 312 |
| ISBN | 0-688-05284-3 |
| OCLC | 20294258 |
| 813/.54 20 | |
| LC Class | PS3563.O876 O55 1990 |
Only Begotten Daughter is a 1990fantasy novel by American writerJames K. Morrow, setting the stage for his laterGodhead Trilogy. The book shared the 1991World Fantasy Award withEllen Kushner'sThomas the Rhymer.[1] It was also nominated for theNebula Award forBest Novel in 1990,[2] and both theLocus andJohn W. Campbell Memorial Awards in 1991.[1]
The story is about Julie Katz, the newMessiah, who is the daughter of God, and who is spontaneously conceived from asperm bank donation by her father, Murray Katz, through "inverseparthenogenesis". Julie struggles with her messianic powers, the mind games ofSatan, being hunted byfundamentalists, and the silence of her mother, God.
This novel is a counter-theodicy similar to Morrow'sGodhead Trilogy. In addition,Only Begotten Daughter refers to God as a female throughout the book.
Inverseparthenogenesis is a baffled scientist's explanation for the existence of an entirely unexpectedovum in Murray Katz's latest sperm bank donation: unexpected because, as Murray himself admits, he does not know many women. (The ovum, though, apparently, has been provided the necessaryImmaculate Conception.) Murray is a Jewish hermit pushing fifty, living alone in alighthouse inAtlantic City, writing a book about human nature based on evidence gleaned from a job at the local Photomat. His closest friend islesbian Georgina Sparks, foster-mother to Julie.
The result of these gathered abnormalities is Julie Katz, half-sister toJesus. Well-schooled in the appropriate use of hermessianic powers (she can breathe underwater, restore life to dead animals, and converse with a talkingsponge named Amanda) by her only visible parent (at least as well as Murray can manage), Julie reaches adulthood and explores life, death, Hell and the universe on the East Coast of the modernUnited States.
She is ten years old when she meets her "mother's oldest friend", Mr. Wyvern; the plot thereafter is derived from the intervention of family, fun in theAbsecon Inlet, the guiding phantom eye of an enemy,Pastor Billy Milk, hisfundamentalist sheep roving Atlantic City with juice jugs of milk, and the problems posed by her extra gifts. The overarching story of the book is that of a satiricaltheodicy, questioning why human beings suffer from evil and pain, and exploring the ingenuity with which we combat those conditions.
Julie eventually discovers that Amanda, the talking Sponge, is very likely God, and her spiritual (if not physiological) mother. Amanda cares deeply about the planet, but lives at a distance from it, and (because she is only a sponge) is not able to affect the world beyond the occasional miracle.
Fantasy scholar Michael-Anne Rubenstien writes:
Morrow regards satire as "a deadly serious business," used "to get the reader's attention."[3] His humor provides a thin layer between the reader and troubling questions. For example, his character Julie wonders what sort of deity she is: "A deity of love, or of wrath? Love was wonderful, but with wrath you could dospecial effects." Morrow usesOnly Begotten Daughter to suggest that what many believers seek in religion is the "special effects."[4]
Rubenstien adds,
He dramatizes the dichotomy between the rational and the irrational. Divine or not, Julie believes in the uncertainty of life and thewonder of science. However, when she performs a miracle, her followers create a religion based upon heradvice columns... Morrow regards this fascination with miracles and the need for "special effects" as irrational. The challenge is to view the world rationally, appreciating the world for the wonders that it holds, without relying on mysticism. ... A complex novel,Only Begotten Daughter raises questions about religion, intellect, beliefs, and relationships in a stunningly original and entertaining way.[4]
Jo Walton has described it as "brilliant", commenting that it was "worthy ofHugo nomination".[5]
But the satirist isn't terribly interested in delight, certainly not in delight for its own sake. Satire is a deadly serious business. It's funny only by default. We satirists use humor primarily to get the reader's attention.