''Epiphany Jones'' is the

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

Michael Grothaus Michael Grothaus (born 1977) is an American novelist and journalist. He is best known for the novel ''Epiphany Jones'' and for his writing about internet subcultures in the digital age. Biography Michael Grothaus was born in Saint Louis, Mi ...

published in June 2016. The novel is a literary thriller, social

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

, and

dark comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

about America's obsession with sex, celebrity, and the internet, which explores a pornography addict’s unwilling relationship with a woman who thinks she can speak to God and their entanglement with sex traffickers that cater to the Hollywood elite. Grothaus has stated that his personal experiences at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

and his disillusionment with the Hollywood

film industry The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, post ...

were strong inspiration for the novel.

Plot

The novel’s protagonist is Jerry Dresden, an employee at the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

, who suffers from a porn addiction as well as

psychotic depression Psychotic depression, also known as depressive psychosis, is a major depressive episode that is accompanied by psychotic symptoms.Hales E and Yudofsky JA, eds, The American Psychiatric Press Textbook of Psychiatry, Washington, DC: American Psychia ...

. Both are the result of the tragic deaths of his little sister and high-flying Hollywood father years earlier. As a result of his psychotic depression, Jerry suffers from psychotic delusions which make him see people who don’t really exist—people Jerry calls "figments". His mundane but stable life is interrupted one day when his colleague at the museum is murdered and a famous painting by

Vincent Van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2 ...

(''Self-Portrait'', Spring 1887) is stolen. Returning from work that night Jerry finds the stolen painting in his apartment and the next day he discovers that a woman who he thought was just one of his figments his entire life turns out to be a real person. This former figment tells Jerry her name is Epiphany Jones and admits she stole the painting and killed Jerry's colleague in order to frame him and blackmails him into helping her find someone she is looking for. Left with no choice, Jerry flees with her to Mexico, then Portugal, and finally to the

in France as Epiphany, which says the voice of God is speaking to her and telling her what to do, tracks down a sex trafficking ring that caters to the Hollywood elite. Along the way, Jerry discovers Epiphany is not all she seems to be as their journey grows increasingly fraught with danger and he discovers secrets about both their pasts that will change his life forever.

Themes

As a social

, ''Epiphany Jones'' explores America's obsession with celebrity, especially sex and celebrity. The novel also deals with the isolating aspects of the internet. The main protagonist's porn addiction to fake celebrity pornography, a precursor to

deepfake Deepfakes (a portmanteau of "deep learning" and "fake") are synthetic media in which a person in an existing image or video is replaced with someone else's likeness. While the act of creating fake content is not new, deepfakes leverage powerful ...

s, is used as a vehicle to explore both subject matters. The novel also examines the nature of belief in a Christian god versus the objective empirical world. This faith versus reason battle is explored in Jerry Dresden's and Epiphany Jones' relationship throughout the novel.

Reception

Epiphany Jones received positive reviews in the mainstream press and on book blogs.

The Bookseller ''The Bookseller'' is a British magazine reporting news on the publishing industry. Philip Jones is editor-in-chief of the weekly print edition of the magazine and the website. The magazine is home to the ''Bookseller''/Diagram Prize for Oddest ...

described the novel as "an energetic, inventive, gritty and deeply moving thriller cum dark comedy, ''Epiphany Jones'' addresses the challenging subject of

sex trafficking Sex trafficking is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. It has been called a form of modern slavery because of the way victims are forced into sexual acts non-consensually, in a form of sexual slavery. Perpetrators of the ...

in a powerful narrative driven by exceptionally well-drawn, unforgettable protagonists."

The Sunday Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

named ''Epiphany Jones'' as one of the 'Best Reads for the Summer', calling it "gloriously funny but dark as hell."

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

named it one of the best recent novels, saying ''Epiphany Jones'' is "complex, inventive and a genuine shocker, this is the very opposite of a 'comfort' read." Literary critic

Maxim Jakubowski Maxim Jakubowski (born 1944) is a crime, erotic, science fiction and rock music writer and critic. Jakubowski was born in 1944 in England to Russian-British and Polish parents, but raised in France. Jakubowski has also lived in Italy and has tr ...

called ''Epiphany Jones'' "a truly impressive debut" and "a twisting tale at the same time realistically gripping and sardonic" and praised Grothaus' writing for having "a delicate fluency which contrasts with the depravity of his subject matter." The

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...

said ''Epiphany Jones'' "is a captivating story that manages to be funny, sinister and surprising" and praised Grothaus' main characters as "complex and well-rounded—equal parts sympathetic, mad and maddening." In 2018

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

named ''Epiphany Jones'' one of the 25 ''"Most Irresistible Hollywood Novels"'' of the last 100 years alongside novels by

Joyce Carol Oates Joyce Carol Oates (born June 16, 1938) is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and non-fiction. Her novels '' Bla ...

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...

Gore Vidal Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his epigrammatic wit, erudition, and patrician manner. Vidal was bisexual, and in his novels and ...

Norman Mailer Nachem Malech Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007), known by his pen name Norman Kingsley Mailer, was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, activist, filmmaker and actor. In a career spanning over six decades, Mailer ...

, and

F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...

Honors and awards

In May 2017 Epiphany Jones was long-listed for the 2017

CWA New Blood Dagger __NOTOC__ The CWA New Blood Dagger is an annual award given by the British Crime Writers' Association (CWA) for first books by previously unpublished writers. It is given in memory of CWA founder John Creasey and was previously known as The John Cre ...

Award. In 2018,

named ''Epiphany Jones'' one of the 25 ''"Most Irresistible Hollywood Novels."''

References

External links

*{{official website, http://www.michaelgrothaus.com/ Style (fiction) 2016 American novels 2016 British novels Modernist novels Psychological novels American thriller novels Chicago in fiction Novels set in Illinois Novels set in Chicago Novels set in France Novels set in Portugal Novels set in Mexico Fiction with unreliable narrators Novels about mental health Novels about consumerism Postmodern novels Satirical books Metafictional novels Novels set in Los Angeles Novels about actors Novels about film directors and producers Novels about the media Film directors and producers

Pornography Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

Novels about pornography Hollywood novels Novels about the Internet Novels about public relations

Novels A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...

Los Angeles in fiction 2016 debut novels