Events

God's Lunatics: Lost Souls, False Prophets, Martyred Saints, Murderous Cults, Demonic Nuns, and Other Victims of Man's Eternal Search for the Divine.
by Michael Largo

Michael Largo's books are not for the faint of heart. The author of Final Exits: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of How We Die, which won the Bram Stoker Award for nonfiction from the Horror Writers Association back in 2006, The Portable Obituary: How the Famous, Rich and Powerful Really Died (2007), and Genius and Heroin: The Illustrated Catalogue of Creativity, Obsession and Reckless Abandon Through the Ages (2008), among other works, he has been called "a curator of death" by Esquire magazine and "the Capote of kaput" by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Formerly the editor of the journal New York Poetry and a researcher-cum-archivist for the film company Allied Artists, his work illuminates the macabre with an inquisitive eye. Later this month, Largo will add to his morose catalogue with God’s Lunatics: Lost Souls, False Prophets, Martyred Saints, Murderous Cults, Demonic Nuns, and Other Victims of Man's Eternal Search for the Divine. A look at the ironies of religion and the never-ending quest for what lies beyond the earthly plane, the book will be released on Tuesday, June 22, and that night, at 6:30 p.m. at the Savannah College of Art and Design's Ivy Hall building in Atlanta, Largo will discuss his latest work and sign copies.

A 564-page reference tome with 250 illustrations and photos, God's Lunatics examines celebrated mystics, martyrs, wizards, shamans, cult leaders, founders of Utopian experiments, victims of demonic possession and the originators of New Age movements. It's an epic treatment of the unknowable, a look at the perils of proselytization that chronicles humanity's search for the sublime. A schadenfreude-filled uncovering of tragic zealotry, the book is sure to delight history buffs and lovers of mysticism alike.

The event is free and open to the public.

If you could not attend the reading, but would like a signed copy of God's Lunatics, you may purchase it below.