{"product_id":"an-atheist-christian-gunslinger-jerry-hunter-9781917237758","title":"An Atheist Christian Gunslinger","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAl I herd wɘz that familyer yelin. Maga maga maga maga.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSet in a dystopian future many years after The End of Elections, everything is run by The Company and the State. Seth Hibard, a sludge farmer who lives in Hill Country, leads a life full of quiet contradictions. He is in turns shy and talkative, outgoing and awkward, and though not religious himself, he has a loving relationship with his very Christian wife, Jayn, with whom he shares a fondness for the Godly Stories, including one about Seth's biblical namesake. Seth is also fond however of an old book from before the End of Elections, \u003cem\u003eAn Atheist Christian Gunslinger, \u003c\/em\u003ewhich speaks to a more violent side of his nature that he has kept in check.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut when his intolerant neighbors start harassing migrant farm workers who have settled in the area, Seth finds himself taking a stand. He knows that, one way or the other, more blood will be spilled. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSeth's story cannot be separated from the language he uses to tell it. He records the spiraling violence in his own unique way, his dialect and way of writing being integral parts of the world into which the reader is thrust. It is a world at once familiar and strange, a place where the basest of human impulses are set against a simple man's desire to do good.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eI rekin thangz did git a litl betr beefor they went and got a hol lot wors egin.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eI rekin I need tɘ ad that I treyd tɘ play mey part in that ordr ɘv thanzs tu. \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNorth-Wales based Jerry Hunter is originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, but has lived in Wales since the 1990s and since 2003 has been at Bangor University where he is currently a Professor of Welsh. He has published six novels in Welsh and a number of non-fiction and academic works, and is a past recipient of the Prose Medal at the National Eisteddfod and the Wales Book of the Year award; however this is his first published work of fiction in English.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA work of dystopian fiction set after 'The End of Elections', \u003cem\u003eAn Atheist Christian Gunslinger \u003c\/em\u003eis set in a bleak vision of rural America at an unspecified point in the future where everything is run by The Company and The State. The protagonist Seth Hibard, a sludge farmer, has only received a rudimentary education. While he doesn't share his wife's strong faith, he has a strong sense of right and wrong, and when the authorities turn a blind eye to the persecution of some migrant workers he is forced to choose between doing nothing and taking matters into his own hands.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhilst \u003cem\u003eAn Atheist Christian Gunslinger \u003c\/em\u003eis something of a departure for Hunter, being his first novel in English, it bears some similarities to his 2014 post-apocalyptic Welsh language novel \u003cem\u003eEbargofiant\u003c\/em\u003e ('Oblivion'), widely perceived at the time to be a revolutionary work in the language. Both novels coin a new, non-standard orthography based on a specific dialect: the Welsh of Caernarfonshire in the case of \u003cem\u003eEbargofiant\u003c\/em\u003e, and a combination of English dialects found in Appalachia and the southern United States in the case of \u003cem\u003eAn Atheist Christian Gunslinger\u003c\/em\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Seth's story is one that can't be separated from the language used to tell it,\" explains Hunter.\"Using a unique kind of writing in this way forces the reader to really get inside the mind of a character. It also helps situate the reader soundly in the world I've created. Among other things, it's a creative way of exploring how languages change and evolve with time - and how language might evolve after a traumatic historical event.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Groundbreaking, impactful and brilliant work. I truly loved this.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eManon Steffan Ros, author of \u003cem\u003eThe Blue Book of Nebo\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Jerry Hunter\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1917237758\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781917237758\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Melin Bapur\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/01\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 142\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.43lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.00h x 5.00w x 0.39d","brand":"Jerry Hunter","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48801604993279,"sku":"9781917237758","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/an-atheist-christian-gunslinger-jerry-hunter-9781917237758","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}