The Living End, Stanley Elkin

"I was Pearl Harbor'd," he might scream. "December Seventh'd by the Lord. Is that fair? I ask you. Men die, have heart attacks, wear out. Mostly wear out. The junkman won't touch them, Detroit recall them. And, yes, I grant that some go sudden. There are accidents. Accidents happen. Mother Nature fucks up. Kids dart into traffic, balls roll in the street. But that's only physics, it's physics is all. Guys buy it in war and that's physics, too. And a crime of passion's a flexing of glands. It's physics, it's science.

Been stung by a wasp? By hornets, crazed bees? There were doing their duty, following Law. With me it was different. God came from His hive. I was stung by the Lord!"

The Living End is quite simply one of the funniest visions of the afterlife I've ever seen. Watch Elkin provoke laughter even as he pulls the world down around him. It might be a little too easy to identify him with the God who annihilates everything "because I never found My audience," but it's awfully tempting. (Kudos to Dalkey for bringing this and a slew of other Elkin novels back into print.)