The Gospel According to Larry, by Janet Tashjian

The Gospel According to Larry, by Janet Tashjian, is about a seventeen year old boy named Josh Swensen simply trying to find his place in the world. His life goal is to make a difference in the world, but does not want the fame that comes with it. He creates an alter ego, Larry, and makes a website named thegospelaccordingtolarry.com, where he “preaches” his strong beliefs in anti-consumerism and how to make the world a better place, despite the fact that his father has a career in advertising. He becomes very confident that no one will ever know his true identity, and even his best friend Beth who he has been secretly in love with for years does not know he is Larry. However, Josh’s life seems to come crashing down as his website gets attention from celebrities and someone under the cyber name “Betagold” threatens to find out who he really is. It seems like everyone but Josh wants Larry exposed, and he knows exposing him would destroy everything. After reading this book, I would have thought it was based off of a real person had it not been marked as fiction. It is written with the author actually meeting Josh in a parking lot and asking her to publish his story. This book really promotes Henry David Thoreau’s philosophy of simplicity, and referenced him throughout the book. Josh himself owns only seventy-five items, and gets rid of an item when he gets a new one. The message of anti-consumerism really got me thinking, and this story reveals the true selfishness of the human race. If you want to find out what happens to Josh/Larry, or get inspired to make a difference, I strongly encourage you to read this book. It has an action-packed ending with an ironic twist!