God in My Head: The True Story of an Ex-Christian Who Accidentally Met God

In this debut memoir, Brooklyn-based actor Grisetti describes a divine vision he had while undergoing a dental procedure. Raised as a Southern Baptist in Virginia, Grisetti abandoned his faith after college. Before that, faith was how he coped with his crippling fear of dentistry, he jokes: “In the name of the Father, the Son, Crest, Colgate and Oral-B. Amen.” Eventually dentists prescribed anxiety pills, which he mixed with alcohol to knock himself out. On the day he met God, he had premedicated before being given Xanax and nitrous oxide. The majority of the book recounts the extended question-and-answer session he had with the deity, who told him, among other things, that the Old Testament is allegorical, God and the devil are “two halves of a whole,” and heaven and hell don’t exist. It’s no surprise that such iconoclasm and moral relativism emerged from the mind of someone who’d struggled with orthodox Christianity, Grisetti acknowledges. Although he gamely investigates drug-induced hallucinations and near-death experiences, he still believes that he experienced “something beyond the mere neurons of my brain.” Readers can make of God’s revelations what they will, but the author’s vivid memory and sense of humor render this a riveting account. (BookLife)