William Paul Young, referred to generally as Wm.

Paul Young or simply Paul Young, (born May 11,

1955) is a Canadian author. He wrote the novels The Shack, Cross Roads and Eve.
Early life
Young is the oldest of four, born May 11, 1955, in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada, but the majority
of his first decade was lived with his missionary parents in the highlands of Netherlands New
Guinea (West Papua), among the Dani, a technologically stone age tribal people. These became
his family and as the first white child and outsider who ever spoke their language, he was granted
unusual access into their culture and community. When he was six he was sent to a boarding
school.
Career
In an interview Young said he had written primarily as a way to create unique gifts for his friends,
until his wife repeatedly urged him to write something for their six children in order to put down
in one place his perspectives on God and on the inner healing Young had experienced as an adult.
The resulting manuscript, that later became The Shack, was intended only for his six kids and for
a handful of close friends.
Young initially printed just 15 copies of his book. Two of his close friends encouraged him to have
it published, and assisted with some editing and rewriting in order to prepare the manuscript for
publication. After rejection by 26 publishers, Young and his friends published the book under the
name of their newly created publishing company, Windblown Media, in 2007. The company spent
only C$200 in advertising;word-of-mouth referrals eventually drove the book to number one on
the New York Times trade paperback fiction best-seller list in June 2008. "The Shack" was the top-
selling fiction and audio book of 2008 in America through November 30.
Young's second book, Cross Roads, was published on November 13, 2012 by FaithWords.
Young's Eve was released on September 15, 2015 by Howard Books.
Young's latest book Lies we believe about God has also been the subject of criticism. One critic,
Tim Challies, says Young is a universalist, teaching that everyone is saved.
The Shack is a novel by Canadian author William P. Young that was published in 2007.
The novel was self-published but became a USA Today bestseller, having sold 1 million copies as
of June 8, 2008. It was the No. 1 paperback trade fiction seller on The New York Times Best Seller
list from June 2008 to early 2010, in a publishing partnership with Hachette Book Group USA's
FaithWords imprint (Hodder & Stoughton in the UK). In 2009 it was awarded the "Diamond
Award" for sales of over 10 million copies by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association.
The title of the book is a metaphor for "the house you build out of your own pain", as Young
explained in a telephone interview.] He also told radio host talk show Drew Marshall that The
Shack "is a metaphor for the places you get stuck, you get hurt, you get damaged...the thing where
shame or hurt is centered."
Film adaptation
A film adaptation of The Shack, directed by Stuart Hazeldine and starring Sam
Worthington, Octavia Spencer, and Tim McGraw; was released on March 3, 2017 to extremely
negative critical reviews. Audience response was, however, much more positive.
In The Shack, Willie tells the story of his friend Mack's experience meeting God face to face.
Mack has had a troubled childhood; due to his father's alcoholism and aggression, Mack left home
at 13. This experience leaves him with little faith in God. However, in his twenties he settles down
in Oregon with a woman named Nan, who has such devout and personal faith in God that she calls
him Papa. Mack and Nan have five children: Jon, Tyler, Josh, Kate, and Missy. One summer, Mack
decides to take Josh, Kate, and Missy on a camping trip. They stay at a campground for a few days,
and meet another family and a couple who are camping in the same area. On the last morning of
their trip, Josh and Kate go out canoeing and flip their canoe. While Mack swims out to save Josh,
Missy is abducted. When Mack cannot find Missy after rescuing Josh, the police are called and an
investigation is launched. The recovery of a ladybug-shaped pin with five dots at the camp site
ties Missy's abduction to a serial killer called the Little Ladykiller, and the dress she was wearing
on the day of her abduction is found at a shack hidden in the woods nearby. After weeks of
searching, no body is recovered.
Mack's family goes on with their lives, though Mack experiences what he calls The Great Sadness,
and his daughter Kate becomes more closed off and sullen. One snowy day while Nan, Josh, and
Kate are at Nan's sister's house, Mack receives a letter inviting him back to the shack. The letter
is signed with the name Papa and has no stamp or return address. Mack decides that it must be
either a prank or from Missy's killer, so he decides not to tell Nan. However, he becomes more
curious over the next week and decides to go to the shack to confront whatever is there, be it God
or a prankster of some kind.
When Mack gets to the shack, there is nobody else there. When Mack sees the faded bloodstain
where Missy's dress was found, he starts to cry and smash furniture. He falls asleep on the floor.
When he wakes up, he decides to go back home, but after walking a few steps away from the
shack, his surroundings suddenly change from snowy winter to warm, sweet-smelling spring. The
shack is replaced by a beautiful cabin on the edge of a lake. Inside the shack, he meets a black
woman named Papa, an Asian woman named Sarayu, and a Middle Eastern man, Jesus. Together,
they are God. Mack spends the weekend at the shack having conversations with the three of them,
and in the process he learns to love and trust God. He also works through his guilt and anger at
his father and Missy's killer.
At the end of the weekend, he decides to return to his family. While he is driving home, he gets in
a car crash. He is unconscious for a few days, and he acknowledges that people may not believe
his story about what happened at the shack because of the accident. However, Willie and Nan tell
him that they believe him, and the knowledge that Mack gained during his time at the shack allows
the police to recover Missy's body and catch the Little Ladykiller.