God of Impertinence

German writer Nadolny resurrects the Greek gods and makes them pertinent to our time in this fast-paced and funny novel. Iron-god Hephaestus, in the hopes of finalizing his doomsday plan, frees Hermes, whom he chained inside the crater of a volcano on one of the Greek islands over 2000 years ago. Taking his first steps of freedom at the end of the second millennium, Hermes realizes that the world has changed beyond recognition and that he must bring himself up to speed as quickly as he can. The mischievous god of fertility, messengers and thieves learns by hopping into the ears of people and attaching himself to the cerebellum. Once he has tapped into a person's brain and nerves, he can then direct and control the person while peering through that person's eyes. Hermes, who can't go long without seducing a woman, unknowingly falls for none other than Helle, Hephaestus's daughter, who has assumed the body of Helga, a 17-year-old German. Nadolny (The Discovery of Slowness) embellishes on the myths of classic Greek gods who appear anachronistic in a modern world where ""the gap between rich and poor [is] greater than ever, vulgarity and selfishness [are] practically religious dogma, and the death wish [has] reached epidemic proportions."" Hermes becomes the only god willing and able to save the world from the iron wheels of the technophile Hephaestus (Zeus has long since retired to the golf courses of middle America), who reins over humans ""through their own desire for comfort,"" and the two agree that the ruler will be decided by a divine game of poker. Written in the quicksilver spirit of Hermes himself (Mercury to the Romans), The God of Impertinence offers a playfully intelligent take on Western society at the end of the millennium. (July)