... riveting.

Accidental Gods is one of those carefully researched books of nonfiction guaranteed to make you feel smarter by the end.

Subin, who studied at Harvard Divinity School, clearly delights in...curious details, and Accidental Gods is brimming with them—though in addition to the strange, almost scriptural stories she tells, she also has some connections and ideas to explore.

Who can make a god is as fascinating a question as who can kill one, and Anna Della Subin tries to answer both in her new book.

With a stylish, playful, at times almost biblical authorial voice, as well as a keen eye for history’s most revealing paradoxes and charming cul-de-sacs, Subin restores to view the lost tales of modern men (and a few women) transformed into gods before our very eyes.

... a work so singular as to be nearly phosphorescent.

Anna Della Subin’s Accidental Gods is a philosophical and historical exploration of the phenomenon from Jesus Christ to Prince Philip and Narendra Modi, written with a poise and lucidity that allow full play to the comic aspects of her subject, while considering the frequently disastrous consequences.

It’s a fascinating exploration of the paradoxes of humanity’s religious instincts—and the power of followers to deify flawed mortals against their will.

... phenomenal—erudite, provocative, scandalous, and comic and tragic by turns.

Subin writes about these concepts and events essayistically, flowing from historical narratives and case studies to flashes of epigrammatic insight. What seems like a symbolic resonance often enough turns out to be literal...and what sound like distant spiritual curiosities turn out to be disconcertingly close.

Structurally, the book staggers; it starts as a series of engaging vignettes, but then drags as it enters more theoretical territory. And Della Subin can herself tend to a quasi-religious tone that mutes the deliciously human detail of the stories she tells. After all, it’s the humanity of these gods that makes them interesting—the mortals they really were, and the very earthly needs of their worshippers that led to their deification..

The author assumes no prior knowledge, taking care to tell compelling stories in a concise and factual way. The book is elegantly written, flaunting the author’s mastery of theology to problematize the racist roots of present-day Christianity.

It is fascinating stuff, and Subin marshals her enormous arsenal of facts to compelling effect, even if the sometimes florid prose requires a fair amount of readerly heavy lifting. All the same, her contentions are thoughtful and subtle, and for this reviewer it was the final section of the publication that proved most impactful..

At least two older white writers tell Subin about visiting an isolated community or tribe and being confused for someone celestial. What might just as well be traditional gestures of curiosity and hospitality...are written up by western travellers as signs of their own cosmic importance, and Subin accepts these accounts uncritically. That said, her portrait of the Rastafarian movement is wonderfully attuned to the transformative power of belief.

Written in erudite, scholarly prose, Subin’s appreciation for these 'gods' is a vibrantly narrated yet overlong text richly embellished with generous illustrations. The author’s exploration captures mortals throughout history who were feted, shaped myths about power and influence, and were startlingly exalted into godly status. A colorful, exhaustive, occasionally exhausting contemplation of global history’s cavalcade of avatars..

... thought-provoking if overstuffed.