Iowa (Mason City) native Josiah Hesse will read from his new book, On Fire for God: Fear, Shame, Poverty, and the Making of the Christian Right – a Personal History. A blend of his personal story about the trauma of growing up within a strict evangelical family and the story of Mason City as a community, On Fire for God describes Hesse's "fear, shame, and poverty" and includes a researched exploration of the Christian Right's historical and political influence on America's working class. This book originated from a piece Hesse published in The Guardian in 2016, which you can read here: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/05/religion-evangelical-christian-apocalypse-josiah-hesse.

Publisher's Weekly praises On Fire for God as "eye-opening" and "evocative," while Kirkus Reviews says: "Might be thought of as the antidote to J.D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy. . . . Worthy of attention for its personal view of an ‘American theocracy’ in the making."

Josiah Hesse, author of Runner’s High and the Carnality series, is a freelance journalist out of Denver, Colorado, covering everything from politics, science, and crime, to art, pop culture, and evangelical culture and theology. A regular contributor to The Guardian and Vice, his work has appeared in Esquire, Newsweek, Men’s Health, and Politico, among other publications.