The Winnowing

In The Winnowing the goddesses of classical Greece return—or as they emphasize, reanimate. Far from being remote mythological beings, they appear in contemporary America to prevent a small cadre of scientists from upending the eternal cycle of life and death.

Highly cinematic and seditious in its approach toward morality, the story takes place in its own Eden, where goddesses consort with young nymphs in dramatic presentations, practice ancient sacrifice and hunt “spirit” deer. Midpoint through the story the narrator—the sole male—is transformed into a being with god-like powers. Sexual hunger, hubris, infatuation—these emotions and godlike intellect drive the key characters through a story that ends in conflagration, and finally, rebirth.