God Loves Rich People by Lawrence DeAngelis

Kindle Price: $2.99
Available from: Amazon and Smashwords

Ten years after 9/11, Lawrence DeAngelis shares his unique perspective on how all our lives have changed.

Bio: An impoverished troublemaker, Lawrence DeAngelis was kicked out of high school.  He worked 53 different jobs, but his disobedient attitude made him unemployable.  With a growing family, he was forced to work for himself.  He ran several of his own businesses, sometimes into the ground.  Eventually he became a real estate broker and successful developer.  Throughout his life, his finer interests have been literature and music of all kinds, which served to sharpen his mind and weaken his ears.  At age 50 he began weightlifting, becoming a champion bench presser and earning a world record in his division.  Today, he is (as he likes to say with equal measures of sarcasm and awe), “Living the American Dream”.

Excerpt 

God Loves Rich People

Whenever people talk about where or how to find God, I always tell this story:

God loves rich people.

I mean look what He gives them:

Cars, homes, women and money.

He makes them handsome and beautiful.

If you get close enough to check them out,

You will see I’m right.

God doesn’t like poor people.

Look what they get:

Disease, famine.  They’re sick and broke,

With bills to pay and no money.

You won’t find God in the ghetto,

He doesn’t like the hood.

It’s too dangerous,

He might get mugged, or worse.

His security men tell Him it’s a no-no.

If you’re looking to pray to God in the winter, face south.

Because God is in Palm Beach for the winter,

I saw Him there once in the back seat of a Rolls.

An old guy with white flowing hair and a beard,

A black guy was driving the car.

In the summer you can find God up in Maine,

So face north when you pray,

He is up there with the Bushes

In a place called Kennebunkport.

Don’t ask me why.

Anyway that’s where He is, with His people.

So if you’re poor,

Don’t waste your time looking for help from God.

He’s busy taking care of the rich folks, all over the world,

He just doesn’t have the time, energy,

Or money for the poor.

There’s too damn many of them.

Interview with Lawrence DeAngelis

What will readers like about your book? 
People have called it “irreverent”, I hope that means it makes them laugh, or think . . . and that they enjoy that.

Why did you self publish? 
I don’t have time to mess around. . . nobody does.

What is your writing process? 
It never happens the same way twice.

How long does it take you to write your first draft? 
It took a long time. I didn’t sit down and decide to write a collection of poetry, I was just doing a few here and few there.

What inspired you to write this particular story? 
A lot of things make me angry or sad, especially this state of war America’s in. So I wrote it down.