God Went Like That

Curbstone Books 2, March 2023

Summary: Novelist, art critic, playwright, and Loyola Law School professor, Yxta Maya Murray tells the story of federal agent Reyna Rodriguez who is reporting on a real-life nuclear reactor meltdown and accidents that occurred in 1959, 1964, and 1968 at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, a research and development complex in California’s Simi Valley. The lab was eventually dismantled by the US government—  but not before it created a toxic legacy of contamination and numerous cancer clusters. God Went Like That takes the form of an EPA report in which Reyna presents interviews with individuals affected by the disasters. Murray has been named a fellow at the Huntington Library for her work on radionuclide contamination in Simi Valley, California.

Praise: “Murray shines with this ambitious project.” —Publishers Weekly

“But beyond the rich literary dimensions through which Murray makes her text work and play, God Went Like That also accomplishes much through the array of disciplines  and discourses that thread through it. ” — Los Angeles Review of Books

“Yxta Maya Murray’s writing is a gift, and in God Went Like That she is at the height of her powers.” —Héctor Tobar, author of The Last Great Road Bum