New York Times best-selling author William Paul Young will join the University of Pikeville for a special kick-off event in celebration of Religious Emphasis Week on Thursday, Nov. 8, at 7 p.m. in Booth Auditorium, Record Memorial Building.

Young’s “The Shack” remained at the top of the New York Times best-seller list for 49 consecutive weeks and has more than 17 million copies in print in more than 35 languages around the world.

“We live in a world where ‘normal’ does not truly exist except as an idea or concept,” said Young. “For each of us, where and how we grew up plays a foundational role in our sense of ‘normal,’ and only when we begin to experience the ‘bigness and diversity’ of the world are we tempted to evaluate our roots.”

Until the release of “The Shack,” Young worked as a janitor near his home in Portland, Ore. He grew up as a third-culture child, the son of missionary parents among the Dani, a ritualistic cannibal tribe of New Guinea. Young’s novel, set in the Oregon wilderness, is a metaphor, he says, “for the place we keep all of our pain, sorrow, abuse and disappointments about life. The encounter with God at ‘The Shack’ represents 11 years of my adult life spent in recovery and healing.”

“Unexpected and unanticipated, this little story is touching the precious places of the human soul in transformational ways and can only be properly characterized as ‘a God-thing.’ I am humbled and grateful to be invited on this beautiful though sometimes painful adventure,” said Young.

The University of Pikeville will celebrate Religious Emphasis Week, Nov. 12-16. For a complete list of events, visit www.upike.edu.