The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven
The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven: A True Story is a best-selling 2010 Christian book that purported to tell the story of Alex Malarkey's experiences in heaven after a traffic accident in 2004. It was published by Tyndale House Publishers in 2010 and lists Alex's father Kevin Malarkey as an author along with Alex, although Alex described it in November 2012 as "one of the most deceptive books ever." It was adapted into a television film in March 2010.
Alex forcefully disavowed the book in an open letter to Christian bookstores almost five years after it was published and more than a million copies were sold, describing his near-death experience as a fabrication. As a result, Tyndale House removed the book from print, and Christian bookstores removed it from their shelves.
Alex had suffered various injuries in the accident, including a severe spinal injury, severe neck injuries, and brain trauma, and he was left a quadriplegic.
Summary
According to his own account, Alex Malarkey says that he and his father were driving on a highway near Rushsylvania, Ohio, when his father turned onto another road and was hit by a car, which he did not see. After the automobile accident, he says he saw his father fly out of the window of his car, only to be caught by an angel and carried to safety. He says he was out of his body while he saw this happen. His body was taken to a hospital in an emergency helicopter. The book says that soon after that he felt an angel take him through the gates of Heaven, which he describes as being "tall", to meet Jesus, who appears through a "hole in heaven". After he woke up in the hospital, he told his family his account of his near-death experience. Tyndale House promoted the book as "a supernatural encounter that will give you new insights on Heaven, angels, and hearing the voice of God."Reception and aftermath
Books about purported visits to Heaven make up a popular and highly lucrative genre of religious books in the United States. The 2004 book 90 Minutes in Heaven spent over five years on the New York Times best-seller list and sold over six million copies, while the book Heaven Is for Real has sold over 10 million copies and the film adaptation earned $101 million at the box office. The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven sold 112,386 copies in the first year, and received a platinum award from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association in 2013 for over a million sales.In November 2012, Alex's mother, Beth Malarkey, wrote several blog posts saying that her family is not in agreement with the content of the book. She expressed frustration with several people calling and visiting their home over the years, saying, " is just a boy not a statue to be worshipped or person with some supernatural gifts," and, "He does not go to Heaven, have conversations with supernatural beings, and whatever visions/experiences he has had or had not had, is up to him as to what he will do with those." Later that month, she claimed the book's account had been embellished, adding that, "The truth is getting twisted, distorted, and packaged to be sold to the highest bidder." She also revealed that Alex himself had written a comment on the book's Facebook page in November 2011 calling the book "one of the most deceptive books ever." That comment was deleted, and Alex was banned from commenting after the moderators suspected he was an imposter. Beth and Kevin Malarkey have become estranged since the book was published.
On May 9, 2014, Beth Malarkey appeared on the Christian radio show, The Bible Answer Man, and said that the book is deceptive and embellishes the story of the accident. Beth Malarkey said Alex is still a quadriplegic and cannot legally receive any money from the book. She also began communicating with Phil Johnson, the executive director of John F. MacArthur's media ministry, Grace to You, in hopes of communicating her story. Johnson said that Beth had told him she and Alex had been trying to publicize for some time that the book was "an exaggeration and an embellishment." Johnson subsequently revealed in his blog, The Spurgeon Archive, that Beth Malarkey had sent Tyndale "a stack of correspondence" in which she stated that Alex not only received no royalties from the book, but that Kevin "neglects his duties as a husband and a father" and was "not even adequately supporting his family financially." She had also revealed this to apologist Justin Peters, who proceeded to e-mail LifeWay leaders Ed Stetzer and Thom S. Rainer. They responded, but the book would not be withdrawn from LifeWay stores for another eight months
According to psychologist and paranormal researcher Benjamin Radford, part of the reason that the story was so well-received and accepted among its American Christian audience is that it reinforced their existing narratives and beliefs. By sticking closely to a widely accepted interpretation of heaven, God and demons, Malarkey was assured that his story would meet his audience's expectations and be popular.
Confession of fraud
On January 13, 2015, Alex Malarkey released an open letter to Christian publishers and bookstores via the Christian Apologetics blog known as Pulpit and Pen, confessing that the entire account of his journey to Heaven was fictional, and implored them to remove the book from their stores. In his letter he notes:On January 15, 2015, Tyndale House confirmed it would be withdrawing the book.
Lawsuits
In 2018, Alex Malarkey filed a lawsuit against Tyndale House, the main publisher based in suburban Chicago, accusing them of charges including defamation and exploitation, seeking an award at least equivalent to the book's profits. That same year Kevin and Beth ended their marriage, with Beth getting custody of Alex and the couple's other children going to live with their father. Beth says she and Alex are in a difficult financial situation and cannot guarantee that they will be able to remain in their house; she would like an accounting of how Kevin spent the money from the book.Kevin, who had not spoken publicly since his son retracted the book's claims, and rebuffed efforts by journalists to contact him, broke his silence in 2019. He told Slate reporter Ruth Graham that he stood by the book. He had not spoken previously because, after prayer, he believed God did not want him to since it would harm his children. Royalties from the book had come to approximately a million dollars, half of it from the advance, but most of it had been spent on Alex's care, or given to his church and other Christian charities, and none of it was left.