E. Dean Cook is a retired Navy chaplain who also taught at Roberts Wesleyan College, Rochester, New York, and was its first campus chaplain. For ten years, he was senior pastor of the Wilmore Free Methodist Church near Lexington, Kentucky, where he also taught, mentored, and supervised ministerial students at Asbury Theological Seminary and Asbury University. During his long and varied career as a clergyman, he served as senior chaplain at the Naval Base Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California; serving also on the aircraft carrier USS America and several other naval ships and installations. He was appointed Director of his denomination's chaplains. He holds a bachelor's degree in Biblical Literature from Seattle Pacific University, master's and doctoral degrees from Asbury Theological Seminary, and an honorary doctor's degree from Roberts Wesleyan College. He holds the rank of Captain in the Navy Chaplain Corps and was made an Honorary Admiral by the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He has been married to his wife, Ruth, for 55 years. They have four sons and six grandchildren. Cook is the author of two other books: Salt of the Sea (an account of his chaplain career) and Being God's Presence in Closed Communities, a history of his denomination's chaplaincy ministries. His interest in and study of the book of Jonah was ignited by the wide variety of interpretations given the book. The writer believes that Jonah has a clear and powerful message for this generation and the Church, who are prone to follow the god they want rather than the God that is.

著者ディーン・クックは、長年の海軍牧師としての稀有な経験と学術的知見を注ぎ込み、預言者ヨナの物語を単なる寓話から、現代人の魂を揺さぶる「深層心理劇」へと昇華させました。本作の文学的な魅力は、広大な慈悲を持つ創造主に対し、自らの偏見という狭い殻に閉じこもるヨナの「器の小ささ」を鮮烈に描き出した点にあります。神を自分たちの都合の良い枠に押し込めようとする人間の滑稽さと悲劇性が、鋭い感性で解剖されています。 特筆すべきは、現代社会が陥りがちな「自分が望む神」を捏造する脆さを突いた、痛烈なテーマ性です。クックはヨナの逃避と葛藤を通じ、読者自身の内なる独善性を鏡のように映し出します。文学的な興趣に満ちたその論考は、信仰の有無を問わず、他者への寛容さと真理の深淵を問う一冊として、私たちの閉ざされた心に力強い一撃を与えてくれるでしょう。