Book titled "The Gospel of Zip" by Frank Schaeffer featuring a photo of a dog on the cover with trees and rocks in the background, and a green banner with white text at the bottom.

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Praise for
The Gospel of Zip
“They got off to a rough start, but Frank & Genie Schaeffer have forged a lasting and satisfying marriage defined by ever-deepening love. In his new book, Frank shares the priceless wisdom and gratitude they’ve learned about life and love.”
— Brad Wilcox, Professor of Sociology and Director of the National Marriage Project at UVA, and Author of Get Married
“What draws readers or listeners to books is authenticity of the narrator, and an authentic narrator. I think your readers and listeners will be grateful for that…I’m excited to see what comes of you putting this book out there.”
— Melanie Brooks, Author of A Hard Silence: One daughter remaps family, grief, and faith when HIV/AIDS changes it all
“I really enjoyed reading THE GOSPEL OF ZIP, so much. I think it is a lively and very humane book. I really liked the kind of fragmented structure, with the very short sections. I think it gives the book a good rhythm. And it helps that the sections themselves are well structured, it’s not done as a gimmick but with intention and thoughtfulness.”
— Jessa Crispin, author of What Is Wrong with Men: Patriarchy, the Crisis of Masculinity, and How (Of Course) Michael Douglas Films Explain Everything
“In The Gospel of Zip, Frank Schaffer has masterfully woven colorful threads of personal narrative and confessional together with cutting edge science, to share his experience of becoming a better person and, especially, a better husband to his wife Genie, all with the help of a dog named Zip. The question isn’t “What would Jesus do?” Or “What would the Buddha do?” The real question is, “What would Zip do?”
— Jessica Pierce, Ph.D., leading bioethicists and author of twelve books, including Run, Spot, Run: The Ethics of Keeping Pets (Chicago, 2016) and The Last Walk: Reflections on Our Pets at the Ends of Their Lives
“Congratulations again on the book. I’m glad Zip is now much more famous than he used to be, and I commend it to your viewers and readers. I hope it gets a good shake out in the world, and it sounds like it should really be a stimulant to some good critical but also constructive thinking.”
— Christian Smith, PhD, Wm. R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Sociology Department of Sociology, University of Notre Dame, and Author of Why Religion Went Obsolete
“I’m such a big fan of this project. We’ve connected on this topic of childbearing, and on the purification of what it means to devote our lives to others.”
— Catherine Ruth Pakaluk, Director of Political Economy and Associate Professor at the Busch School of Business at the Catholic University Of America, Author of Hannah's Children: The Women Quietly Defying The Birth Dearth.
A brown dog resting on a couch with a yellow pillow, looking at the camera.
Close-up of a brown dog with a white patch on chest, outdoors with blurry trees in background.
A brown dog with a white chest licking its nose with its tongue, outdoors with green trees in the background.

Why am I giving my book away for free?

I’ve been a writer my whole life, but this book—The Gospel of Zip—is different. It’s about my dog, Zip. It’s about my fifty-six-year relationship with my wife, Genie. It’s about what I’ve learned really matters: love, caregiving, family, friendship. In a world that feels more divided than ever, I wanted to offer something honest and healing. That’s why I’m not just selling this book. I’m giving it away for free.

For the last seven years, I’ve poured myself into this project. I’ve recorded the entire book aloud and made it available as a free video series on YouTube beginning November 1, 2025. No strings attached. No catch. Not because I don’t value my work, but because I value the message even more. At seventy-three, I don’t need to chase a publisher’s advance or turn this into a fundraising campaign. What I want most is to share what I’ve discovered: that the secret to surviving hard times—Trump years, culture wars, political dysfunction—is the same secret that has kept Genie and me together for over half a century. Love. Care. Community. Or, as I put it in the book, “the survival of the friendliest.”

We live in an era of echo chambers and algorithms that divide us. But history—and even a dog like Zip—teaches us something better. People have endured far darker times than these by leaning into cooperation, connection, and kindness. That’s the lesson Zip lives out every day: greeting everyone as a friend, finding common ground where I might not, reminding me that forgiveness and joy are more powerful than resentment. If we can learn to live that way ourselves, there’s no need to stay trapped in bitterness or fear.

So I’m giving The Gospel of Zip away freely because I believe its message belongs to everyone. You don’t have to buy into one ideology or another. You don’t have to agree with me on politics. What unites us is more important: our shared humanity, our longing for love, our need for friendship. Loneliness is deadly. Connection saves lives. If my book can help even a few people rediscover those truths, then every hour I’ve spent on it has been worthwhile.

This is my answer to Donald Trump, to division, to despair. It isn’t hate—it’s love. It isn’t ideology—it’s humanity. That’s why The Gospel of Zip is free. Because the best things in life always are.

Love, Frank

P.S. If you’d like to talk to me about this project, email me at frank@thegospelofzip.com.