In god we trust all others pay cash is a novel by american humorist jean shepherd first published in october 1966 a best seller at the time of its publication it is considered shepherds most important published work the work inspired two films a christmas story 1983 and my summer story 1994 shepherd is the narrator in both films. In god we trust all others pay cash represents one of the peaks of his achievement a compound of irony affection and perfect detail that speaks across generations in god we trust shepherds wildly witty reunion with his indiana hometown disproves the adage you can never go back bending the ear of flick his childhood buddy turned . In god we trust all others pay cash is the first of those three eleven of the fifteen stories were new to me shepherd had an interesting way of pulling everything together he starts in chapter 1 by going back to his hometown as a middle aged adult in a local bar . In god we trust all others pay cash represents one of the peaks of his achievement a compound of irony affection and perfect detail that speaks across generations in god we trust shepherds wildly witty reunion with his indiana hometown disproves the adage you can never go back bending the ear of flick his childhood buddy turned