Being Gay is Disgusting [Paperback]

Edward Falzon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 13, 2010 | ISBN-10: 9993115010 | ISBN-13: 978-9993115014

This ironically titled book is an accurate-but-irreverent retelling of the Bible, from Creation through to the death of Moses, some 2,700 years. A more readable, more entertaining Bible for those who might not otherwise bother to read it... yes, that means you!

A sneak peek into Being Gay is Disgusting reveals the re-tellings of some of the Bible's most famous books:

• Genesis: In this book, a god named Elohim makes the world, then floods it and kills everyone except Noah and his kids. Years later, seeing that everyone is getting along just a bit too well, He separates them all and invents multiple languages so they can no longer work together.
• Exodus: The sequel to Genesis, it commences 350 years after the death of Joseph and like all good sequels, introduces a new nemesis: the mean old Pharaoh!
• Leviticus: Here, God sets down a bunch of laws to the Israelites. According to the text, God issues these instructions directly to Moses, so they're straight from the Horse's mouth.
• Numbers: This book continues the epic of the incomprehensibly stupid Israelites. After several demonstrations of God's mega-cooldom, they repeatedly tell Moses that they want to go back to Egypt because of an unfounded fear of the big, bad wilderness. 
• Deuteronomy: Before his death, Moses relives the highlights of living with the Israelites and brags endlessly about how much cooler Yahweh is than all those other try-hard Levantine gods. Moses also details all the disgusting ways in which the Jews will be punished if they ever step out of line.  You know, like being forced to eat their own babies.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...hilarious and eye-opening..."   --Greg Shapiro, Gay Chicago Magazine

"Hysterically funny parody of the first five books of the Bible... Probably the best book I read all year... Done in a fantastically witty and frank manner reminiscent of 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.' " --The Bilerico Project

"Falzon's irreverent, mocking tone, beside being funny and entertaining (if not for the easily offended), ultimately reflects a much-needed moral outrage and confronts Biblical apologists..." --The Front Page Online

From the Author

Why entitle the book, Being Gay is Disgusting?  Falzon explains:

     "I was motivated by so many well-funded groups who hark back to Leviticus for the moral turpitude of homosexuality. Homosexuality is mentioned exactly twice in 2,700 years, yet lobby groups focus on this 'law' far more than any other biblical rule. They'll never admit that the same biblical page also contains prohibitions on cross-breeding animals and wearing clothes of two different threads.

     "These groups will spend millions on anti-gay efforts, but nobody is protesting the local zoo for breeding ligers or farmers for breeding mules, nor are these groups attempting to shut down the Gap for using poly-cotton blends," adds Falzon. "And no one is lobbying to prohibit working on the Sabbath, yet that rule is peppered throughout the Old and New Testaments, and is even one of the Ten Commandments. It's the cherry picking that annoys me.

     "Whether the Bible is all true, partly true or all false," Falzon says, "few would disagree it has shaped Western civilization. For this reason, it bears reading by everyone. Discussions, debates and conjecture about its historical accuracy or moral truth cannot begin until we're aware of what it says. My book helps people take that first step - awareness. I don't get into whether it's true - perhaps that'll be my next book."

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Daijin Ltd (March 13, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9993115010
• ISBN-13: 978-9993115014
• Product Dimensions: 0.6 x 8.4 x 5.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,259,106 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born in Sydney, city of sinners. In the mid-80s, my family moved North to Brisbane, city of /slow-driving/ sinners. Raised Catholic, I came to my senses in my teens, partly because I found religion to be utterly boring, and partly because I discovered that girls were generally more worthy of my attention.

My interest in religion was rekindled to a certain extent when I, quite accidentally, went on a date with a Born-Again Christian. The interest wasn't spiritual, but rather social. It was strange to me that an intelligent, super-hot girl was so caught up in this thing called the Bible... which we began to read at the end of our first date. /Not/ the best first-date in history.

So I started reading the Bible... and stopped shortly after, because it is, after all, a very long and boring book. It remains my considered opinion that, whether or not it is God's inspired Word, the Bible is quite possibly the worst-written piece of literature still in print today.

Inspired, though, by the potential of the stories that were buried under the tragic narrative style and twelve-hundred-year-long begat-a-thons, I set out to paraphrase the Good Book in a more readable way. Seven years later, 'Being Gay is Disgusting' was born. Yes, seven years; I'm that lazy.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent! January 26, 2011

By J. Gates

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

When I heard about this book, I had to read it. It is a re-telling of the first five books of the Bible in today's language. However, it does not read like the NIV or the NRSV or any other Bible translation. In the book, the author refers to Sara/Sarai as a "hottie," for example. If you have an irreverent streak and can take a dose of laughing at your own religion, this is definitely the book for you. The author includes footnotes throughout, which are mainly his observations about the text, and which are also entertaining. There are diagrams, family trees, and pictures throughout as well. It's not a book to be used for scholarly purposes (and it doesn't claim to be), but it will provide some insight along with the laughter and entertainment.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining treatise on Biblical literalism January 18, 2011

By Harold D. Hughes

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

One of the first things I noticed was this book sold very well both to religious and atheist readers; and there lies the beauty of this text. The author sets out to point out the inconsistencies and humor in the Pentateuch, as well as poor editing in the merging of the (at least) three documents edited into these books. It says a lot about the skill of a writer when the reader finds him/herself laughing out loud while reading; boy, is this a skillful comedy. As a gay person of faith, I was really intrigued by the title, and within a few words I was hooked.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious!! Too funny and scarily accurate. March 4, 2012

By WhiteKnightWolf

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Coming from a gay man, this is easily the funniest piece of biblical satire I've ever read. If you want the basic jist of the bible without a fat man in a suit telling you to tithe, this is the piece for you. Mr. Falzon's smart remarks are backed up by citing every scripture and invoking the omnipotent power of basic common sense. Absolutely a must for anyone hurt by the system and wanting to look at the bible from a less eternal damnation and hellfire point of view.