The Boomer Bible [Paperback]

R. F. Laird (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 10, 1991

In the beginning there was the Holy Bible
2 Which was a very good book indeed, but so many things happened since the beginning,
3 That Maybe it was time for another bible,
4 So a punk from Philadelphia wrote a new one,
5 And so it is called The Boomer Bible,
6 So there.
7 And Its Past Testament tells the history of the world, including the Book of Greeks, Book of Brits, Book of Yanks, Book of Russkies, and all the other self-proclaimed Chosen Nations,
8 And people sticking each other with pointed sticks, and acting up, which is called civilization,
9 And also about religion and art and movies and literature, and TV, and so forth, which is why there are also the Books of Pnowlege,
10 Including Psongs, Psayings, and Psomethings,
11 Written just like the other Bible but without any big unpronounceable words,
12 So that you and I might truly understand it,
13 For a change.
14 And Its Present Testament tells about the coming of Harry, and The Way of Harry,
15 Who may be the messiah everybody has been waiting for,
16 Unless he really isn't,
17 Which is hard to say,
18 So there.
19 And there is also The Book of Harrier Brayer together with the Harrier Hymnal,
20 And another Testament too,
21 And Concordance, and a lenticular hand on the cover.
22 And It is not for the faint of heart,
23 Or the easily offended,
24 Or the priggish or the prudish,
25 But who cares,
26 Because neither was Candide, or Swift's A Modest Proposal, or Rabelais, or Lenny Bruce
28 Or all the other satires and satirists who felt the need to warn us when we have gone astray,
29 Which we have,
29 Which you'll know all about,
31 If you read your Boomer Bible,
32 Or there.

Over 87,000 copies in print.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The Boomers of management consultant Laird's title are baby boomers, and the author systematically skewers all of the things he claims that generation holds sacred--television, Wall Street avarice, the heroes of our nation's history and our Eurocentric cultural heritage. Boomers have forsaken established religions to follow Harry, the First Babe of the Boom, who gives them great things to eat, drink and inhale and who proclaims for them total exemption from responsibility for their actions. This "bible" also includes "The Book of the Damn Yankees," a version of American history, and the "Psongs" ("Happy is the man who gets to walk around with a pocketful of cash"). All of these topics have been treated better before. The book's pseudo-biblical style can be amusing at first, but it wears thin long before the end of the volume's 700-plus pages. The author is capable of an insightful observation or a genuinely funny line, but these are few and far between. And with his hipper-than-thou attitude, Laird seems to despise everyone but himself, while his muddled politics, neither left nor right, seem designed to confuse and deliberately offend readers.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

And then there is The Boomer Bible, a sprawling, wickedly funny modern rewriting of the Bible that's meant to sum up a generation. -- Meg Cox, The Wall Street Journal

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 880 pages
• Publisher: Workman Publishing Company; First Printing edition (January 10, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563050757
• ISBN-13: 978-1563050756
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #662,639 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book ever. Laird is a genius, February 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Boomer Bible (Paperback)

I read the Boomer Bible 5 years ago. At first I thought it was just a humor book. It's sold in the humor section of book stores. The book is indeed hilarious. But it's also a profound and frightening journey into our modern world. Virtually every subject from the beggining of time is touched upon and we learn from Laird's distinctive style of writing just how we got into this modern mess we're in. After reading the censored chapter (where some harrier has crossed out all the lines they don't want you to read-a very clever device), I felt profoundly depressed. I believed I was a harrier and that there was no hope. Laird's satire really hit home. But the punk testament pulled me right out of the myre and gave me new hope. Laird is a genius, the book is hilarious and brilliant. At first you hear of Harry and you are excited and amused by his teachings. You want to believe in the things he believes in. He speaks for you, but slowly you learn that holding on to those beliefs and not questioning them are where we've gone terribly wrong. When I started the book, I was indeed a Harrier, after reading it, I'm a punk with an axe to grind. I've bought at least 15 copies of this book as gifts for friends. I think it's one of the most importants book ever written. It should be read and studied by everyone.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SomeOfTheMostBeautifulAndImportantWritingInEnglishHerein., February 17, 2000

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Boomer Bible (Paperback)

In this gorgeous book, R F Laird accomplishes many miracles, foremost among them an old man is lying on a gurney in a hospital doped up waiting to die and thinking back through his life and questioning his choices, his fate, his disappointments, and at one point his much addled mind grabs hold of first Jesus then Lincoln and makes a glorious amalgam of them in the torque of his heart's strings and the end of his rope and it is as beautiful as any passage written in English. This book was poorly marketed and its literary heights and cerebral depths and perceptual vistas are masked by the cover which is only in the most superficial and banal sense compatible with its content. Buy this book--it is the most important thing you can do if you care about rescuing a book that should never be forgotten from the jaws of potential (likely) obscurity.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Funniest Sad Book I've Ever Read, January 15, 2004

By 

Silas Traitor (The South, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Boomer Bible (Paperback)

Laird has something to say about the human condition - and he says it with a striking amount of style and humor. Copying the format of an actual bible (books divided into chapters and verses, complete with cross-references) the Boomer Bible gives an irreverent and scorching account of every nation's history. The prose favors brevity and hilarity. Very quickly the reader gains the impression that we humans have botched it. From the very beginning we've been nothing but bad news, killing each other with pointed sticks and spending all our time inventing new ways of murdering one another. It's been the same all through the centuries; we're bad, bad, and worse. There's no reason to expect the future will be different, there's no point in changing, so why try? Or so says Harry, the Christ-like effigy that pops up in the "New Testament" portion. The Boomer Bible was poignant, touching, and so funny there were times I had to stop reading just to appreciate it. Praise is cheap, but this truly was an amazing book.

Why only 4 stars? The books meant to parallel the prophets of the Old Testament were just plain dry, and I suspect the author might have intended them to be skipped. I slogged my way through much of them hoping for something, but surrounded by the humor and significance of the rest of the book, they were a barren desert. I ended up skipping very many pages, though I hated doing so for fear of missing something.

I unconditionally recommend this book.