Customer Reviews

God's Lunatics: Lost Souls, False Prophets, Martyred Saints, Murderous Cults, Demonic Nuns, and Other Victims of Man's Eternal Search for the Divine

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At the used book price, it's a buy. There is some kind of factoid, for every persuasion, on at least every other page. I used this book for bathroom reading since the blurbs are mostly short and the unglazed paper quality is high. The book's presentation of bits and bytes is somewhat chaotic to the text book crowd, but the unevenness keeps the dedicated reader on track and alert. I'm guessing, based on my own knowledge of the various subject matters, that most of the book's "errors" are minor and inconsequential in the long run. One example is that Jehovah's Witnesses frown on the use of aluminum cookware. Well they don't, but there was an article in one of their frequent tracts (Awake) that did call attention to the fact that researchers some time ago thought that there might be a link between cooking in aluminum pots and Alzheimer's Disease. This research theory has long been discarded by the CDC and others. I'm a practicing Roman Catholic and I was not even slightly offended by the crazy catholic saints old-time stunts. Mental health was not understood in the olden days, and any religious activity of the sort described in the book would, today, wind the active participant up in a three day mental assessment facility at the least; probably a little AC/DC and a pail of lithium to boot. The book is a lot of off beat history, and "Oh yea, I remember that"s, and is recommended by me as short, in interval, and sweet reading materiel.

Mr. Largo's "God's Lunatics.." is a fantastic A to Z insight of religious practices, odd beliefs, and sometimes hilarious rituals of those who believe in some kind of supreme being. From the completely outrageous to the slick self-proclaimed prophets, Mr. Largo sheds light on just how far people will go for what they believe in. I read through the book once and am ready to give it another go!

Michael Largo's book, God's Lunatics, came well recommended by the American Freethought podcast, and sounded like an entertaining read. The basic concept of the book is an alphabetic compilation, like an encyclopedia or anthology, of religious intentions gone wrong, as told in entertaining little summaries.

I was looking forward to reading this book. However, within the first few pages, and throughout the book, I encountered numerous errors, both typographical and in the underlying research, that renders the stories unreliable. I am one who likes to tell anecdotes from the books I read, and there are many interesting stories and historical notes in the book, but if the author cannot get basic facts straight, I don't want to be passing on misinformation. After reading about fifty pages and briefly thumbing through the rest, I put the book aside.

My advice for Mr. Largo is to try again, but get a good editor and a research assistant for the next edition. It has potential.

(By the author of: Going Godless: Rediscovering Spirituality in a Material World )

I had so much fun reading this book, I learned a whole lot and I thought it was a very informative and interesting read.

As my title says, it is a good bathroom read. Short pieces that are informative. I do think there are some minor inaccuracies, but it is not a fatal flaw. I think he was actually a bit conservative in his depiction of some characters. Many in the book deserve far harsher treatment than he gave them.

Dr. Darrel W. Ray, author of The God Virus: How Religion Infects Our Lives and CultureThe God Virus: How religion infects our lives and culture

I haven't finished the entire volume, but I picked this up primarily because I was interested in a recovering Catholic's "consumer" experience and evaluation of the religion I am "recovering" from, Mormonism. I'm no longer active and thus have no bias, other than believing it's increasingly important for Americans to understand this religion due to its continuing relevance to the heart (and rise) of the Tea Party.

All that said, the author had some wrong information about Mormonism - and rather glaring inaccuracies that mere surface internet searching would correct. On page 75, for example, Large says Mormons are prohibited from eating chocolate; this may reference the general prohibition over caffeine, although in truth this really only stops Mormons from drinking coffee (I live in Utah and don't know a single Mormon who doesn't regularly drink Mountain Dew) and therefore only the most extremist of church leaders would rule out chocolate. Another example is on page 462, where Large says the spirits who appeared to Joseph Smith in (what is referred to as) "The First Vision" were Moroni and Nephi. This is very inaccurate: Joseph Smith claimed it was God Himself and Jesus Christ who appeared to him, and in flesh-n'-bone bodies, not as spirits. Just looking at a Wiki page would have told him this, let alone talking to any Mormon, inactive or not.

This would probably be a great for fast go-to source, but coming across these inaccuracies makes me want to go and fact-check everything else I find interesting in the book...in the end, this may be of some use, but despite all the research Large claims to have done, it clearly can't be as academic a source on religions as the book asserts itself to be. The above inaccuracies just about the LDS church may seem minor, but they are rather glaring if Large has done such intense, extensive research, and it leads me to question what other "minor" inaccuracies may exist that could prevent an informed discussion about religions, and the people who love them.

This book is set up in a dictionary/encyclopedia format. This is much more of a general reference book rather than a "read it cover to cover" type book. I must say that the blurbs on each subject have good information, but it was not a satisfying purchase.

I have never read a book that was so shot through with sloppy errors - and was fascinating at the same time. "God's Lunatics" tells the stories of the pious from many faith traditions. I had thought that the book would focus on the extravagant pities of the religious fringe. Instead, author Michael Largo suggests that ALL religious people and practices are loony. Jesus, Ezekiel and King David make the cut along with David Koresh and Sun Myung Moon and medieval flagellants. This will likely not impress the faithful. To boot, Largo's stories fail to discriminate between scriptural stories and legends. Jesus is born of Joseph and Mary, but (non-scripturally) spends his childhood in Persia and India according to "some historians." Evidently, a "historian," in Largo's estimation is anyone, whoever unschooled, who writes about a historical figure.

The errors in the book are legion and laughable. Largo describes gospel source "Q" as the source of all the gospels, whereas scholars suspect it as a source only for Luke and Matthew. The essay on Original Sin is rife with errors. One sentence - "Few Christians believed [in original sin] to be true until the third century, when Thomas Aquinas first introduced the theory" - has numerous mistakes. First, St Paul wrote in the first century about death coming through Adam. Thomas Aquinas did not live until the 13th century. And if Largo meant St Augustine, he didn't live until the 4th and early 5th centuries. That's three basic errors in one sentence! And the insults! Largo subtitles his Lady of Lourdes entry with "Famous Faith-healing Hoax" but fails to discuss any of the supposed hoaxes

Still, "God's Lunatics" has its own crazy charm. The book's manifold entries introduced me to hitherto unknown sages, saints and mystics from the Hindu, Buddhist and Native American and modern American traditions. It covered oddballs like Anton LeVey and the Fox Sisters as well as movements like Freemasonry. As a starting point for checking out the variety of religious and quasi-religious experiences in the current and ancient worlds, "God's Lunatics" has few parallels.

Another critique or two. The book is organized alphabetically, but related entries are grouped together without regard to alpha order. "Yom Kippur" is part of the "Indulgences" entry, and "Celibacy" shows up under "Devils of Loudon." This would be half bad, but the book has no index. Good luck finding an interesting article! Largo does list a large number of sources at the back of the book. No doubt he scanned these books for juicy info and slotted them into the book as is. Too bad he didn't bother to do any real research to make the book at once interesting AND factual!

Having a background with Jehovah's Witnesses there is no way I could recommend this book. His assertion that a Jehovah's Witness must convert at least a dozen people in his or her lifetime is untrue and the notion that they avoid blood transfusions because they will subsequently rise from the dead as a mutant is absurd. Finally, although already mentioned by one of the other reviews they don't avoid the use of Aluminum pots and pans.

He is correct that Jehovah's Witnesses discourage their members from reading anti-witness material. That is because books like this completely misrepresent what Jehovah's Witnesses believe.

There are those in this book like Jim Jones and David Koresh who must be described as religious fanatics to say the least...but once I saw how much he misrepresented Jehovah's Witnesses I had to wonder how much he misrepresented some of the other religions discussed in this book. I'm afraid Mr. Largo didn't do his homework and verify the accuracy of his sources...so regardless of your religious background I would recommend you save your money.

Depending on your point of view, it can be interpreted as either an exposee of nonsense believed and wrong actions done in the name of God or an offensive attack on long held beliefs, pronouncements and treasured icons. You can decide for yourself

Suggest it be taken in small doses. Whatever your starting point, it can be too much in big bites.