Good Omens [Mass Market Paperback]

N. Gaiman (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 1, 1996

The world is going to end next Saturday, just before dinner, but it turns out there are a few problems--the Antichrist has been misplaced, the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse ride motorcycles, and the representatives from heaven and hell decide that they like the human race. Reprint. NYT. AB.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Pratchett (of Discworld fame) and Gaiman (of Sandman fame) may seem an unlikely combination, but the topic (Armageddon) of this fast-paced novel is old hat to both. Pratchett's wackiness collaborates with Gaiman's morbid humor; the result is a humanist delight to be savored and reread again and again. You see, there was a bit of a mixup when the Antichrist was born, due in part to the machinations of Crowley, who did not so much fall as saunter downwards, and in part to the mysterious ways as manifested in the form of a part-time rare book dealer, an angel named Aziraphale. Like top agents everywhere, they've long had more in common with each other than the sides they represent, or the conflict they are nominally engaged in. The only person who knows how it will all end is Agnes Nutter, a witch whose prophecies all come true, if one can only manage to decipher them. The minor characters along the way (Famine makes an appearance as diet crazes, no-calorie food and anorexia epidemics) are as much fun as the story as a whole, which adds up to one of those rare books which is enormous fun to read the first time, and the second time, and the third time... --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

When a scatterbrained Satanist nun goofs up a baby-switching scheme and delivers the infant Antichrist to the wrong couple, it's just the beginning of the comic errors in the divine plan for Armageddon which this fast-paced novel by two British writers zanily details. Aziraphale, an angel who doubles as a rare-book dealer, and Crowley, a demon friend who's assigned to the same territory, like life on Earth too much to allow the long-planned war between Heaven and Hell to happen. They set out to find the Antichrist and avert Armageddon, on the way encountering the last living descendant of Agnes Nutter, Anathema, who's been deciphering accurate prophecies of the world's doom but is unaware she's living in the same town as the Antichrist, now a thoroughly human and normal 11-year-old named Adam. As the appointed day and hour approach, Aziraphale and Crowley blunder through seas of fire and rains of fish, and come across a misguided witch hunter, a middle-aged fortune teller and the Four Horsepersons of the Apocalypse. It's up to Adam in the neatly tied end, as his humanity prevails over the Divine Plan and earthly bungling. Some humor is strictly British, but most will appeal even to Americans "and other aliens." Literary Guild alternate.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 366 pages
• Publisher: Ace (May 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441003257
• ISBN-13: 978-0441003259
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (800 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #723,632 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

119 of 120 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars James DeWitt said it best February 7, 2005

By Greg Brady VINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback

SYNOPSIS:
The Antichrist is coming. The world's about to end. The only problem is the "rank and file" angels and demons (who've begun to enjoy each other's company and understand each other over the eons) aren't so sure they want Armageddon to come.

MY TAKE:
I'll keep this short. I adore Douglas Adams and the twisted wry humour found in both his "Hitchhiker's Trilogy" and the books of the Dirk Gently series. The blurb said it was similar. I gave it a try. It was.

You will especially enjoy this if you have:
1) a DECENT working knowledge of Christianity (to get some of the subtle digs)
2) a knowledge of pop culture depictions of evil (the Exorcist movies and the like)
3) the ability to laugh at your own religious perspectives

I consider myself an evangelical and thought this was laugh out loud outrageous. But if you're of the mindset that God can't take a joke, well, you're probably better off with a different book...

314 of 330 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Nice & Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch September 30, 2000

By James D. DeWitt VINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Bad news. The Apocalypse is coming. Soon. Luckily, Heaven and Hell have left the business with the Anti-Christ in the hands of Crowley and Aziraphale, demon and angel respectively. Now they have misplaced the Anti-Christ and pretty much decided they really like humanity a lot more than their either of their bosses.

In the first edition, the full title of this book was "The Nice & Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch." "Nice," in this context, meaning precisely correct. Agnes saw it all coming, from her being burned alive as a witch to the air force base where Armageddon will begin ("Peas is our professiune."). Agnes, her descendant, Anathema, the Four Horseman - Horsepersons - and the Other Four Horseman (a different chapter of Hell's Angels); it all comes together with the serried ranks of angels and demons gathered overhead.

Yes, this is an hysterically funny book. A satire and a parody, it lampoons everything in sight. From Elvis sightings to televangelists to the destruction of all intelligent life ("nothing left but dust and fundamentalists."), little escapes the scathing wit of Gaiman and Pratchett.

Of course the demon, Crowley, drives a 1926 Bentley. Of course any tape left in its glove box for more than two weeks turns into something by Queen. Of course the flaming sword used by War is delivered to her by International Express.

And what happens to the telephone solicitor, Lisa Morrow? Come on now, you secretly thought all telephone solicitors deserved it, right?

In the tradition of Jonathan Swift and Mark Twain, the satire makes a point. That point may be unpalatable to the religiously inflexible, or to those whose sense of righteousness hampers their sense of humor. Critics of Swift and Twain would find much to criticize in Good Omens. But Pratchett and Gaiman demonstrate that we don't need Heaven or Hell to have Good and Evil in the world; we have all we need in ourselves. It's the humanity of Adam Young, the Adversary, the Angel of the Bottomless Pit, etc., it's his human-ness that ultimately makes all the difference.

Don't read this book in bed; you'll keep your spouse awake, laughing out loud. But there's nothing else bad that can be said about it. Ineffability may be beyond our understanding, but humor, even humor in the face of the End of the World, we can understand.

Try this book. I will predict, with Agnes, you'll like it.

369 of 401 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Family Vacation Fun March 27, 2001

By Elderbear VINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback

A couple years ago we did a lot of driving during vacation. My wife read this book to me while I drove, and the kids (11 & 6) listened in. (Soon after vacation, we got a second black cat. As we already had one named Aleister, this one got named Aziraphale. She's sitting on my lap, begging for attenion right now!)

This is a comedy of errors about the eschaton, the Antichrist, and Armageddon. My wife & I grew up taking the Apocalypse quite seriously. That served only to make this book funnier. Our children, who couldn't tell an antichrist from an anti-Chrystler, found the book entertaining as well.

Fast read. Lots of fun. If you've read all of Douglas Adams' books and are hungering for more, this is the book for you! You might consider following it with Terry Prachett's Small Gods.

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