The Little Book of Judas [Paperback]

Brendan Kennelly (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 6, 2002

In 1992 a 400-page book of poetry was the number one seller in Ireland. This is a shorter version, with some damning new revelations from the eternal scapegoat and outcast. ""One of the most ambitious literary enterprises of the last century, 'The Book of Judas' is Kennelly's prolonged meditation on the theme of betrayal. ... Kennelly's controversial masterpiece should not be missed, in small or grand form, for there is nothing little about it.""-Booklist

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* One of the most ambitious literary enterprises of the last century, The Book of Judas (1992) is Kennelly's prolonged meditation on the theme of betrayal. Engaging in every form of trickery from adultery to politics to poetry, Kennelly's Judas reveals himself as the ultimate coyote mage, the complementary trickster every savior needs and demands. The original Judas, a best-seller in Kennelly's native Ireland (where Mia Farrow, in Dublin for a film shoot and already familiar with Judas in his film-director guise, was photographed reading it), is a huge book of some 400 pages and more than 500 poems. This smaller version, just over half that length, includes several dozen Judas poems written since the first book's publication. It plumbs as deeply into its sorry subject. Characters enter and exit, some named--the devious charming Flanagan, a beer-splattered Brendan Behan, stone-mad Ozzie, to say nothing of Peter and the Twelve Apostlettes--and others appearing just as voices in the dark night of the soul. Kennelly's controversial masterpiece should not be missed, in small or grand form, for there is nothing little about it. Patricia Monaghan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Bloodaxe Books Ltd; 1St Edition edition (December 6, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1852245840
• ISBN-13: 978-1852245849
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,211,317 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars So Disappointing, January 10, 2009

By 

Colin A. McKenzie "colkenzie" (Kingston, Jamaica W.I.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: The Little Book of Judas (Paperback)

The title of this book "The Little Book of Judas" fooled me-I was expecting some real enlightening poems about Judas Iscariot/betrayal instead the poems are angry and some contain profanties. Take for instance the poem: "A Lamblasting" (page 79; 4th stanza):

'Finally' he rasped as he downed more wine,
'You're the prison bully and you're hangman-smelly.
And that, Judas, is [BEEP] that!'

Profanities take the classiness out of a good poem.
I think this book of poems by Brendan Kennelly is a little too hard on the palate and consequently does not satisfy the soul. Since purchasing this book, I have chewed and swallowed it but my system is having a some difficulty digesting it.

One star for the effort and another for the beautiful cover showing "details from Giotto's Betrayal of Christ (1303-1305), with Christ holding The Book of Judas, from a 12th century Byzantine mosaic".