My Life Without God: The Rest of the Story [Paperback]

William J. Murray (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2000

From an Amazon review: Intense, February 24, 2005 By Artemis "I cried. I actually cried. When a book makes me laugh or cry or scream in frustration out loud, I know it is truly excellent. The description, physical and emotional, is so strong, it's like I'm right in the scenes. It revealed many things I never would have gussed. A must read for the skeptic, Christian (new or otherwise), or history or law and justice buff. Not a single page I didn't love."

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Harvest House Publishers; Updated edition (June 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0736903151
• ISBN-13: 978-0736903158
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #872,630 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intense, February 24, 2005

By 

Artemis (Pittsburgh, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Life Without God (Paperback)

I cried. I actually cried. When a book makes me laugh or cry or scream in frustration out loud, I know it is truly excellent. The description, physical and emotional, is so strong, it's like I'm right in the scenes. It revealed many things I never would have gussed. A must read for the skeptic, Christian (new or otherwise), or history or law and justice buff. Not a single page I didn't love.

60 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Infamous Atheist's Son Tells His Story, August 31, 1999

By 

Steven Fantina (Phillipsburg, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: My Life Without God (Paperback)

Anyone dismissing Madalyn O'Hair as a kooky atheist who stretched her 15 minutes of fame as far as possible should read My Life Without God. Atheism may be what brought her celebrity status, but it was just one of her many perfidious pursuits. Written by her estranged son-disowned by his embrace of religion-Madalyn is shown to be at various times a drug-dealer, pornography patron, Communist rebel-rouser, and those are her good points!

As a young mother with two illegitimate sons, her hatred of America surpassed only by her jingoistic devotion to Communism, she sedulously tried to become a citizen of the Soviet Union. Her repeated in-person requests at the Soviet embassy in Washington grew so vexatious, the Russian staff eventually began pretending nobody there could speak English whenever they saw her. An unrestrained quixotic outrage at the discovery of Bible readings in her son's public school lead to her success in the Supreme Court's infamous decision outlawing any hint of religion in public education. The book details how, far more than her supposedly-principled cause, achieving fame was her true victory. Stroking her cyclopean ego is shown to be the motivation for nearly every move she made.

It is very interesting to note how her path crossed with those of so many other notorious figures in late twentieth century America. From her role as a colleague of Lee Harvey Oswald in a Communist organization, to her cozy cajoling of Fidel Castro's closest advisors to her friendship with Larry Flynt, Madalyn's circle of influence reads like a Who's Who of Masterful Miscreants.

The author's own story is one of overcoming nearly insurmountable obstacles. Bill married his pregnant, live-in girlfriend (Madalyn had invited her to move into their house) at 17, began active adultery and drug use shortly thereafter, and seemed headed to an early grave. With his second marriage floundering, and his life in a constant downward spiral, he turned to his mother's sworn enemy-religion, and finally found the salvation and peace that eluded Madalyn throughout her turbulent life.

The recent acknowledgement of her murder should bring newfound interest to this work, and it is a very good analysis not only of the workings of a twisted mind but also a strong demonstration of how so much went wrong with society over the past thirty years.

29 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly Interesting, June 19, 2001

By 

V. VanCamp "lovesbookslovesmusic" (Ithaca, New York USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: My Life Without God: The Rest of the Story (Paperback)

Whether you are an atheist, a believer in God or a Christian you will find this book extremely interesting. Certainly every biography is written with a favorable slant toward the person who wrote it, but who can deny that a parent's actions directly affect the children they raise and live with!? Parents are role models and are given a huge responsibility to raise decent, loving and caring humans. Therefore, much of the blame must be on the parent/parents for what the child does later in life, even as an adult. This book completely amazed me because I had no idea how evil some people can be and it is actually hard to believe that all of that happened! I am truly thankful that William J. Murray finally found peace and a healthy way of living. It was incredible the way he let himself get sucked up in his mother's world again and again, especially since from the time he was a teenager he kept saying how he wanted to be far away from her and her groups. It is actually scary that there are people out there that are as mean and hateful and powerful as Madalyn Murray O'Hair... I hope and pray that this was exaggerated in the book!