Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (Discworld) (Hardcover)

by Neil Gaiman (Author), Terry Pratchett (Author) "It was a nice day..." (more)
Key Phrases: southern pansy, ineffable plan, accurate prophecies, Madame Tracy, Sister Mary, Agnes Nutter (more...)

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
This zany tale of the bungling of Armageddon features an angel, a demon, an 11-year-old Antichrist and a doomsaying witch; unmistakably British humor is in abundance.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; First Edition/ First Printing edition (February 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060853964
• ISBN-13: 978-0060853969
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (542 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #105,500 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

201 of 214 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 "Alaska Fan" (Fairbanks, AK United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Good Omens (Mass Market Paperback)

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.

240 of 265 people found the following review helpful:

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

By	Elderbear (Loma Linda, Aztlan) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Good Omens (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.

(If you enjoyed this review, please leave positive feedback. To see more of my reviews, click on the "about me" link above. Thanks!)

36 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books I've ever read. Seriously., December 2, 2002

By	Riley McCarthy (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Good Omens (Mass Market Paperback)

God, this was intelligent. God, this was funny. God, this was well-plotted. God, this was the Apocalypse.

I suppose I should say more. Here goes:

Crowley, the snake who initially tempts Eve in the Garden of Eden, decides, along with the angel who initially watched over them, that the human race isn't all that bad. Though the Apocalypse is on them, complete with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse riding Harleys and a switched-at-birth Antichrist who doesn't realize that he's the Antichrist, perhaps the world shouldn't end after all.

Crowley is an intensely cool character, neither completely bad nor completely good. He takes his job of condemning souls to Hell not too seriously, for he realized a couple centuries ago that human beings faced with enough daily aggravations could condemn themselves.

The angel Arizaphale, I believe his name was, runs a bookstore collecting rare books and, most aptly, prophecy Bibles. (This and the footnotes in the book are the funniest, most "Hitchhiker's Guide" moments in it.) Arizaphale realized that human beings should be allowed to continue on in order to keep making art.

So the two team up with witches, parents and other veddy British personalities to save the world from its supposed end.

This is very funny.