God (Hardcover)

by Alexander Waugh (Author) "False start.-Why should anyone need to find God?..." (more)
Key Phrases: God of Israel, Hebrew Bible, Mount Sinai (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Despite its title, this book should not be confused with Jack Miles's God: A Biography or Karen Armstrong's A History of God. Those books are works of serious scholarship for the general public; this one seems more like a Monty Pythonesque Book of Lists as Bertrand Russell might have compiled it. Waughâ€"grandson of Evelyn, son of Auberonâ€"comes by his cynicism honestly and employs it relentlessly as he piles up thousands of tidbits about God from the Bible, the Qur'an, the Book of Mormon, the Mishnah, the Gnostic gospels, Dante, the medieval mystics and John Milton. Dividing his chapters by Shakespeare's seven ages of man, he amasses creation stories in chapter 1 ("Mewling and Puking"), stockpiles death-of-God philosophies in chapter 7 ("Sans Everything"), and in between accumulates snippets about every imaginable or unthinkable topic including God's preferred smells (burnt meat and incense), short memory and, above all, vicious cruelty. Though Waugh says that questions about God's existence and nature "ought to be treated with respect at the very least, for they are questions of the utmost historical significance," his own approach relies heavily on sarcasm and acrimony. "God must be gratified," he writes, "surprised, puzzled even, that he is nowadays so often described as 'good'â€"especially since the holy scriptures bear a considerable weight of testimony to the contrary." Readers who appreciate British schoolboy humor, are amused by exaggerated literalism and enjoy poking fun at organized religion will hail this encyclopedic mishmash.
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From Booklist
Like his famous grandfather, novelist Evelyn Waugh, Alexander is erudite and flinty, possessed of a fierce, highly toned intelligence and a wicked sense of humor. Much has been written about scripture and theology, he observes, but virtually nothing about God. So, by means of 257 talking points that plot out a line of argument, rather than a traditional narrative arc, he attempts a portrait of God. He asks questions about God and comments on the God that appears in various guises in the sacred books of the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Qur'an, as well as in the writings of mystics and prophets. Among specific topics, he discusses Adam and Eve, the Tree of Knowledge, Cain and Abel, the virgin birth, the corporeal nature of God, celestial laughter, the Ten Commandments, the Muslim conception of Jesus, temptation, Friedrich Nietzsche, and much more. The resulting dialectic about the nature of God is fascinating, provocative, entertaining, and guaranteed to set more than a few tongues wagging. June Sawyers
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books (May 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312329059
• ISBN-13: 978-0312329051
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,342,095 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worthwhile, August 1, 2008

By	Annette L. Delara "Netsky" (New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

While this book is unconventional in presentation, the scholarship and intellectual underpinnings are remarkable. For any layperson interested in "The White Goddess" or "The Golden Bough", Waugh's poking and prodding of the old testament will provide opportunities to re-examine the foundations of western thought.

8 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Challenging, January 26, 2007

By	Grimm Leigh - See all my reviews

This review is from: God (Hardcover)

Alexander seems to spend the entire book pulling clips of information out and stuffing them under your nose, accompanied with the challenging 'and what about this anomaly, huh, huh?' He had really made his point by chapter two, after which it just became tiring.