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geekwayne's review against another edition
4.0
'God is Disappointed in You' by Mark Russell with cartoons by Shannon Wheeler is a paraphrase of the Bible condensed into a few paragraphs per book.
Each of the 66 books of the Bible is paraphrased with some humor and swear words occasionally injected. Almost all of the chapters also include a pretty clever cartoon by Shannon Wheeler that kind of reminded me of New Yorker style cartoons.
I wasn't sure what to expect with this book. As someone who has read the Bible a number of times, I expected to not like this. It was irreverent at times, but surprisingly reverent as well. I found myself laughing and applauding an author who took the time to read and understand a book I love. It's certainly not for everyone. The hyper-religious will find it offensive, as will the anti-religious, but I liked it.
I received a review copy of this ebook from Top Shelf Productions and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.
Each of the 66 books of the Bible is paraphrased with some humor and swear words occasionally injected. Almost all of the chapters also include a pretty clever cartoon by Shannon Wheeler that kind of reminded me of New Yorker style cartoons.
I wasn't sure what to expect with this book. As someone who has read the Bible a number of times, I expected to not like this. It was irreverent at times, but surprisingly reverent as well. I found myself laughing and applauding an author who took the time to read and understand a book I love. It's certainly not for everyone. The hyper-religious will find it offensive, as will the anti-religious, but I liked it.
I received a review copy of this ebook from Top Shelf Productions and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.
stopnodont's review against another edition
5.0
I was raised "culturally Christian", but I was certainly not indoctrinated. Church was optional, I wasn't baptized, and (despite being Christians themselves) my parents never forced any religious education on me. Left to make my own decisions, I had settled into skepticism by middle school and never ended up reading much of the Bible.
Although I am not a believer, I've always felt a desire to read the Bible if for no other reason than to improve my Jeopardy prowess and to be able to cite exact criticisms of the text. Although I certainly knew the main points, how could I be sure that I didn't believe in God/Jesus (as the Messiah anyway - certainly Jesus the man existed) if I didn't actually know what the Bible said? I have tried many times to read the KJV over the years and never made it farther than Exodus. I thought that I'd have to eventually bite the bullet and choke it down.
Then I found this book, which is everything I hoped for and more. It accurately summarizes every book of the Bible while remaining entertaining and laugh-out-loud funny. While I'm perhaps not the best judge of this, I didn't feel that this book was ever sacrilegious or in any way belittling to the sacred texts. Russell even mentions in the afterword that he had a lot of early interest from members of the clergy, and I can see why. I would imagine that someone who takes the Bible as factual would enjoy this retelling even more than I did.
I would recommend this book to Christians and rationals alike - it's a fun read no matter your viewpoint. While it's hard to consider it a masterpiece of literature, I felt it deserved five stars based purely on how enjoyable it was to read.
Although I am not a believer, I've always felt a desire to read the Bible if for no other reason than to improve my Jeopardy prowess and to be able to cite exact criticisms of the text. Although I certainly knew the main points, how could I be sure that I didn't believe in God/Jesus (as the Messiah anyway - certainly Jesus the man existed) if I didn't actually know what the Bible said? I have tried many times to read the KJV over the years and never made it farther than Exodus. I thought that I'd have to eventually bite the bullet and choke it down.
Then I found this book, which is everything I hoped for and more. It accurately summarizes every book of the Bible while remaining entertaining and laugh-out-loud funny. While I'm perhaps not the best judge of this, I didn't feel that this book was ever sacrilegious or in any way belittling to the sacred texts. Russell even mentions in the afterword that he had a lot of early interest from members of the clergy, and I can see why. I would imagine that someone who takes the Bible as factual would enjoy this retelling even more than I did.
I would recommend this book to Christians and rationals alike - it's a fun read no matter your viewpoint. While it's hard to consider it a masterpiece of literature, I felt it deserved five stars based purely on how enjoyable it was to read.
randomprogrammer's review
5.0
Hilarious and irreligious retelling of the old testament. Really focuses on all the great stuff that was too shocking for Sunday school.
lina_jane10's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
malibu114's review against another edition
funny
4.75
This book was hysterical. I laughed so hard at times. It's an accurate telling of the Bible, but stripped down and condensed to a couple of pages per book with the author using a humorous tone in his summaries. He says it's not his interest to offend, but realizes that some people might be anyway. I loved it.
dantastic's review against another edition
5.0
To set the stage, I went to Catholic school for grades 1-12 and I haven't been to church much in the last 10-15 years other than weddings and funerals. Mark Russell is my favorite comic writer these days so I was surprised he wrote a book about the bible and naturally had to pick it up.
The back cover describes it as irreverent yet faithful. From what I remember from daily churchings and twelve years of religion class, I'd say it is. It's also extremely accessible and doesn't read like it was written in another language thousands of years ago.
Russell, aided and abetted by Shannon Wheeler's New Yorker style art, turns each book in the bible into a hilarious 2-6 page summary, peppered with humor but keeping the central message. Kind of like a Drunk History version of the bible. It was extremely entertaining and while irreverent, didn't feel like it was shitting on the source material.
Five out of five stars. I'm glad I have Apocrypha Now on deck.
The back cover describes it as irreverent yet faithful. From what I remember from daily churchings and twelve years of religion class, I'd say it is. It's also extremely accessible and doesn't read like it was written in another language thousands of years ago.
Russell, aided and abetted by Shannon Wheeler's New Yorker style art, turns each book in the bible into a hilarious 2-6 page summary, peppered with humor but keeping the central message. Kind of like a Drunk History version of the bible. It was extremely entertaining and while irreverent, didn't feel like it was shitting on the source material.
Five out of five stars. I'm glad I have Apocrypha Now on deck.