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dantastic's review against another edition
3.0
In the sequel to God is Disappointed in You, Mark Russell takes on the Apocrypha plus the Gnostic Gospels. The jokes are just as funny as in the first book but I didn't enjoy this one as much. This is undoubtedly because I'm not as familiar with the subject matter, though I have read a book or two about the Gnostic Gospels in the past. Someone more familiar with the Apocrypha and/or the Gnostic Gospels would get more of a kick out of this.
rhymeswithcarmen's review against another edition
4.0
Again, this is a review for the audio book, which is read by James Urbaniak. Growing up in the Uniting Church in Australia I was never exposed to any Apocrypha. The most risqué stuff in the Good News Bible is probably the Song of Songs and also that one passage about Onan, both of which lose their appeal once the reader has access to Go Ask Alice. If I'd had a copy of the Apocrypha I suspect I would've been considerably more interested in the Bible and even more annoyed with the church. Because, turns out, these stories are pretty feminist! Also waaaaaay more like Ovid's Metamorphoses in their characterization of God and Jesus. Plus, James Urbaniak does a lot more voices in this one. A+
glowbird's review against another edition
4.0
Humorous but not mocking. I don’t know much of anything about the books that make up this volume, so it was very interesting.
eserafina42's review against another edition
3.0
I did enjoy this, but while I think I have a pretty good sense of humor, including on religious subjects, it was just a bit too heavy-handed for my taste - definitely found it better in small doses.
rachelleahdorn's review against another edition
4.0
Irreverent but interesting telling of stories related to but not included in the Bible. At first I was concerned that the book was so irreverent that it wasn't accurate to the actual sources. The later part retold stories I am more familiar with so I was able to recognize them more easily. As I grew accustomed to the flippant, casual, slangy language, I came to really enjoy the book.
samarei's review against another edition
3.0
Hilarious. It's religious text meets SNL. Definitely not for those who do not have a sense of humor and could be considered sacreligious to some who revere these texts. But knowing that going in, it gives a unique depiction of these stories.
mkreader's review against another edition
4.0
Amusant, drôle, irrévérencieux, et révélateur. Je le recommande si la réligion vous intéresse et si vous n'êtes pas facilement offensé.
ktaborn's review against another edition
5.0
Apocrypha Now is the sequel to Russell (writer) and Wheeler's (cartoonist) God is Disappointed In You, which is a synopsis/paraphrase of the Old and New Testaments. Apocrypha Now similarly treats the non-canonical texts and Apocrypha of the Jewish and Christian Faiths. Yes Russell and Wheeler take liberties to make jokes, but those jokes usually highlight paradoxes or the logical results of some of the activities, events, and stories summarized. I got my copy at San Diego Comic Con 2016 so I also got a lovely drawing of my son on the title page by Shannon Wheeler. I enjoyed reviewing the Apocrypha by this method. It reminded me why I adore the The Book of Tobit so much and inspired me to pull The Book of Tobit off the shelf and re-read it. My version of Apocrypha Now came in a pleasant dramatically red hard cover from Top Shelf Productions with a lovely purple ribbon bookmark attached to the spin, making it very easy to mark one's place while reading. If you want to refresh yourself in what is in the non-canonical writings and you do not want to read through them in translation, verse by verse, and you like humor and a little sarcasm thrown in, then this is the book for you.
svarnyp's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed the abridged and lightweight version of apocrypha texts. As I had the chance to read the transcriptions of some of the texts (e.g., Judas), I think the book manages to capture the main ideas of them well. The small jokes are pleasant, while not really interfering with the main text, and they really remind me of someone retelling me a classical story in his own words. I enjoyed very much the epilogue that contained historical context for late antiquity history of Jews and Christians. However, the comics that illustrated the book seemed to me often as just random and not connected to the story at all. This disconnect often interrupted the flow of the storytelling. Although as isolated comics they are nice, I found them to be too often disturbing in the book.
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