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ashleystclair's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to love this book because I enjoy a good argument about religion, but I felt that his writing rambled and resorted to name calling and shaming more than facts and good arguments. He made a lot of great points but I would have better enjoyed a more academic reading rather than the opinion banter that was presented.
ashernessers's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to love this book because I enjoy a good argument about religion, but I felt that his writing rambled and resorted to name calling and shaming more than facts and good arguments. He made a lot of great points but I would have better enjoyed a more academic reading rather than the opinion banter that was presented.
vingilot's review against another edition
4.0
A good interesting read of the thoughts of one atheist who defies all stereotypes by being happy and uplifting. I suspect even some of the atheist reviewers of this book have this stereotype in the back of their heads as they read it.
Atheists seemingly have a reputation, at least in the US of being depressed people who have nothing positive to add, but most atheists know this is not true of them. Nor is it true of the majority. Yes so many atheist publications seemingly fall within this trap. This book does not. PZ is a happy man, who leads a happy life as a rule, and it shows. Yet his commentary on the conflict between secular humanism and science on one side, with religious extremism and dogma on the other is no less worthwhile.
PZ has caught a lot of heat from religious extremists in his time, yet there is not a shred of bitterness towards it to be found in these pages. Just his vies on these events, and why secularism is worth defending.
A good read, don't let the one star crowd fool you.
Atheists seemingly have a reputation, at least in the US of being depressed people who have nothing positive to add, but most atheists know this is not true of them. Nor is it true of the majority. Yes so many atheist publications seemingly fall within this trap. This book does not. PZ is a happy man, who leads a happy life as a rule, and it shows. Yet his commentary on the conflict between secular humanism and science on one side, with religious extremism and dogma on the other is no less worthwhile.
PZ has caught a lot of heat from religious extremists in his time, yet there is not a shred of bitterness towards it to be found in these pages. Just his vies on these events, and why secularism is worth defending.
A good read, don't let the one star crowd fool you.
jpbradt's review against another edition
4.0
I took this book out from the library. I have read a lot of enlightening atheist books, and this is no exception.
arirose's review against another edition
I just finished this and I'm honestly kind of indifferent lol I think maybe in the start I was intrigued, but that flame fizzled out quick. As an atheist myself, I'm looking to fuel my skepticism and ability to speak up. This could be that start for someone, but just not me.
My favorite quote from the book though was in the later half: "That's the curse of skeptical and scientific thinking: it doesn't produce sheep, only fellow wolves who will be better able to argue a little more fiercely with you."
My favorite quote from the book though was in the later half: "That's the curse of skeptical and scientific thinking: it doesn't produce sheep, only fellow wolves who will be better able to argue a little more fiercely with you."
teanahk's review against another edition
DNF. Made it just past the half way point of the audio book. This is just awful.
ellensears's review against another edition
3.0
typical atheist literature...kinda snarky and belittling.. still made some good points
storiesandstitches's review against another edition
2.0
I wasn't a huge fan of this book, and to be honest I had to skim through the last third of the book. I do agree on some points, but to me a lot of his arguments were a bit weak. A lot of chapters were just a rambling, boring mess.
socraticgadfly's review against another edition
1.0
Per my status update, for any non-Gnu Atheists, skeptics, agnostics, etc., who are familiar with PZ, this book is what you'd expect. Basically, it's a collection of edited blog posts.
He has good critiques of religion, and is good at things like rejecting non-overlapping magisteria, at pointing out that liberal-minded believers have the same metaphysical problems as fundamentalists, and more.
But, it's the usual PZ bombast that goes beyond snarkiness to snideness.
And, this made me realize one new thing about PZ.
Not only does he not know philosophy well, he knows psychology at least as poorly.
Gnu Atheists, whether they would use the word or not, are atheist **evangelists.**
Now, the fundamentalist Christian type uses the big carrot and big stick of heaven and hell, though they claim that's not why they believe, in many cases. (Fundamentalist Hindus and Buddhists, I would expect, use the carrot and stick of good karma/reincarnation and bad karma/reincarnation.)
But snideness, rudeness, and ridicule are neither carrot nor stick.
They're shaming, is what they ultimately are, in many cases.
And, our Internet world shows just how well, or poorly, shaming works.
Hence my comment about how little PZ knows about psychology. That said, given that many Gnus are dismissive of reading about psychology of religion, or evolutionary psychology of religion, per a Scott Atran or Pascal Boyer, among others, this isn't surprising.
Finally, I had originally 3-starred this, until I checked the price. $24 for a 200-page compilation of blog posts? What an effing ripoff.
Then, after reading this from an Amazon commenter:
>> If you Google the terms "The Happy Atheist", "PZ Myers", and "free" you can find the URLs of the recycled articles. << I moved it down another star.
If you're going to be an atheist evangelist, do it right. If you're going to make bucks off fanboys, and fangirls, at least be more honest about it.
He has good critiques of religion, and is good at things like rejecting non-overlapping magisteria, at pointing out that liberal-minded believers have the same metaphysical problems as fundamentalists, and more.
But, it's the usual PZ bombast that goes beyond snarkiness to snideness.
And, this made me realize one new thing about PZ.
Not only does he not know philosophy well, he knows psychology at least as poorly.
Gnu Atheists, whether they would use the word or not, are atheist **evangelists.**
Now, the fundamentalist Christian type uses the big carrot and big stick of heaven and hell, though they claim that's not why they believe, in many cases. (Fundamentalist Hindus and Buddhists, I would expect, use the carrot and stick of good karma/reincarnation and bad karma/reincarnation.)
But snideness, rudeness, and ridicule are neither carrot nor stick.
They're shaming, is what they ultimately are, in many cases.
And, our Internet world shows just how well, or poorly, shaming works.
Hence my comment about how little PZ knows about psychology. That said, given that many Gnus are dismissive of reading about psychology of religion, or evolutionary psychology of religion, per a Scott Atran or Pascal Boyer, among others, this isn't surprising.
Finally, I had originally 3-starred this, until I checked the price. $24 for a 200-page compilation of blog posts? What an effing ripoff.
Then, after reading this from an Amazon commenter:
>> If you Google the terms "The Happy Atheist", "PZ Myers", and "free" you can find the URLs of the recycled articles. << I moved it down another star.
If you're going to be an atheist evangelist, do it right. If you're going to make bucks off fanboys, and fangirls, at least be more honest about it.
thebigjer's review against another edition
reflective
5.0
Very readable, one of the best little books on atheism I've read.