24 March 2010

Book Review: Gods Behaving Badly

Title:  Gods Behaving Badly
Author: Marie Phillips

Buy  |  Borrow  |  Accept  |  Avoid

Plot Synopsis
The Greek gods are floundering in the twenty-first century.  Slowly losing their power, worshiped by none, they live together in a London home amicably insulting each other and dreaming of better days.  When Aphrodite and Apollo start fighting and drag two mortals into it, things go from boring to devastating fast.

My Thoughts
What an adorable (and I mean this in its true sense, not in that condescending way) story, full of humor and insightful quips.  Gods Behaving Badly is a creative, witty, and zany tale, and I'm impressed that this is Phillips' first novel.

Our spotlight gods in this novel are Artemis, Apollo, Aphrodite, and Eros, but Hermes, Athena, Zeus, Hera, Ares, and the rest certainly make memorable appearances as well.  Aphrodite sparked the biggest laugh as she, the goddess of beauty, is working as a phone sex operator.  Eros came a close second in the humorous occupation department, in my opinion, as he is currently a Christian and working for a priest.  Lovely and ironic.  The Greek gods are just entertaining as all get out to begin with, and modernizing and demystifying them in this manner made for a seriously fun read.  Even in their origin the gods are immortal and immoral, and Marie Phillips keeps them hedonistic in this tale.

If you like fun, irreverence, and quick reads, you will like this book!  If you are offended by swear words and poking fun at the gods and God, you should probably stay away.

Memorable Scene and Quote:  Athena is attempting to hold a meeting with the attention of addressing the declining power of the gods.  The Goddess of Wisdom, Athena has a reputation of being an absolutely horrific communicator.  No one understands a single thing she says!  In the very beginning of the reluctantly attended meeting, Athena addresses her fellow gods saying:  To commence.  If I could request that all gathered deities address themselves to the schemata reproduced on the uppermost sheet of your textual bundle: 'Concerning the necessity for increasing the potency of the true gods and goddesses, parenthesis Olympian close parenthesis, with additional suggestions for the implementation of organized religion-based solutions within the crowded global multifaith context'.  Gotta love big words. :)


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Becky's Book Reviews; As Usual...I Need More Bookshelves; Diary of an Eccentric; book-a-rama; Ooh...Books; Find Your Next Book Here; Tea with Marce;

Question:  I'm interested to know if those out there who are religious enjoy - or can even read - books which poke fun at their faith.


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Challenges: 100+ Reading Challenge, Reading Resolutions, GLBT Challenge, World Religions, Once Upon a Time, Hogwarts Reading Challenge,
Posted by Trisha at 5:00 PM
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24 comments:

  1. This sounds like a good read. The Greek gods were definitely good at being bad. :-)

    I can't answer your question because I'm not very religious. But I think there are many people who are good sports about poking fun at their faith, as long as it's not malicious or nasty. After all, God definitely has a sense of humor. Otherwise the universe doesn't make any sense.
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  2. This sounds downright awwwwesome! A premise right up my alley for certain.

    There was a point in my life when I was more religious than I am now. Even then I could read books that prodded at my religion. I was always of the mind that if I was prompted to question, I would become stronger in my faith if that faith was real.
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  3. I remember the reviews for this one, and thought it sounded hilarious! To answer your question, I consider myself a religious person, but have no issues keeping my sense of humor when it comes to most things. I'm not sure I would find it humorous to poke fun at Jesus, but have no issues with the Greek Gods!
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  4. I am so glad that you enjoyed this book. I picked it up months ago at a used bookstore and haven't sunk into it yet. It looked so good but honestly I haven't read any reviews.

    I'm not religious at all, but I'm interested in hearing others response to your question!
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  5. Wasn't it a fun read? I just adored it.
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  6. I read it today- fun stuff! I love the Greek gods; the more powerful they are, the funnier their pettiness and 'humanity' is!
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  7. I would love to read this book. I've been trying to get my hands on it through BookMooch and Goodreads BookSwap and such and can't. I think I am going to have to break down and buy it soon because I don't think I can wait for the library to get it, lol.
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  8. I thought this was a delicious little read as well. And so hilarious by times!

    To answer your question, I wouldn't say I am overly religious but I think it really depends on the way the picking on the religion is. Taking the characters and placing them in a different concept, for example, or not mocking those who actually believe in that religion - does that at all make sense? Plus, the ending of this book was kind of neat wasn't it?
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  9. This book was delightful, here is my review, I added celebrities to the review, lol

    http://teawithmarce.blogspot.com/2009/11/gods-behaving-badly-review-my-first.html

    I haven't read anything that has offended me yet, i'm religious but very open.
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  10. I have an award for you.

    http://teawithmarce.blogspot.com/2010/03/awards-honest-scrap-and-kreativ.html
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  11. I love how you rescued the word "adorable" :D I always hesitate to use it too for that same reason. Anyway, this sounds right up my alley.
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  12. I'm afraid I can't answer your question either, as I'm as unreligious as you can get without being an atheist (I happen to like holidays). But I thought this book was fun. And I adore Christopher Moore's Lamb.
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  13. Stephanie - They were very good at being bad! What a wonderful way to say it.

    Andi - You should definitely read this!

    Sandy - A sense of humor is an important and wonderful quality!

    christina - I definitely recommend it if you are looking for a fun quick read!

    Jenners - I adored it too!

    Brandon - There's nothing quite like the gods.

    Rebecca - I have to say it's buy-worthy.

    Amy - I loved the end! I have to admit it was not what I was expecting, and I was pleasantly pleased.

    MarceJ - I will definitely add your link.

    Nymeth - I think adorable is an important and quite usable word; if only we could get rid of those silly connotations it has.

    softdrink - I love it that you said you are "as unreligious as you can get without being an atheist". I know exactly what you mean. I really have to check out Moore; I keep hearing wonderful things.
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  14. Great review! This book sounds so good; it's been sitting in my TBR pile, I really should read it soon. I didn't think it would be "adorable", but now that you mention it, it makes me look forward to it even more.
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  15. Kay - I would definitely recommend reading it..obviously. And it certainly was adorable!
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  16. I loved this when I read it, all the Greek Gods misbehaving. Have you read Neil Gaiman's Good Omens, that is another great read with the Gods floundering in the modern world.
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  17. Good Omens is one of my favorite books of all time Katrina! Nice call!
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  18. Wonderful review! I think is such an original idea for a book, and the occupations of the gods are perfect.
    I'm not really religious so I don't if my answer counts. I was a Roman Catholic and I found the movie Dogma hilarious. You have to be able to poke fun at yourself :)
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  19. Jenny Girl - Hahaha! Dogma! Yes! I was raised Roman Catholic as well.
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  20. Great review, and thanks for the link! I don't think I've read any humorous books about Catholicism, but I'd be willing to try one.

    This was one of the funniest books I've ever read.

    --Anna
    Diary of an Eccentric
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  21. Anna - Have you read Good Omens? You might try that one as it's even funnier.
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  22. I'll have to keep that one in mind. Thanks for the recommendation.

    --Anna
    Diary of an Eccentric
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  23. Great review! That sounds like a wonderful book. I'll have to try and find it at the library. Re: Good Omens, it's one of my favourite books ever as well. Sounds like I should enjoy Gods Behaving Badly then!
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  24. Anna - no problem!

    oneblacksheep - Good Omens is awesome isn't it?! And yep, you should try Gods Behaving Badly.
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