Beware of God: Stories
by Shalom Auslander
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 278)
Read in October, 2008
recommends it for:
anyone that can handle a sense of humor about matters of religion and philosophy
My friends and I really enjoyed reading this book out loud to each other. I advise taking it to a pub and sharing it with others as well. Hilarious quick reads. One of my favorites stories was the one about the chimp who spontaneously came to a higher understanding of life. I believe it was through a thorough understanding of something like death, god, shame, and guilt (I may be mistaken about the last one). My favorite story by far was about a man whom escaped death and began to ponder over whe...more
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Read in September, 2007
Truly irreverent recovering Orthodox Jew. Did I mention that he's funny as hell? One word: YES.
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The rabbi was fed up with his congregation. So, he decided to skip the services on Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, and instead go play golf. Moses was looking down from heaven and saw the rabbi on the golf course. He naturally reported it to God. Moses suggested God punish the rabbi severely. As he watched, Moses saw the rabbi playing the best game he had ever played! The rabbi got a hole-in-one on the toughest hole on the course. Moses turned to God and asked, "I though...more
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Read in July, 2008
My hopes for this collection may have been too high. I enjoyed hearing Auslander read "Waiting for Joe" on NPR's This American Life, which is the funniest and most insightful story in the book. "Joe" offers new perspective on how we live and practice faith, using the hilariously short-sighted point of view of two hamsters waiting for the Almighty One who will feed them.
Some may call this kind of humor blasphemy, but I think such creativity is lovely, bold, and always nec...more
Some may call this kind of humor blasphemy, but I think such creativity is lovely, bold, and always nec...more
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Read in August, 2008
"These are stories which, for the most part, reduce religion to its absurd components. Auslander knows whereof he speaks. He endured a strict Orthodox upbringing; that influence isn't going away in a hurry... They read as though they have, in the writer's dream formulation, written themselves. I found myself asking, again and again, "why hasn't this been done already?" That's a good sign - a sign, almost, of genius; or at least of something pretty close to it. You will not get the...more
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Read in July, 2008
recommended to Stefan by:
Ira Glassrecommends it for: Anyone who likes a good, opinionated short-story collection.
I found it totally insightful, yet also, slightly lacking. I first heard "Waiting for Joe" on NRP's This American Life and I HAD to get this book. While nothing else in the book really compares to that tidbit, a lot of it comes close. Still, it's not as... meson-sen as other books like David Sedaris's "When you Are Engulfed in Flames". I still liked it though.
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Read in March, 2008
I heard an excerpt from this book on This American Life and thought is was too cutting to resist. It is a series of short stories told from the perspective of God (who at times takes the form of the angry old testament deity, at other times a deity completely unconcerned with the human race, and, in once case, a happy chicken) and his terrified followers. Themes of guilt and fear-based adherence to rules run strung through this insider's picture of Jewish life and religion. I feel a bit guilty...more
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Read in March, 2008
Certain subject matters carry with them a certain taboo and the idea of satirizing the holiest of virtues definitely finds a place on that list. We can all THINK that there are contradictions within religion, or whatever it is we might call our belief system, but it's another thing altogether to actually ADMIT that's what we're thinking. Reading Shalom Auslander is like any guilty pleasure -- you'll be chuckling to yourself, enjoying every moment immensely while looking over your shoulder the e...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
people interested in god
I picked this up mostly because the back-of-book-blurb about the author describes him as being raised as an orthodox jew in spring valley, which is right near where I grew up. But these short stories are awesome. As the title suggests, the stories all deal with god or religion in some way, mostly from a jewish perspective, but some just god. What happens when chimpanzees find god? What happens when hamsters are forsaken by god? What if you woke up a goy? What if god spoke to you? What if you fou...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
peoples of Jewish persuasion
I love the concepts in Auslander's collection; God as a giant chicken, a "Metamorphosis" into a goy, and the one story, "Holocaust Tips for Kids" is especially biting in terms of reevaluating how we teach kids about the Holocaust. But in execution, I was disappointed. Auslander throws out some HUGE questions and conflicts in Judaism but while making fun of them, he doesn't deliver in a satisfying way. I finished ever story feeling as though he could have gone much further.
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Read in September, 2008
I think Shalom Auslander is a genius, but the cynicism and bitterness of these stories started to wear on me by the end. There are a couple gems. Overall, I preferred the memoir Foreskin's Lament, where the negative qualities are buffered by a beating heart.
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Read in July, 2008
Really good book of short stories with a wickedly funny take on god. Such as: Startling Revelations from the Lost book of Stan (the finding of a set of old Testament tablets with the caveat on the top of the first tablet: "The following is a work of fiction.Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental." Seems NOBODY wants to buy them. "The Prophet's Dilemma" with some sage advise of you ever hear the voice of God in your ear. And what if God is really a ...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
Readers who find humor in the more common forms of religious practice
Book is a compilation of short stories that usually can at least draw a smile on your face. Takes some of the most absurd practices and ideals of common religions (Chrisitianity, Judaism, Islam, ect) and relates them to a fictional story... Some stories in the book are right on, insightful, and downright funny.... Other stories I would rather skip... My favorite would either have to be the (er... "A") Giant Chicken in Heaven, or the two hampsters who hadn't been fed in a few days......more
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I took this off the 'funneh ' shelf as it just wasn't.
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in June, 2007
recommends it for:
adults only
I love his short stories in the New Yorker and on NPR, find myself sitting in supermarket parking lots unable to get out of my car till he's through...but the book was a bit of a letdown.
He's still very funny, but the stories are far racier, and go much furhter out into the absurd.
I prefer it when his accounts are closer to the heart.
He's still very funny, but the stories are far racier, and go much furhter out into the absurd.
I prefer it when his accounts are closer to the heart.
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