God, No!: Signs You May Already Be an Atheist and Other Magical Tales

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God, No!: Signs You May Already Be an Atheist and Other Magical Tales

3.58 of 5 stars 3.58 · rating details · 3,771 ratings · 504 reviews

Not only can the man rant, he can write.From the larger, louder half of the world-famous magic duo Penn & Teller comes a scathingly funny reinterpretation of The Ten Commandments. They are The Penn Commandments, and they reveal one outrageous and opinionated atheist's experience in the world. In this rollicking yet honest account of a godless existence, Penn takes read...more Not only can the man rant, he can write. From the larger, louder half of the world-famous magic duo Penn & Teller comes a scathingly funny reinterpretation of The Ten Commandments. They are The Penn Commandments, and they reveal one outrageous and opinionated atheist's experience in the world. In this rollicking yet honest account of a godless existence, Penn takes readers on a roller coaster of exploration and flips conventional religious wisdom on its ear to reveal that doubt, skepticism, and wonder -- all signs of a general feeling of disbelief -- are to be celebrated and cherished, rather than suppressed. And he tells some pretty damn funny stories along the way. From performing blockbuster shows on the Vegas Strip to the adventures of fatherhood, from an on-going dialogue with proselytizers of the Christian Right to the joys of sex while scuba diving, Jillette's self-created Decalogue invites his reader on a journey of discovery that is equal parts wise and wisecracking.

Praise for God, No!

"People who say that libertarians have no heart or atheists have no soul need to read this book. Because Penn Jillette has a lot of both." -- MATT STONE and TREY PARKER, creators of South Park and the award-winning Broadway musical The Book of Mormon

"There are few people in the country who question more boldly, brashly, and bravely than my friend Penn Jillette. This book is funny, provocative, and profane. But is it right? God, no!" --GLENN BECK

"This planet has yielded exactly one mutual friend for Glenn Beck and me and that friend has written a brilliant book called God, No! Penn reveals 'the big secret of magic,' tells you why tattoos are perfect expressions of atheism and exactly what to eat when you know you're going to vomit later." --LAWRENCE O'DONNELL

"Penn Jillette is a twenty-first-century Lord of Misrule: big, boisterously anarchic, funny, Rabelaisian, impossible and unique. There isn't--couldn't be--better not be--anybody like him." --RICHARD DAWKINS, bestselling author of The Greatest Show on Earth and The God Delusion(less)

Hardcover, 231 pages

Published August 16th 2011 by Simon & Schuster

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Feb 10, 2012 Ricardo Lane rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: skepticism-rationality, humor

I wasn't expecting the pure reason of Richard Dawkins or the elegant, staggeringly beautiful prose of Christopher Hitchens when I picked up this book. That was kind of the initial attraction, actually. I was hoping for a discussion of atheism and religion that was a bit more earthy and geared toward the layman than either of those two gentlemen are known for, and Penn Jillette seemed to fit the bill. God, No! is not an imposing book as it comes in a a modest 230 pages, so I figured it for some f...more I wasn't expecting the pure reason of Richard Dawkins or the elegant, staggeringly beautiful prose of Christopher Hitchens when I picked up this book. That was kind of the initial attraction, actually. I was hoping for a discussion of atheism and religion that was a bit more earthy and geared toward the layman than either of those two gentlemen are known for, and Penn Jillette seemed to fit the bill. God, No! is not an imposing book as it comes in a a modest 230 pages, so I figured it for some fluff reading. If it wasn't great, no big deal.

Yep, it was no big deal.

The first half of the book is okay. Jillette rambles from anecdote to anecdote, many of which either only touch marginally on religion or not at all. Though being pedaled directly toward that atheist and skeptically curious crowd, the subtitle *does* say it also contains "Other Magical Tales," so the case for bait-and-switch would be difficult to pin on him. My biggest complaint is how the back half of the book is so loaded with his libertarian drivel. Now, anyone who knows enough about Jillette to want to pick up a book by him will also know he's a rabid libertarian, and I would have had to be stupid to have assumed he'd be able to make it through the book without it cropping up in a number of places. I was prepared for his incessant use of the phrase "The Free Market of Ideas" throughout, and I breezed right by those, and some of his comments made me laugh out loud (He states "Now, I love Ayn Rand as much as the next guy..." and I snorted as I thought that if the "next guy" is me, I can guarantee he loves her a HELL of a lot more), but I guess I was naive enough to think he might be able to get through the book without good chunks or the entirety of whole chapters espousing his hatred of government, public schooling, and liberals in general. He uses some choice profanities to describe the Far Right as well, but his contempt for the left is far more lovingly nurtured in his words here.

Even that I could breeze through if it weren't for the fact he is so terrible inconsistent in his view, even in the sparse 230 pages of the book. In the first part of the book, he gives an anecdote on how he proudly lied to his parents to get them to take money from him so they wouldn't have to go to a nursing home. He supposedly threatened a nurse with physical violence if she didn't tell his parents that they were allowed to stay in their home because of state moneys. They accepted this because they were too proud to take money from their rich son.

Wait, doesn't Penn say throughout the book that he got his rigid self-reliant attitude from his folks? Yet, they'll take tax dollars to stay at home rather than from him?

And he's cool with that?

Later in the book he states that the ends never justify the means. Never. How does he reconcile both the lie and the threat to the nurse, then?

Even when I agree with him on an initial point, he takes it over the line to a place I just can't follow. I agree with him that security at airports is a joke, and the inconvenience it causes is pointless because no one is made more secure. I agree that it is a serious infringement on civil rights. We're good to that point. But the solutions he comes up with range from being just as infringing to being simple, outright lunacy. One might argue that he's a comedian, and he's simply trying to be funny in the manner of Jonathan Swift. If so, he fails utterly. Swift brought a white hot focus on the problems he was mocking with his words. He could take an existing concern and stretch and enlarge it until its flaws are evident from outer space. Penn simply comes up with alternatives that sound like they were thought up by two stoners in the back of a van. Nothing in this book even approaches what I would call satire. It's just dumb.

There are points, however, that I really, really enjoyed in the book. Penn comes across as a completely honest asshole, and I think he'd be happy to read me use that description. He's a snake and a cheat, but only when he feels the rules allow it. He cheats fairly. He's also crass, rude, and fairly disgusting, but he comes across as possessing a child's joy of life in his vulgarity. Others may disagree, and I'd completely understand if they did, but I find his repulsiveness kind of life-affirming. Without a doubt my favorite part of the book is his story of the orthodox Jew who'd become an atheist in part because of Penn's influence and came to Vegas to ask him to witness his first bacon cheeseburger.

There's a couple more really good stories in here, a lot of filler, and some frothing at the mouth bat-shittery. Whittled down, this would make for a very entertaining booklet.(less)

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Dec 19, 2012 Brian Sammons rated it 3 of 5 stars

I found this book very funny, but Penn somewhat full of s***. He starts it off trying to soft sell atheism, saying that it’s ok, don’t be afraid, if you have any doubt about the existence of god at all then you’re an atheist and that’s ok. And it is ok. But towards the end of the book he falls back on speaking in absolutes, as the vast majority of atheists I know always do. They KNOW for sure that there is no god. Anyone who believes otherwise, or has that doubt that Penn was so slavishly appeal...more

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Nana "He is taking something as a truth without a single fact to back it up and that is faith, that is belief." I haven't read Penn's book, so I'm not real...more "He is taking something as a truth without a single fact to back it up and that is faith, that is belief." I haven't read Penn's book, so I'm not really sure what these facts are, but I don't think it would be fair to say that there is not a single fact that disproves the existence of God. Au contraire mon ami, if we compare the "facts" that prove his existence (erm, none) to the facts that disprove it - the fact that science has "no need for that hypothesis" (famous words by Pierre-Simon Laplace) to explain natural phenomena, ineffectiveness of prayer, immoral and contradictive passages in holy books, children dying from hunger etc - then in my opinion the NON existence of God is more probable that his existence. Can I prove he doesn't exist? No, and it's not my job to do so. All I know is that if there is a God then:
1. We're all officially f*cked because we don't really know what he wants from us (Is he a Catholic god? A Muslim god? What if the Muslims got it right and eating pork or drinking alcohol is a sin? No matter how good you are, rest assured that there's a religion out there according to which you're going to hell for something you've done. So why bother?)
2. He's not doing a very good job (you know ...with all those kids dying by the millions in Africa and stuff.)
3. Even if he does exist, he has nothing to do with my life, so why should I go on living my life under the assumption that he exists when he has never answered any of my prayers (if he did I'd be in the Bahamas right now sipping piña coladas with Tom Brady), he has never helped me in any way or given me any answers when I needed them.
Also, last time I checked, football DOES exists and we have proof of that. (Or DOES it? What if football DOESN'T exist, and it's just a male conspiracy so that you guys can have boys nights out and stuff.)
And also, Dawkins clearly stated that he can't prove there is no God, and I quote: "On a scale of seven, where one means I know he exists, and seven I know he doesn’t, I call myself a six. That doesn’t mean I’m absolutely confident, that I absolutely know, because I don’t."
You said "By saying that statement it becomes a belief". By the same logic, agnosticism is the BELIEF that we have no idea if God exists, therefore agnosticism has a belief about religion, therefore agnosticism is a RELIGIOUS belief.
As for converting to agnosticism, I'll have to think about that. What's in it for me? Do agnostics get fewer lashes in Hell than atheists? If I convert to agnosticism before I die, will they let me simmer in a pot with more agreeable temperatures?(less)
updated Jan 21, 2013 11:15am

Brian Sammons I’m pretty sure we are mostly of the same mind on this, as I agree with your three points below. All except for the Tom Brady bit, you can keep him. I...more
Jan 21, 2013 11:43am

May 20, 2012 Wagszilla rated it 3 of 5 stars

"God, No!" really isn't as much a book about atheism or religion as it is a compilation of short stories from Penn Jillette's life.

The stories range in tone and content but they are always engaging and never uninteresting. I mean, what else would you expect from a magician who worked the Vegas strip? The two standout stories was the profoundly moving story about his parents' deaths and contrarily, the hilarious and insightful tale about sharing cheeseburgers with a Hasidic Jew.

While Penn's per...more

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Sep 18, 2012 Tom rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

There were a few parts of this book I really enjoyed, but there was a lot more of the book that I didn't like. I'm certainly not a big fan of Penn's crude sense of humor. There were parts of this book that had nothing to do with where the book was going, but he included them because they were funny, or just extremely vulgar. Meh. Just not my cup of tea.

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Dec 21, 2012 Elizabeth (Soluna) rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-reads, non-fiction

I enjoy the premise of this book. I think it could have been an important work to show theists that religion is not the be-all and end-all of morality. One could make Jillette's Ten Suggestions into a moral code (or write your own) and live a happy, generous, good life. However, Jillette's incessant verbal diarrhea almost ruined the book, and certainly destroyed any possibility that I would suggest it to any theists. I think the premises would make a great book club discussion, particularly in m...more

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Nov 19, 2011 Regina rated it 3 of 5 stars

I laughed so hard my sides hurt, but I still think Penn Jillette is a pig. I agree with a lot, and disagree with less, but he is still a pig. This was one of the most offensive and obscene books I have ever read. My sides still hurt.

9 likes · like · see review

May 28, 2013 Lauri rated it 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book. Penn is as straight-forward and no-nonsense about his beliefs as anyone I've ever heard speak. Parts of the book make you think about religion and spirituality in a way that religion rarely makes you think.
One of my problems with the book is the vulgarity. Okay, I get that a lot of funny, interesting things have happened to Penn (sometimes it seems like he tells too many stories of his escapades to prove something, but whatever) and I laughed through most of them. I'm no pr...more

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May 22, 2013 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars

God, No is a short little book of anecdotes, stories and opinions by Penn Jillette. I'm not sure exactly what the point of the book was, or if it was even supposed to have one, but that doesn't really matter. It was fast and fun to read.

A significant portion of the stories were about atheism, or faith, or skepticism, but not all of the stories were along those lines. Some were touching memoirs, some were just silly stories. Almost every story was entertaining though. There were a few things in t...more

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May 20, 2013 Andrew rated it 2 of 5 stars

Expected to like this book. Didn't.
Wanted to recommend this book. Can't.

This book was a really big disappointment to me because fresh from watching Penn Jillette on "Celebrity Apprentice" I had quite a favorable impression of him and was really excited to read his book. I expected irreverence, biting wit, unapologetic posturing, sure, but not this! That's not to say that there's not some interesting viewpoints and some funny moments in this book, but they are so mired in extreme (I mean extreme)...more

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May 18, 2013 James rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: character-studies, culture-and-politics, entertainment-and-recreation, humor, memoirs, mythology, philosophy, spirituality-and-or-religion

As funny as this Penn & Teller fan expected, and more thoughtful. Penn Jillette certainly doesn't take himself seriously, and he has no problem with telling embarrassing (and hilarious) stories on himself; sometimes it's touching, too, as when he talks about his family.

I only have one real beef with this book, and that's the author's riff on agnosticism. He sees it as pusillanimous, and says that if a person is unwilling to form a judgment on the existence or non-existence of a God without t...more

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Feb 08, 2013 Eva rated it 4 of 5 stars

Great, assuming Penn is your type. Some quotes:

Reading the Bible is the fast track to atheism.

When someone says that Jesus loves them, it’s always so sad and desperate. If your Christ lives outside of time, then the time he takes to love you means nothing, and anyway, why did he make your football team lose?

Atheism is a religion like not collecting stamps is a hobby.”

There is no god, and that’s the simple truth. If every trace of any single religion were wiped out and nothing were passed on, i...more

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Dec 07, 2012 Tina rated it 4 of 5 stars

HONEST!!

If I had to use only one word to sum up this book I would say, honest. My husband read it first and was surprised that this 6'7' almost 300 pound, abrasive, blunt, self-proclaimed asshole could get him choke up over his stories about his parents, sister and others who have come into his life.

For me the first moment this book brought me close to tears was the Orthodox Jew who spoke with Penn after a Penn & Teller show. I won't ruin the book for any who haven't read it yet, because it...more

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Nov 03, 2012 Timothy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: atheism

This book was amazing. The stories, were all great stories that were worth telling and hearing about. The book was consistently hilarious.
I didn't have to agree with all of the ideas and thoughts in this book to come out with a lot of my ideas and thoughts challenged giving me the chance to look at a lot of my idea and re-evaluate a lot of things. Penn does a good job justifying his positions and views on various comments which allows a good long think about reasons to agree or disagree with eac...more

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Aug 26, 2012 Desiree rated it 4 of 5 stars

Okay - first of all, this book had me in stitches.

Second of all, it's offensive - really offensive; both to the religious and the non-religious, to a certain extent. I think it takes a certain type of person to truly like this style of writing - someone that's willing to sift through the bullshit and take away the "food for thought" pearls within.

There are some, promise. There is much truth to be had here, but you've got to get past the blunt, satirical, over-the-top forest to get to the trees...more

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Aug 19, 2012 Aidan Fortner rated it 3 of 5 stars

If you like Penn Jillette, you'll probably enjoy this book. If you dislike Penn Jillette, then this book is not going to do anything to endear you to him. He's a self-admitted asshole who is vulgar with gleeful, often very creative, abandon.

I dig Penn a great deal, even though he doesn't strike me as someone I'd enjoy spending any alone time with. But I find his opinions and intellect challenging, and I enjoy it when he says something I disagree with because the way he presents his viewpoints u...more

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Aug 02, 2012 Theresa rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: never-finished-but-not-reading-anym, faith

I don't think of myself as that defensive of a Christian. If anything, I identify more as a Catholic than as a Christian, and I'm more likely to defend that than Christianity or a general belief in God. But reading this book makes me defensive, and it's a weird feeling. So- things that crab me out so far, and I'm only on Chapter 2-
1) Almost every smart person he mentions or looks up to is a man. The only woman was/happened to be married to a man he mentioned.
2) His premise that atheists are hu...more

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Jun 29, 2012 Simone rated it 2 of 5 stars

I feel like I should give this review three stars because it was an entertaining book, but it did little to talk about atheism. Each section starts out with one of the Ten Commandments and then an atheists version of it, followed by some anecdotes. I kept expecting the anecdotes to reflect the commandment but they rarely did. They did sometimes though, which is what made it seem like more of a mess.

The subtitle is "Signs You May Already Be an Atheist and Other Magical Tales". The signs you migh...more

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Jun 22, 2012 Glenn Capuano rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Diehard fans of Penn Jillette and his worldview only.

Hmm...I was expecting a rant from Penn Jillette, and that's certainly what this is. What I wasn't expecting was so much "other stuff" hanging on. There's a bit about atheism and libertarianism, and I was aware of his extreme libertarian views already, I even share some of them. I wasn't prepared for the endless anecdotes about his life on the road, his incessant boasting in pornographic detail about his sexual exploits, and the over the top "America is the greatest country in the world" attitude...more

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Jun 04, 2012 Brian rated it 1 of 5 stars

Let me start by saying I was a more of a fan then hater before the book, now I'm about even. Did you know Penn is friends with Joe Rogan? You'd think this book would be about atheism and penn's thought on it along with some stories from penn. I hope you realize that Penn and Howard Stern have a good background together, they have sleepovers! It's mostly outlandish and questionable stories about his sexual life that you have to challenge (he makes himself seem like an '80 tommy lee), his non-stop...more

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Jun 04, 2012 Ray Campbell rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2012

Apparently Penn Jillette is an atheist and has read Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and others. His feeling is that religious faith is evil and that we should celebrate life and love each other. The rest of the book is funny stories from the life and career of this wonderfully funny magician and entertainer. This is a comic ranting about the world and reflecting on everything from the virtues of getting his weeny stuck in a blow dryer to sex while scuba-diving. Pen Jillette is funny and clearly very...more

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Apr 09, 2012 Linda Lombardi rated it 4 of 5 stars

I didn't mean to read this book. Technology forced me to.

I sat down to read something on my Kindle and the battery was dead. I finished all the magazines in the house, I looked sadly at my pile of unfinished books and remembered there were reasons I had stopped reading all of them. So the only thing left was my husband's Kindle and trust me that this was the only marginally reasonable choice.

I wasn't sure that spending several hours inside the head of Penn Jillette would be a wise idea. But he's...more

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Mar 22, 2012 Z. rated it 3 of 5 stars

Penn Jillette represents the best and worst of the contemporary atheist/skeptic community. At his highest points he is engaging, realistic, hilariously straightforward and earnest. At his lowest he's simply self-indulgent for its own sake. But at both the extremes and all points in-between he is an utter asshole and a brilliant showman unafraid to cop to either.

God, No! is less a book about atheism than a book about atheists. Or more specifically atheist. One: Penn himself. There are some stori...more

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Mar 20, 2012 Noel Rooks rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: library

Penn is as "bugnutty" - his word - as they come. Also offensive, inappropriate and out and out hilarious. He's an atheist, and makes no bones of it. He's also a libertarian's libertarian and makes no apologies. This is not your book if you're easily offended on religion, sex, politics, personal liberties, Santa or frozen yogurt. There are no sacred cows in his world. He makes many valid points, and iswilling to acknowledge we all know next to nothing. He's just seemingly more open to that fact,...more

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Nov 06, 2011 Ben rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: audiobooks, religion, non-fiction

My interest in reading this book stems from the epic 2006 South Park episodes "Go God Go" and "Go God Go XII" which was Parker and Stone's rebuttal to Richard Dawkins, and to a lesser extent Sam Harris. In the commentary, as they were trashing Dawkins and Harris, they mentioned how they would rather read Penn discuss atheism instead. So I was willing to give this a try, though I would have been better off avoiding this book altogether.

Oddly enough, there is some faint structure surrounding Penn'...more

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Sep 30, 2011 Jorge rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: atheism-religion

God, No! By Penn Jillette

"God, No!" is the irreverent, unfiltered reinterpretation of the Ten Commandments. The "Penn" Commandments takes you through Penn's personal life's experiences through the eyes of an atheist. This 256 page-book is composed of an introduction, the Ten Commandments and an afterword.

Positives:
1. Be ready to be entertained. Penn's irreverent unfiltered humor is exposed for all to see.
2. Well written, fascinating and even uncomfortable to read at times, but Penn is never...more

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Sep 12, 2011 Vanessa Fox rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoirs-biographies

This really isn't a book about atheism. Which is fine, but it's really more of a memoir and I sort of came away not liking him very much, while at the same time appreciating his occasional frailty.

I found it interesting that he gave no empirical reasons for atheism (other than the standard he can't see God with his own eyes) yet was SO ADAMANTLY AND FORECEFULLY for it, while at the same time commenting often that the louder he protests something, the more he's hoping for someone to prove him wro...more

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Sep 04, 2011 Tim Niland rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-reads

The tall half of the famous magical duo Penn and Teller wrote this book ostensibly to talk about his atheist views on religion and libertarian views on politics. But it is far from a screed against religion and government as Jillette adds raunchy (and some downright filthy) anecdotes from his life and show business career to lighten what could become an overly serious topic. He is an engeging storyteller and no matter how vulgar he gets, the stories remain laugh-out-loud funny. So he basically i...more

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Aug 31, 2011 Mickey (I'm A Book Shark) rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Atheists, religious people, everyone!

Shelves: 2011, audio

Listening to this one is easy because it's read by the author. You can see what he's trying to say and understand it better since it's in his voice. And that is super important when you're reading a novel about such a touchy subject: religion, or lack thereof.

Listening to this one is also highly NOT recommended if you're easily offended by any of the following: sex, swear words, objection to religion, being naked, sex, porn stars, strippers, Ron Jeremy, sex, Howard Stern, homosexuals, genitals,...more Listening to this one is easy because it's read by the author. You can see what he's trying to say and understand it better since it's in his voice. And that is super important when you're reading a novel about such a touchy subject: religion, or lack thereof.

Listening to this one is also highly NOT recommended if you're easily offended by any of the following: sex, swear words, objection to religion, being naked, sex, porn stars, strippers, Ron Jeremy, sex, Howard Stern, homosexuals, genitals, public nudity, sex, Richard Dawkins, magic, strong opinions, gay bars, crudeness, and sex. Did I mention sex? Also, don't read this if you're offended by any combination of those items. If you know anything about Penn Jillette, you know that he's lewd and offensive if you take it that way.

I will not bring in my personal religious beliefs in this review, but I obviously have to be open-minded to even attempt to read this. So that's all I will say about myself. What I will say about this book is that Jillette makes many, many great points to make his point of view convincing. There are also a whole lot of side stories about his life, crazy parties, events with Teller, and meetings with other stars and believers of his opinions.

The whole point of this book is to go through the 10 commandments to make them less about religion and more about morality and being a good human being. In the midst of explaining each one, he tells stories about himself and his life that are seemingly off-topic and made me confused at times as to which commandment we were talking about IF we were still talking about one. He used a lot of big words and mostly came off smart and well-researched, but as I am a stickler for grammar I found some errors. He also mispronounced Ke$ha, but I digress.

Some of Jillette's stories were a little long, i.e. the NASA story. Some of his stories were really easy to relate to, like the ones about his family and partnership with Teller. Other stories certainly made me rethink my own beliefs and the way I live my life. However, it was a little creepy for him to talk about being a boyfriend. He's older than my father, and that makes the word boyfriend just weird. Okay, okay. Sorry.

All in all, I think this book is fantastic when all his side stories are taken out and it is used as a tool to explain atheism and why it's so important. While I laughed a whole lot at the side stories and really enjoyed Jillette reading them (as it felt like a conversation with a friend), I really feel like the point of this book is very important. I said I wouldn't offer my own beliefs up, and I'm really not. I just absolutely love to hear ALL sides, all opinions, so I can make an educated one myself. He makes some very great points, and reasonable ones at that. I think people of all walks of life can relate to something in this novel, and while you may not agree, it's imperative to be understanding and knowledgeable so you can disagree in a respectable and intelligent manner if you so choose. Read at your own risk, and choose wisely.

Please note: this man has never had a sip of alcohol, has never done any recreational drugs, and grew up in a very religious family. He has an open mind. We all should take a page out of his book. (less)

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Aug 21, 2011 Daniel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: humor, atheism, libertarianism

Disclaimer: Penn Jillette has been a hero of mine for years. He's an atheist libertarian peace-loving hippy who is a boisterous, obnoxious asshole and isn't afraid to tell you when he thinks you're wrong, no matter what it's about. At the same time, he's so profoundly optimistic it borders on naivete. Even with his strong convictions being the minority, he remains a strangely optimistic and humble person about them, in a frequently self-depreciating way. He's quick to acknowledge when he's wrong...more Disclaimer: Penn Jillette has been a hero of mine for years. He's an atheist libertarian peace-loving hippy who is a boisterous, obnoxious asshole and isn't afraid to tell you when he thinks you're wrong, no matter what it's about. At the same time, he's so profoundly optimistic it borders on naivete. Even with his strong convictions being the minority, he remains a strangely optimistic and humble person about them, in a frequently self-depreciating way. He's quick to acknowledge when he's wrong or when he doesn't know something. He's a fascinating and unique nutjob, and I love him for it.

You won't be surprised to know I loved the book. It's essentially a collection of anecdotes and experiences, most of which are hilarious or outrageous, a few of which are heartwarming and sappy. It feels like he's just sitting with you spewing stories off the top of his head, indeed if you watch his video blog Penn Point it feels very much as if he had simply written down some monologues intended for that blog. Which is okay. Great, even, because he's great at it.

For me, there's nothing eye-opening here. There are revelations to be had surely, but I'm not the audience for them; sadly I'm not sure the audience which would need or want to find them could do so, given Penn's abrasive manner. I want to believe otherwise, because I can't imagine reading this book and believing anything other than Penn being an extraordinarily heartfelt, honest, loving person.

In the few areas I disagree with Penn, it's because I don't think he's 'gone far enough' with his beliefs, and the book made me yearn for an opportunity to give him a push.

His arguments against government are equally valid for the few areas he professes to believe it has a role, I think he just needs someone to show him.

He's still trapped in the notion that 'Intellectual Property' is equally as legitimate as physical property, although if you examine the function of property among humans, you must come to the conclusion that IP is illegitimate. Property is scarce. Ideas are not; at least not in the same way. Sharing my recipe for pie with you does not require me to give up the recipe, as physical property does.

I also sense that he's not that familiar with Ludwig von Mises, Murray Rothbard, Lew Rockwell and Tom Woods, or the Austrian School of Economics in general. Sadly, this is likely due to his affection for Reason and CATO, who severely downplay their significance, and generally prefer to ignore that LvMI exists. They are utilitarian libertarians, and while they do some great work, Penn Jillette strikes me as a principled libertarian. For a principled libertarian, mises.org is a much better fit than Reason or CATO.

Regardless, Penn is inspiring. His odd combination of humble yet forceful beliefs make me try to be a better, more optimistic person.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Dec 22, 2012 Kathleen rated it 2 of 5 stars

OK, I should have read the other reviews before reading this. My knowledge of Penn Jillette was also, apparently, a bit dated, as I recalled the early days of safe-for-TV Penn & Teller, not the buddy-buddy-with-Howard-Stern Penn Jillette. I also knew about his libertarian leanings, so I thought I might enjoy this.

This is definitely more Howard Stern-ish and not really a lot about atheism. I frankly expected something more thoughtful when he did talk about the subject. What it is is a lot of...more

like · see review

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About Penn Jillette

Penn Fraser Jillette is an American comedian, illusionist, juggler and writer known for his work with fellow illusionist Teller in the team Penn & Teller.

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Penn and Teller's How to Play with Your Food

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“If every trace of any single religion were wiped out and nothing were passed on, it would never be created exactly that way again. There might be some other nonsense in its place, but not that exact nonsense. If all of science were wiped out, it would still be true and someone would find a way to figure it all out again.” — 92 people liked it

“You don’t have to be brave or a saint, a martyr, or even very smart to be an atheist. All you have to be able to say is “I don’t know”.” — 22 people liked it

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