The Book of Vices

by Robert J. Hutchinson (Editor)

A delightful parody of The Book of Virtues frolics through the seven deadly sins with humorous, surprising passages from the most entertaining classics of the ages, from Aphra Benn's "The Willing Mistress" to Virgil's "The Salad."

Genres: Fiction, Humor, Classics

280 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Robert J. Hutchinson is the author of What Really Happened: The Death of Hitler (Regnery History, August 2020), which settles the question once and for all about whether Hitler escaped to live in Argentina, and What Really Happened: The Lincoln Assassination (Regnery History, April 2020), a step-by-step recreation of the final week of Abraham Lincoln's life. Hutchinson is also the author of The Dawn of Christianity, (Thomas Nelson, 2017), a journalistic retelling of the last week of Jesus’ life and the twenty years that followed; Searching for Jesus: New Discoveries in the Quest for Jesus of Nazareth (Thomas Nelson, 2015), a pioneering work that challenges older scholarly ideas about who Jesus was and what he was trying to achieve; The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Bible (Regnery, 2008) which argues that the ideas embedded in the ancient Biblical texts gave rise to such developments as modern science, the recognition of universal human rights and constitutional government; When in Rome: A Journal of Life In Vatican City (Doubleday, 1998) which recounts the adventures of his family when they lived in Rome and Hutchinson researched the inner workings of the Vatican; and The Book of Vices: A Collection of Classic Immoral Tales (Putnam, 1996) which is a light-hearted attempt to poke fun at William Bennett's The Book of Virtues and is full of excerpts from ribald classics.

Hutchinson has been a professional writer and author his entire adult life, working both for Christian publications, such as Christianity Today and U.S. Catholic, and for secular magazines and newspapers. He was once the managing editor of Hawaii Magazine and the Hawaii Bureau Chief for The Hollywood Reporter. Hutchinson attended Catholic schools, studied philosophy and French as an undergraduate, moved to Israel to learn Hebrew, and earned a graduate degree in New Testament studies in 2004. He is currently pursuing graduate studies in philosophy at the University of Innsbruck, Austria.

Reviews

[Elizabeth Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The vices help make virtues just as poisons help make medicines. Diluted and blended correctly, they are quite useful against the evils of life." Francois de La Rochefocauld

This is the philosophies of this funny, interesting book, which only promotes vices in a tongue-in-cheek way.

Self-righteousness was never considered one of the seven deadly sins, but it's the only character vice not covered in this book. Instead there are fascinating little nips from books by authors like Seneca, Ben Jonson, Boccaccio, Benjamin Franklin ("On Selecting A Mistress"), Doyle, Austen, Horace...I've never felt so literate than after finishing this!

SOAPBOX: I've come to the opinion that instead of weak, watery, modern vices (people who have had so much dope, sex, alcohol, fights etc., that they can't actually FEEL pleasure or relief anymore, yet are damned to spend each day doing the same old things out of habit), that the Old School, Back-In-The-Day type of person had vigorous, zesty vices. You young whippersnappers don't know how to do vice anymore! (*Puts soapbox away*)

Wowza! Some of the entries in here are a little rowdy for me, especially in the "Lust" section, but there's good fun to be had here. Since it's a bunch of small entries, it's easy to pick up and put down during the day.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

When introducing us to classic and Classical literature, I think our teachers skipped a few parts.

[Elly Zupko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great little collection!

[Daniel Martinez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good book. . different famous authors throughout history and their stories on vices