God: The Biography - Hardcover

Waugh, Alexander

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0747270163 ISBN 13: 9780747270164

Publisher: Headline Review, 2002

Synopsis

Where does God come from? Has he always existed? What kind of food does He eat? The answers to all these questions, small and large, are in the Bible, or have been written about by those who know Him best - saints, popes and visionaries. In this fascinating account of God's life, Alexander Waugh, author of TIME, tackles the biggest subject of them all in his uniquely refreshing and enthusiastic style. So many stories about God have been forgotten, or edged out of the familiar tales that we have lost our understanding of Him and how he has been viewed by mankind throughout the ages. Now we can once again find out more about who it is that we pray to.

About this title

Review:

Alexander Waugh, the grandson of Evelyn Waugh and son of Auberon, has produced a book about God which manages to be both shallow and erudite at the same time. In other words, Waugh has done his homework and learned a lot about God in the various religions, but he maintains a salacious and flippant tone throughout which is neither amusing nor thought provoking. On the good side, the book is packed full of interesting facts about God and religion. The structure of the book is more scattergram than logical outline, but the information is tersely presented in short readable chunks so the reader can dip into the book and read as much or as little as he wants. There's also a good index and bibliography for serious God hunters.

While this is an interesting grab bag overview of the Deity, it's too bad that Waugh has to maintain his insouciant public-schoolboy style throughout. It's a pity he couldn't manage just a little bit of personal wonder or reverence for his subject. Readers who would prefer something with a rather broader vision might try Professor Keith Ward's God--a guide for the perplexed. --Dwight Longenecker

Review:

'...peculiar and delightful...I loved it. It was the first book about religion to make me snigger...Waugh's light-hearted approach is deceptive: some formidable research has gone into this book.'

Douglas Kennedy

(Mail on Sunday)

Peculiar and delightful...I loved it...Waugh's light-hearted approach is deceptive: some formidable research has gone into this book (Douglas Kennedy, Mail on Sunday)

eclectic...ideal bedside reading (The Tablet)

Immensely entertaining...it is funny and whimsical...but it is also clever and perceptive (A C Grayling, Literary Review)

A deeply felt and genuine exploration... Waugh's biography is a search for love - and strangely, the god he leaves us with however impossible, remains attractive. (Jeanette Winterson, The Times)

very funny indeed (Daily Telegraph)

well-researched and authoritative...provides a fascinating collection of mystical and historical titbits (Daily Mail)

'...combines philosophical wrangling with the delightfully insolent tone of 1066 AND ALL THAT...while scholarly and illuminating this book is full of things that made me laugh...so enjoy! (Financial Times)

Ten out of ten for the idea, the approach, the style, the writing - above all, the writing - and the supreme audacity of it all... Waugh writes like an impious angel; wittily and rivetingly (Michael Brown, Yorkshire Post)

erudite, scholarly, irreverent and impeccably researched'

'Those of a worshipful disposition are advised to steer clear of this daringly brilliant and witty treatise as it may so enrage them that they will want to volunteer for the Spanish Inquisition. Meanwhile, anyone of an agnostic outlook is likely to be pushed to full-blown atheism.

(George Osgerby, The Tribune)

About this edition

• Publisher: Headline Review
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0747270163
• ISBN 13: 9780747270164
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352