Good Book

Things I Learned When I Read Every Single Word of the Bible

By: David Plotz

Narrated by: David Plotz

Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

Like many Jews and Christians, David Plotz long assumed he knew what was in the Bible. He read parts of it as a child in Hebrew school, then attended a Christian high school where he studied the Old and New Testaments. Many of the highlights stuck with him - Adam and Eve, Cain versus Abel, Jacob versus Esau, Jonah versus whale, 40 days and nights, 10 plagues and commandments, 12 tribes and apostles, Red Sea walked under, Galilee walked on, bush into fire, rock into water, water into wine.

And, of course, he absorbed from all around him other bits of the Bible - from stories he heard in churches and synagogues, in movies and on television, from his parents and teachers. But it wasn't until he picked up a Bible at a cousin's bat mitzvah - and became engrossed and horrified by a lesser-known story in Genesis - that he couldn't put it down.

At a time when wars are fought over scriptural interpretation, when the influence of religion on American politics has never been greater, when many Americans still believe in the Bible's literal truth, it has never been more important to get to know the Bible. Good Book is what happens when a regular guy - an average Job - actually reads the book on which his religion, his culture, and his world are based.

Along the way, he grapples with the most profound theological questions: How many commandments do we actually need? Does God prefer obedience or good deeds? And the most unexpected ones: Why are so many women in the Bible prostitutes? Why does God love bald men so much? Is Samson really that stupid? Good Book is an irreverent, enthralling journey through the world's most important work of literature.

©2009 Harper (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Here are some of the bizarre, hilarious, and disturbing things in the Good Book (i.e., the Hebrew Bible)....Deeply religious people might be offended by the book, but for the rest of us there's a laugh on every page." (Booklist)
"Thanks to David Plotz's amazing book, I will never have to read The Bible. When can he do this for Madame Bovary?" (Andy Borowitz)
"Highly entertaining." (The Jerusalem Post)

Good Book is a very good book

This book was exponentially more powerful with David Plotz reading it aloud. I enjoyed it immensely.

Rollicking trip through the Old Testament

Plotz is smarter than his narrator, even though the author reads the work himself. That is to say, there's a bit of "aw shucks" here, which doesn't conceal Plotz's fundamental seriousness and intelligence.

I've read some other reviews of the written work; many Christians lambast it for not dealing with the New Testament. THAT is NOT Plotz's Bible. He's Jewish, & that's his point-of-view. Bemoaning the lack of NT treatment is absurd.

The author gives us a very thoughtful, amusing, humane reading of the OT. He gives time and attention to stories that we don't hear in Sunday School (nor in Hebrew School, apparently). Even when one might disagree with Plotz's take on some character or event, there's no doubt that he's reading with an open mind. (The only time I had any quarrel with him was when he bent over backwards to put a positive moral spin on some appalling event, though we seldom disagreed for long.)

Very poor offering

Plotz admits upfront that he is ignorant, but he does not do the courtesy of checking his stated facts with the result that the reader/listener cannot trust what he says. For instance, that in the Torah's Genesis Abraham did not have to kill his son, but 'in the Christian version of the Bible' he did! How absurd! Why, if that were so, then the 12 tribes of Israel would never have been born, and the story of the Bible would never have happened. Plotz is careless, foolish, and a waste of time. His editor couldn't be bothered to check the facts, either, apparently. Very irresponsible writing. The subject deserves better. In fact, any subject at all deserves better.

Cliff notes for the Old Testament

I appreciated books like this for summarizing long stories and presenting the key points because i'm a lazy reader. Hearing these summaries with some wit and personal insight is really entertaining. The authoris convinced the stories cannot be a literal log of early life with God actively at the helm but in the end accepts his Rabbi's explanation of the inclusion of absurd doctrine such as stoning our disobedient children to death, as included for the sake of discussion or debate. If that were so, which fundamental points were real and which were just to make you think, God or the translators left out the italics.
My suggestion to anyone listening to this book for a quick and clear synopsis of the old testament-enjoy this one, then read Conversations With God Book 1 and see what resonates in your heart as true. Be sure to listen to the very end so as not to miss the "greatest lists of the Bible' which are even more absurd and unbelievable when reviewed in sequence. What I see in the history presented in biblical verse is the same practice of doing and explaining away atrocious personal human behavior by claiming it was Gods will or for the honor of God. These are fables written in retrospect years after they occurred preserved and presented to shape future behavior based in fear, not love. Until someone of high moral authority makes it clear that this is self deception and wrong, man will continue to do despicable things to others in their Gods name and look back at it as if it were God's hands themselves at work.So, the only place I disagree with the author is in the explanation of why certain content is included in the bible and the basic nature of God if you don't believe these stories-The question isn't WHY was the God of the old testament so vengeful and violent, is is WAS the God of the old testament vengeful and evil-or were vengeful evil people attributing their unacceptable acts to their God? Again, continue your search for truth in the CWG series.

Good Background and thought provoking

I have never read the bible all the way through either. I was raised going to church every Sunday and most Wednesdays too. I really found it fascinating what was in the Bible vs. the digested stories I was taught.

I wish someone would look at the new testament the same way.

I would definitely recommend this book, unless you are easily offended by an analytical book at the bible.

Glad I got the audio version!

Although his voice took some getting used to, I think the humor comes through much better on audio than print.

Fun perspective on a serious book

I found the book to be both insightful and entertaining. The Mr. Plotz never assumes pretenses of being an authority, instead he gives a very honest reaction of a typical layperson encountering the Bible as it is. There may be some current references that will eventually date the book, but at the moment they help add modern perspective.

He also does a good job reading his own work, adding a bit more emotion or personality to it than would have been the case if it had been read by a professional voice talent.

Get it

This is exactly the kind of book I like; interesting, funny and thought-provoking. The author/narrator did a very good job. I knew a lot of Bible stories but I learned more about the Bible from this book than I ever knew before. It's one of those books where you find passages so interesting that you will tell other people about them. Highly recommend.

The publisher's summary is a joke

"At a time when wars are fought over scriptural interpretation" did Plotz write this in the 16th century during the protestant reformation?

"when the influence of religion on American politics has never been greater", a time when people whine about "separation of church and state" whenever religion comes up in the context of government?

This doesn't bode well for the quality of the book.

Painful

Very painful. I actually winced any number of times as the author made what he obviously thought were very clever observations. His observations were not clever. He seems to be using the Bible as straight man for his comedy act. Only he isn't funny. At all. OK, I did laugh at Brokeback Sinai but anything else that was humorous was from the Bible itself and I already have several of those around the house. He is very proud of his own reasoning skills and uses them freely to pass judgement on God. He seems to believe he is the first person to think of these things. Apparently the people that published this don't get out much either. I have heard these arguments many times.

The whole thing just made me tired.