The God Delusion

By: Richard Dawkins

Narrated by: Richard Dawkins, Lalla Ward

Length: 13 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

Discover magazine recently called Richard Dawkins "Darwin's Rottweiler" for his fierce and effective defense of evolution. Prospect magazine voted him among the top three public intellectuals in the world (along with Umberto Eco and Noam Chomsky). Now Dawkins turns his considerable intellect on religion, denouncing its faulty logic and the suffering it causes.

He critiques God in all his forms, from the sex-obsessed tyrant of the Old Testament to the more benign (but still illogical) Celestial Watchmaker favored by some Enlightenment thinkers. He eviscerates the major arguments for religion and demonstrates the supreme improbability of a supreme being. He shows how religion fuels war, foments bigotry, and abuses children, buttressing his points with historical and contemporary evidence. In so doing, he makes a compelling case that belief in God is not just irrational, but potentially deadly.

Dawkins has fashioned an impassioned, rigorous rebuttal to religion, to be embraced by anyone who sputters at the inconsistencies and cruelties that riddle the Bible, bristles at the inanity of "intelligent design", or agonizes over fundamentalism in the Middle East or Middle America.

©2006 Richard Dawkins (P)2006 Tantor Media, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Richard Dawkins is the leading soothsayer of our time....The God Delusion continues his thought-provoking tradition." (J. Craig Venter, decoder of the human genome)
"The God Delusion is smart, compassionate, and true....If this book doesn't change the world, we're all screwed." (Penn & Teller)
"The world needs...passionate rationalists....Richard Dawkins so stands out through the cutting intelligence of The God Delusion." (James D. Watson, co-discoverer of DNA, author of The Double Helix)

A fine book and reading

This is a thoughtful book. It is one of those books in which the author’s reading contributes to the experience.

I enjoy Dr. Dawkins very much

His articulation of the struggle of a "born" Christian is so accurate to my life.

Dawkins' Diagnosis is the First Step Towards Cure.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

My friends are mostly

What was one of the most memorable moments of The God Delusion?

This is the second audio book by Richard Dawkins I have listened to. For me, what I found most memorable is the style or format that the author and his wife Lalla Ward use as they relate the content of the subject matter. Being familiar with the latter from her work in television, I almost can see her face and laugh when I hear the wry smile in her voice. Mr. Dawkins is as subtle in his reading as in his writing. The notes he hits as he turns a phrase or shares a quote from a contemporary or an opposite number are as clear as the logic he is trying to convey. If I had to pick the most memorable moment, I feel sure it would be while he talked about his professor. Mr. Dawkins tells of a teacher who had mistakenly taught for 15 years that a metabolic process does not and never did occur in some type bacteria or something and upon being shown that it does indeed occur approached the guest speaker in front of his own students and thanked him for the enlightenment. The author shared that at that moment all the class applauded the admission and further revealed that even today he stills finds a lump in his throat whenever he recalls the day. The point being that it is not vital for me to remember what creature did or did not have a doo-fletchee, it is the moment of truth when the teacher returns to being the student and is grateful for the chance to gladly jettison wrong data for new, corrected data.

Which character – as performed by Richard Dawkins and Lalla Ward – was your favorite?

Though it is a work of non-fiction, and characters are not entirely an actual part of the presentation, both of the readers' beautiful British accents lend themselves to erudite discussions. Neither reader bothers with too much with vocal characterization but as I said a moment ago, you can hear the joy or gravitas of the subject, or share the pity and compassion they feel for those to whom they wish to illustrate that reason not superstition ought to be the guiding principle.
I just want to invite the couple for dinner!

If you could give The God Delusion a new subtitle, what would it be?

And now, for something completely logical.
or
It's no sin to be an Atheist
or
Losin' yer Delusion
or
Why God still hasn't bought you a Mercedes Benz

Any additional comments?

I have been on what I considered a

Comprehensive!

Includes every common argument, and many, many more for why humans hold on to religion, and why we shouldn't.

I can see why the local reverend hates it

When I was in High School in 2009 we had a reverend come in to talk to the whole student body, he spoke about how the bible was the best selling book of all time and the God Delusion was only the best selling book of that year. I read this because none of us had read it then and couldn't defend it. I see why he was so scared of it, this is an extremely good book and Richard Dawkins does an excellent job reading it. it is a book that really makes you think and really outlines what Atheism is all about and why it is so important. I think Charles Darwin would be proud of the way that Richard explains it and how it applies to so much in the world

The most well-rounded atheist "handbook"

I read this book when I was very young and considered it very useful in its clear articulation of the arguments against religion. Rereading it has been such a pleasure in that it feels like a new experience, as I didn't fully understand or appreciate many parts of it the first time.

Phenomenal book.

For religious people and for Atheists but mostly for religious. If this book cannot convince you I don't know what can.

great

loved it. I was fascinated with the lady that was molested at 7yr old and said it worse thinking her friend who died is going to Hell for eternity

A great listen

While it was easy to follow, it felt like two or three chapters. Given the expected topic, I suspect it can be difficult to expand on too many different subtopics.

Brilliant work

An incredible work by one of the most intelligent and bright minds in the scientific community today. If I wasn’t already an Atheist, I certainly would have become one by the end of this book. Full of interesting facts, artistic stories and brilliant observations about faith, life and humanity as whole, this book will change your life for the better and make you a little smarter in the process.