Good Book

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

By: David Plotz

Narrated by: David Plotz

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)

A Good Listen

This is a good listen, good for sleepytime listening. It is a shame though that the author read the greatest Book, and could only come up with a paycheck.

Thoroughly Entertaining!

What did you love best about Good Book?

This book is downright funny. In the very beginning, the author's lisp annoyed me, but as I kept listening, it actually became part of the humor; his voice and tone are perfect for this content. I'm so glad he read it himself or much of the humor might have been lost. If you think you would enjoy a humorous interpretation of the bible, then I can't see not loving this book. Being Jewish, he only covers the Old Testament, although he has Christian schooling under his belt too, and I can only cross my fingers that he writes another one on the New Testament because I would buy it in a heartbeat! I learned a lot about more about certain bible stories when I *thought* I already knew them, so the education was an added bonus to the humor. Many laugh out loud moments. If you're looking for a bigger picture, like does he believe the bible, is he mocking the bible, etc., I would not look so deeply at it. It's simply a humorous retelling of the Old Testament that I think believers and non-believers alike would find very funny. I have listened to it several times now. I fall asleep listening to it, and if I lose my place by the next night it's no big deal, you can really pick up anywhere in this book as he moves from story to story. This was the best audible book I've bought in a long time.

Good Book new insights

Gives a great and fun full rump through the Hebrew Bible (Christian Old Testament), I told many of my friends that if they are the lest bit interested in what is really in the Bible to get this book as read it along with their reading of the Bible.

Hilarious commentary on the old testament

I have thoroughly enjoyed this book, it made a very succinct summary on the old testament, so for those who do not have time to read the entire old testament, this is a viable alternative. The moral repungnance of the old testament is a common knowledge, I found his commentary a bit superficial, this book should really be longer. It's still a good book, and I agree mostly with the author.

I liked it

I thought this was a great listen. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing. I think there may be a few things that slipped past the fact checkers but all in all it was a good book, very funny, very captivating. I would recommend this to anyone regardless of religious views.

I agree!

While browsing in a book store a couple years ago I came across a bible broken down into 365 daily installments, enabling you to read the bible in a year. One year later my thought was -- why would anyone want to worship the cruel, vicious God of the Old Testament. I thoroughly enjoyed David Plotz' book since it pretty much agreed with what I thought.

Clarifying, thought provoking, endearing...

To anyone (like me) who has read the bible cover to cover before, and thought - no, wait, I have to re-read that bit - or - "How come I never heard that verse in church before?" - this is a refreshing reminder that you are not alone. Opening up the bible and embracing its complexity, and providing a wonderful summary of it in all its difficulty and glory, this is a great non-Sunday School re-listening to all the old stories.

I've always felt that many of the Christians and churches I know cherry pick the bible before re-interpreting it and mixing it with pop-psychology to spout some way of living that doesn't always feel biblically authentic actually does the bible a great disservice. This book does not do that - it just lays open the stories and thrust of the words, along the way asking valid - if often irreverent - questions. Listening to the bible like this, you actually feel the Good Book evolve and grow up as it makes its way from Genesis to Chronicles.

I will listen to this again.

A Good Book

The perfect book if you are: a) Biblically illiterate, b) want to know more about the roots of your religion, and c) are too lazy to actually read the Bible. Since I hit on all three of these criteria I definitely quality - I'm thinking of buying copies for my whole family. We could discuss Plotz's book at Passover. Actually, I'm more convinced then ever that I need to sit down with the Bible as a route into my heritage. I got so much out of Good Book because I know so little about the Good Book. Stunningly little. Plotz is funny, smart, irreverent, generous, and argumentative.....all the things that my people pride ourselves on. This book came out of "Blogging the Bible on Slate" - perhaps one of the few instances of any redeeming qualities for blogging.

Well done

A good read for those who take the bible as a very old story, not meant for us in this century or the future. I read the old testament and I can not believe that people of our era take it seriously, I can not defend the book in any manner, as a long time athiest it hits home to why I am an athiest.

Lots of fun!

Wildly entertaining and humorous. The short sections also make this ideal for listening to off-and-on. The narrator (who is also the author) has just the right tone for the book. While most of the book is a romp through the Old Testament, the final discussion of how this reading affected the author's faith was insightful and thought provoking.