Somah

The Final Testament of the Holy Bible by James Frey (Kindle Edition)

Masturbatory, Preachy and Trite
My Amazon.com Review

I couldn't wait for this book to come out, considering that Frey's "Bright Shiny Morning" is one of my very few all-time favorite books. I ordered both the $50 leather-bound book and the $10 Kindle edition because I wanted to have the story with me wherever I went; to read it whenever I wanted; to savor it whenever I needed.

Well, it didn't quite pan out that way.

My anticipation was met with a colossal disappointment at the third-rate writing (absolutely uncharacteristic of Frey's, by the way,) embarrassingly indulgent themes, underdeveloped characters (another very odd thing coming from Frey) and overtly preachy agenda. I thought the idea behind the book was brilliant (i.e. love conquers all and organized religion is the source of all evil) but the execution was painfully lacking.

The story is about Ben Zion Avrohom, whom Frey goes to explain, is "also known as Ben Jones, also known as the Prophet, also known as the Son, also known as the Messiah, also known as the Lord God." 

Throughout the book, "Ben Jones" reminded me a lot of Jim Jones of Jonestown. It was very disturbing. But I digress...

The book is divided into 16 small chapters, each of which is the story of Ben told from the perspective of a distinct character that meets Ben and is changed by him. There are 12 characters, analogues to the 12 apostles in the Bible, and one of them narrates three chapters.

Amongst the colorful (yet sadly austere and underdeveloped,) narrating characters are a Dominican prostitute, a construction supervisor, an ER surgeon, Ben's sister, Ben's mother, a born-again homosexual Christian evangelical, a rabbi, a derelict, an FBI agent, an evangelical pastor, a priest, an obese white woman from upstate NY, and a Black Public Defender. There is also a recurring character that doesn't narrate and that is Ben's brother, Jacob.

Ben himself didn't have a chapter, although I'm sure there was plenty of writing materials in NYC, where he hung out.

Anyway ...

Through the eyes of this eclectic group of people we get to learn what Ben thinks of government, religion, money, the Gods, Jesus, race, sex, homosexuality, any sexuality, abortion, death, Heaven, Hell, guns, drugs, and of course, the Holy Bible and the Words of God.

It sounds all great in theory, but the way it was written was, in a way, insulting. Not in a blasphemous sort of way, but in an intellectual sort of way. Maybe Frey wanted to book to be so banal to poke fun at the Holy Bible? I'll never know. All I know is it didn't work for me.

The long and short of it is this: God wants us to live and act on all our desires and needs and love and fuck and engage in orgies because in the end ... LOVE IS RELIGION.

I think Frey should have focused more on his writing and his characters rather than the design of the book, which by the way is beautiful. If you're a James Frey fan, you will either love this book or really hate it. If you don't know who James Frey is or haven't read any of his books, run for your life. Read "Bright Shiny Morning" instead.

If you decide to get the book, get the eBook edition first just to make sure you like it. If you love it, buy the leather-bound, Bible look-alike edition. Great for collectors.

I'll give the book this, though. It had the most appropriate title. Because very much like the Bible (old and new,) The Koran and other "Holy" books, it is a waste of paper and ink and a crime against the environment.

I guess "skip it" would be my recommendation.

'Pedophile's Guide' stirs Amazon controversy

Do you think this is a free speech issue?

A self-published book that has made its way to Amazon's cyber-shelves is causing some to call for its removal; others have gone even further and are calling for a boycott of the online retailer.

The book, "The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure: A Child-Lover's Code of Conduct" by Phillip R. Greaves II, is available as an ebook in the Kindle store. The self-published book is described, with misspellings, by the author in the product description on the site:

This is my attempt to make pedophile situations safer for those juveniles that find themselves involved in them, by establishing certian rules for these adults to follow. I hope to achieve this by appealing to the better nature of pedosexuals, with hope that their doing so will result in less hatred and perhaps liter sentences should they ever be caught.

On Twitter, the best way for lots of people to raise their collective voices quickly, users have called for Amazon to remove the book. Author and blogger Kristen Welch tweeted, "Dear Lord, @amazon Do you really want the force (a.k.a MOM BLOGGERS) boycotting you? Remove this book," linking to the book's page. Others went ahead and called for a boycott; a typical post came from John Sutton in the U.K., who wrote, "Not buying anything from Amazon until this appalling title is removed," linking to the book's Amazon page and attributing the idea to "lots of people." 

via latimesblogs.latimes.com

Angel Time by Anne Rice

An Engrossing Medieval Story with Modern Resonance
My review on Amazon

Toby O'Dare is an assassin by choice. After suffering a harrowing ordeal in his birth city of New Orleans, he took off to New York where he got to learn about his insatiable appetite for ending lives. Such appetite drew attention from a man whom Toby grew to call, The Right Man, who fed Toby's hunger for murder and loved him all in the same measure.

Toby is twenty-eight years old and was in the process of becoming a Dominican priest back in New Orleans. Before his macabre career took off, he was an exemplary child to a drunkard of a mother, whom he took care of restlessly, and a caring older brother to his siblings, whom he loved endlessly. In his senior year at Jesuit High, Toby fell in love with Liona--a Jewish girl that attended a nearby prep school. They were deeply in love; a love that Toby managed to sabotage.

Everything changed when left to New York.

Though he has become an impressive and adroit murderer, Toby never really gave up praying. And one night, at a moment of great despair, he prayed for an Angel of God to help and guide him.

Low and behold, an angel called Malchiah (interestingly similar to the Arabic word for angels malaika) descends and offers Toby an opportunity to redeem himself even after all the deaths he's caused. Broken and eager for redemption, Toby agrees to do whatever Malchiah asks of him and so the Malchiah takes him back in time to 13th century England.

Toby's mission is to use his intelligence and skills to help the Jewry of Norwich, England, survive an impending catastrophe that is upon them. He was sent back in time as a Dominican priest or frair (from the French word frère meaning brother) to resolve a volatile situation in which the Christians of Norwich accuse a Jewish family of murdering their own daughter after her alleged conversion to Christianity. What follows is an eye-opening narrative of the state of the Jewry in Europe and religious relations in the Medieval times.

What I found fascinating about this book was Toby himself. His character was very well developed with all its complexity and conflicts. The other fascinating thing was the history of the Jewry in 13th century England and the societal dynamics of that time.

Although not her best, Angel Time is still a good historical read. It's a little preachy and contrived at times, but that didn't bother me that much. I was completely taken by the Christian and Jewish relations at that time and how much they were governed by rigid religious beliefs, myths and hate. Sounds familiar?

The historical narrative made the book for me and for that alone I recommend it.

A Christian on the run in Egypt -- latimes.com

More disturbing news out of Egypt. Another great example of what a crock religion is. Ladies and gentlemen, Religion is the biggest Don of them all and his minions and sycophants work tirelessly to preserve that status.

Religion: "What the fuck you mean you want out?! There ain't no out here baby. You're mine till you ain't breathing no more."

Poor Bastard: "Yeah, but I kinda wanna follow the other guy. I know you don't get along, but he and I just jive better. He's totally more laid back and just nicer. No offense, but--"

Religion: "Listen to me motherfucker and listen good. You get out, I'll take you out. I don't give a fuck about what you want. Life ain't a fucking democracy. You're here to follow me, no questions asked."

Poor Bastard: "Whatever. You ain't the boss of me. I'll do what I want."

Religion: "Listen, Sally. If you don't cut it out I'll personally snap your neck like a biscotti with my fingers. Better yet, I'll send thousands of my followers after your sorry ass until you can't live 'round here no more. Your family, your friends, that skank wife of yours. All dead. Don't mess with me son. You're mine forever. Capice?"

A Christian on the run in Egypt

Maher El Gohary is something his Muslim compatriots can't fathom: a convert to Christianity. He and his daughter live like fugitives, moving frequently to avoid those who'd like to see him dead.

 

 

 

Christians and Muslims clashed in 2005 at St. George's Church in Alexandria, Egypt, where Muslims demanded an apology for a play they said was offensive to Islam. (Alexandria Tomas / EPA / October 22, 2005)

 

via www.latimes.com