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Gods Behaving Badly (2007)

by Marie Phillips

Other authors: See the other authors section.

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
2,2601896,867 (3.44)245
Fantasy. Fiction. Mythology. Humor (Fiction.) HTML:Being immortal is not all it once was. Yes, the twelve Greek gods of Olympus are alive and well in the twenty-first century, but they are crammed together in a London town houseā??and are none too happy about it. Even more disturbing, their powers are waning.

For Artemis (goddess of hunting, professional dog walker), Aphrodite (goddess of beauty, telephone sex operator), and Apollo (god of the sun, TV psychic), thereā??s no way outā??until a meek cleaner, Alice, and her would-be boyfriend, Neil, turn their world literally upside down. When what begins as a minor squabble between Aphrodite and Apollo escalates into an epic battle of wills, Alice and Neil are caught in the cross fire, and they must fear not only for their own lives, but for the survival of humankind. Nothing less than a true act of heroism is neededā??but can these two decidedly ordinary people replicate the feats of the mythical heroes and save the world?

GODS BEHAVING BADLY is that rare thing: a charming, funny, utterly original first novel that satisfies the head an
… (more)
  1. 32
    The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (Betinna)
  2. 00
    Summon the Keeper by Tanya Huff (infiniteletters)
    infiniteletters: One section of Summon the Keeper matches Gods Behaving Badly.
  3. 00
    Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings by Christopher Moore (Staramber)
    Staramber: A bit more surreal but the same pace and sense of the absurd.
  4. 00
    Good Omens by Terry Pratchett (Betinna)
  5. 00
    The Infinities by John Banville (GCPLreader)
    GCPLreader: Hermes and Zeus intervene in this more intellectual novel
  6. 00
    Deus Ex Machina: a Divine Comedy by Maria Aragon (Anonymous user)
  7. 00
    Not the End of the World by Kate Atkinson (Ciruelo)
  8. 12
    American Gods {original} by Neil Gaiman (andejons)
    andejons: Both are about ancient gods trying to make do in the modern world, living quite undignified lives and longing for something better. Phillip's book is more lighthearted, but also more coherent.
  9. 01
    The Sugar Frosted Nutsack by Mark Leyner (TomWaitsTables)
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» See also 245 mentions

English (184)  Spanish (1)  Swedish (1)  Dutch (1)  Danish (1)  French (1)  All languages (189)
Showing 1-5 of 184 (next | show all)
A moderately entertaining riff on the Orpheus myth, set in modern London. [I listened to the audio version. At first, I was put off by the reader's overly slow take on Apollo's voice, and feared that all the male voices would be similarly bad. But apart from that one, she handled the voices well.:] ( )
  Treebeard_404 | Jan 23, 2024 |
In this -- what, urban fantasy? (I suppose it could qualify as that -- supernatural beings roaming among us, doing supernatural things) members of the Greek pantheon live in a decrepit townhouse in London and while away the years as eternity drags on. They do humany things (host television shows, act as sex workers) and goddy things (create wars, escort souls to the underworld), and sometimes those things get a bit tangled up, such as when Aphrodite gets pissed off at Apollo and asks Eros to make him fall in love with a random mortal. Alice, the hapless girl, ends up being the catalyst for both the end of the world and the resurgence of the gods. This is a clever narrative, using a modern plotline and setting to tell a fairly classic Greek epic story, and having fun doing it, while also reminding us that all stories are pretty much drawn from the same set of tropes after all, aren't they. ( )
  karenchase | Jun 14, 2023 |

Very creative book. What if the Greek gods lived in modern times? Think it was more fun to imagine Artemis the dog walker, Aphrodite the pone sex operator, And Apollo a Z-list celebrity more than the story itself. ( )
  wellington299 | Feb 19, 2022 |
I was anticipating great fun with this book, and it did not disappoint. I'll admit all the parts with Aphrodite were almost too raunchy for me at the beginning, but I'm glad I kept reading.

What an entertaining premise! The Greek gods of Olympus are all living together in a rundown, cramped, poorly maintained flat in London, and they are none too happy about it. Although they are still immortal, their powers have weakened considerably, and they find themselves caught up in petty squabbles. When Aphrodite and Apollo have an argument that escalates, it catches two mortals in the middle of it: Alice, a sweet but mousy cleaner, and her would-be boyfriend Neil, a sweet but mousy engineer.

When Alice and Neil find themselves in a position to help save humankind, they discover that power and influence have nothing to do with being immortal and everything to do with being flawed humans. ( )
  niaomiya | Jan 13, 2022 |
Quirky novel about Greek and Roman gods sharing a house in modern London. Weird concept but somehow the humour works. ( )
  ElizabethCromb | Dec 6, 2021 |
Showing 1-5 of 184 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (9 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Marie Phillipsprimary authorall editionscalculated
Bennett, NnekaCover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Schuurman, TitiaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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For MY PARENTS
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One morning, when Artemis was out walking the dogs, she saw a tree where no tree should be.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Fantasy. Fiction. Mythology. Humor (Fiction.) HTML:Being immortal is not all it once was. Yes, the twelve Greek gods of Olympus are alive and well in the twenty-first century, but they are crammed together in a London town houseā??and are none too happy about it. Even more disturbing, their powers are waning.

For Artemis (goddess of hunting, professional dog walker), Aphrodite (goddess of beauty, telephone sex operator), and Apollo (god of the sun, TV psychic), thereā??s no way outā??until a meek cleaner, Alice, and her would-be boyfriend, Neil, turn their world literally upside down. When what begins as a minor squabble between Aphrodite and Apollo escalates into an epic battle of wills, Alice and Neil are caught in the cross fire, and they must fear not only for their own lives, but for the survival of humankind. Nothing less than a true act of heroism is neededā??but can these two decidedly ordinary people replicate the feats of the mythical heroes and save the world?

GODS BEHAVING BADLY is that rare thing: a charming, funny, utterly original first novel that satisfies the head an

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Hachette Book Group

3 editions of this book were published by Hachette Book Group.

Editions: 0316067628, 1600240720, 0316067636

 

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