Me of Little Faith (2008)

interesting and funny, although it dwindles by the end. ( )

Readers already familiar with Black as a loud-mouthed regular on The Daily Show will be delighted to find he rants just as well on the page as he does in person. Here, he homes in on religion, which he thinks is taken too seriously and therefore is open to ridicule. Black may not care a whit about propriety, but he's serious about waxing comedic about every religion-related angle he can dig up. No one is safe from his dark humor—the Catholic Church, Mormons, people who commit suicide in the name of faith, Jews, and of course Jesus and God are popular topics. Black's essays consistently deliver zingers, like his speculation in The Rapture about how, If Jesus returns to earth... he better have one hell of a website, since he'd have to compete with all the drug-addled young starlets—not to mention online porn. For those not easily offended, who can stomach the F-word every other paragraph or so, Black's irreverence is laugh-out-loud funny. The chapters are short, some extremely so, and perfect for a good laugh—before bedtime prayers, of course. Black’s humor is much more in evidence in this book than his "Is Nothing Sacred?". While his discourse of religion might not provoke much thought, his development and his beliefs are interesting to follow. Not the best showcase for his humor but an entertaining read. ( )

Angry comedian Lewis Black shares his experiences with and opinions about religion. Despite the title, Lewis is sort of a believer, in that vague, non-denominational (although in this case Jewish-flavored) way that people usually mean when they say things like, "I'm spiritual, but I'm not religious." So he's actually less critical of and cynical about religious faith in general than I'd expected. (In fact, if you ask me he's entirely too uncritical on certain subjects, particularly psychics and astrology.) Still, readers should definitely heed the warning he offers in the preface about not reading on if religious mockery isn't something you have a sense of humor about. "I think [religion] takes itself too seriously," he says, "and anything that takes itself too seriously is open to ridicule." He does get pretty acerbic towards various aspects of organized religion, and he skewers a few particular (and in my opinion deserving) targets pretty good, including a brilliantly scathing and utterly inspired tirade against Pat Robertson and his televangelist ilk.

That one rather awe-inspiring chapter aside, the book as a whole is reasonably amusing -- I chuckled out loud several times -- but I admit that I found it mildly disappointing. It's not exactly full of insights, comedic or otherwise, and it turns out that Black's rants are generally much funnier on video than in print. ( )

If you thought you were going to get the usual frothing Lewis Black, this book may disappoint. He gets in a few hits on the low-hanging fruit of the religious community, that is, televangelists, Mormons, and the like, but is surprisingly gentle with most other spiritual topics. In fact, as the book wears on, he actually starts to get, uh, preachy, on some pretty shaky viewpoints. Sure, Lewis, comedy IS just like religion...I guess?

I didn't bother reading most of the fifty pages of his old play that he threw in to give the book a little more heft, either. ( )

This was my subway commuting book for a couple of weeks - short chapters or collections of short stories work well for that. Black is at his best when skewering the idiocies of organized religion and televangelists. His rage at hypocrisy is palpable. He warns people in his preface that if they are religious and can't laugh about their religion they SHOULD NOT READ THE GD (expletive deleted) BOOK. EVER. And he's right. Profoundly religious people will find this book offensive.

However, the title is Me of Little Faith not Me of No Faith, so militant atheists should also beware. Black explores his positive experiences with a psychic and his sincere belief that his beloved dead brother looks out for him and his career. Astrology comes in for a little more lightheartedness, but is treated more seriously than it deserves. Black engages is some bogus math to "prove" the fact that his wife being born on one of two days in July is "more than dumb luck." "What are the odds?" he asks. "2 in 31," I answer or about "1 in 15," if you prefer. Not bad odds.

Altogether, I found this a mixed read. Several essays tickled my funny bone. Some, including the play "The Laundry Hour" (and I enjoy reading plays), I found lacking. ( )