Lewis Black

"Me of Little Faith" was a sarcastic and satirical walk down author Lewis Black's religious life experiences. I found it funny and touching at different times throughout. Though at times he hit my funny bone, particularly with his commentary on televangelists, Born-again Christians and the far religious right, at other times he provided a window onto what it meant to grow-up Jewish in America. I very much enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone who can appreciate satire directed at show more religion, even when it is making fun of their own. show less

This is a 4.5 star book. IF you listen to it on audio. And IF you forgo the dated, early-career, unsophisticated, 80s-centric, totally mis-placed play at the end. We all know that Black is 30% brilliant wit, 69% delivery and 1% twitching (you can almost see it, in the audio version).. There are great essays on a lot of topics, including cultists, tel-Evangelists, meditation, astrologers, Mormons, Amish etc. (but not Islamists - discretion is the better part of valor). The first couple show more chapters on Catholics and Jews, are priceless. show less

This book did not turn out as I expected: I expected a critique of religion and defense of humanism. I got that, but I also got a hodge-podge of stories about Black's spiritual experiences (not all of them drug-induced). He includes a ludicrous story in which he is flabbergasted that an astrology book pinpoints people who share his ex-wife's birthday as particularly incompatible with him. He falsely declares that the odds of this are enormous (no; they're only 1 in 30, since he was already show more looking at a book about HER SIGN, which only contains 30 birthdays!). Anyway, if you enjoy Black's screaming style, the book is mostly consistent with that. I could have done without the final CD, which seems to pad the book by tacking on a reproduction of a show he did some years back. show less

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 show more 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. show less