Jack Huberman

A very competent collection of the finest atheistic, agnostic and free-thinking quotes. Huberman's commentaries throughout the book are also rather amusing, as are many of his brief biographical summaries (though I was somewhat distressed to learn that Anonymous died in 2006). It is particularly interesting to learn just how many famous atheists/agnostics had a devout religious upbringing or background...

However, The Quotable Atheist lacks an overall argument; like many books on this show more subject, it does not really know whether it wants to attack the silly idea of the existence of a 'God' or rail against the corruptions and hypocrisies of man-made religion. Consequently, it does both with mixed results. The alphabetical order of the book also contributes to this lack of focus - the reader is, for example, exposed to quotes from Liam Gallagher in between those of the much more attention-worthy Galileo and Gandhi. Furthermore, there is the usual criticism one can lob at atheist literature that it is, if you'll excuse the inappropriateness of the phrase, preaching to the choir. Believers aren't going to be changed by this book; rather, it is a light read for people who already find the ideas contained within to be agreeable.

Do I really believe this book will convert believers and turn them from the path of self-righteousness to the path of righteousness? Yes. A few. Three, I estimate. Two for sure." (pg. vi)." show less

If you want ammunition to answer the religious zealots and their less than enlightened ilk, look no further. The subtitle of this book is pretty accurate as it will give skeptics, non-believers, etc. plenty to think about and to toss back at those who like to cite verse of whatever their sacred text might be. However, do not think that this is a book of just non-believer quotes. The book does feature quotes by popes, preachers, ministers and other assorted religious leaders as well. The show more result is that not only do you get a quotations book, but you get a sense of arguments and conversations and debates over time. You also get some pretty interesting quotes from people you might not expect. I personally found a quote by Anton LeVay to be particularly interesting and relevant to our time. You may end up finding something relevant to your experience as well.

Besides the quotes, another strength of the book are the notes from the editor about each personality. There are a lot of people quoted here that I had never heard of before. That is not an obstacle because Mr. Huberman does give pretty good notes on each person. In addition, he often injects a bit of humor into the biographical notes. Sometimes, those little jokes are more entertaining than the quotes. I think non-believers, atheists, agnostics, and other free thinkers and open-minded people will like this book, and they may want to keep a copy handy. As for the religious, if they happen to be of the liberal stripe, they might appreciate it. The close-minded right wingers probably should skip it. OK, they probably should be reading it to expand their mind, but it is know that they would not like anything that could make them think. show less

This is another of the many books that I have read attacking the Bush Administration. Sometimes I wonder that now Bush is history if all of the Bush bashers have been left wondering what to do with their time (a lot of them are now attacking the American system of government as it stands since Obama has not brought about the change that he promised he would in 2008). Granted, there is a lot of things that the Bush administration did that I did not agree with (such as invading Iraq) but with show more the number of books that hit the shelves attacking his administration is simply mindboggling. This particular book I picked up in a newsagent in Sydney for less than $5.00, and that was when Bush was still in power. Simply goes to show that supply on the subject easily outstripped demand.
Was there anything in this book that actually said anything new? No, not really. There is the typical attack on the birth control industry (a favourite of the Bush Bashers considering the fundamentalist stance that Bush took upon entering office) and corporate war profiteering (which is nothing new to the Bush administration, though the actions of Halliburton in Iraq simply cannot be justified).
Is it a book that I would recommend people read? Probably not because there are much better books out there that attempt to bring out the problems of capitalism (and since the two companies that control 90% of the world's water are both French companies, this is not something that is limited to the United States). Should we be holding our leaders accountable? Most definitely! Would a similar book be able to be published in Iran (or Russia)? Definitely not, well, okay, a book attacking American capitalism would be readily available, but a book attacking the Iranian president, or even the supreme religious council would most likely be taken from the shelves and burnt along with the author.
Despite all of the problems that the Bush Administration created (including the Global Financial Crisis) we should still remember that we live in a democracy and we can walk down main street waving anti-government placards (though don't try doing it in your local shopping centre, that is private property - democracy doesn't apply there). Well, maybe describing our system as a Democracy is stretching it a bit far, but since we do have rights and we do have freedoms, going as far as describing it as a plutocracy is stretching it a bit as well (though it does appear that our leaders do want to take us this way – a way that America is currently hurtling at incredible speeds). show less

Another entry in the Worst President Ever genre, and this one ranks about middling - not bad, not especially remarkable.