YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING!

by Joe Wenke

received from NetGalley for honest review

about the book:

Why did God turn Lot's wife into a pillar of salt? Were there no other seasonings available? Why don't we know anything about the early years of Jesus? Did someone lose his baby book? Who reported the desert encounter between Jesus and Satan? Jesus-or Satan? And why does the Holy Spirit like to show up as a bird?

As irreverent as the musical The Book of Mormon, Joe Wenke's YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING: The Cultural Arsonist's Literal Reading of the Bible is an engaging, provocative and hilarious investigation into the bestselling book of all time. Written to "cause trouble" cultural arsonist Wenke, a keen observer of human gullibility, tempts readers to more closely examine the stories they think they know about the Bible.

Drawing upon the same pool of incendiary and cerebral humor as Bill Maher, Jon Stewart and the late, great George Carlin, YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING is a call for humor to restore our sanity and our ability to think for ourselves. Just as it was written in the Bible-or was it?

My Thoughts:

Funny, irreverent at times, boorish at others.   

This book is an irreverent look at parts of the Bible that fail to make sense to us.  I laughed at many of the stories while remember posing similar questions during Sunday School.

I may be somewhat of a prude, but I think some of the language used is unnecessary.  It takes away from what would otherwise be a humorous story.

Some stories are told with what I can only describe as anger.  I felt the author was angry and sarcastic.  I stopped reading when I got to this point, put the book down and resumed reading at a later time.  

Overall, I was able to chuckle at times, roll my eyes at others, and cringe throughout this book.

 P.S.  I have a new rating system.  I am found of saying "It's not my cup of tea."  Therefore, I've decided to rate books with teacups :)