Nothing's Sacred

By Lewis Black

The abbreviated story of Lewis Black's life, with numerous shots at religion, school, economics, Americans, and, of course, politics and politicians. Lewis grew up in the suburbs, a Jewish kid in a not very religious family. A child of the 60s and an active participant in the counterculture movement, Lewis did all the typical things kids of that era were supposed to do, drugs, sex (not so much) and rock and roll. Still, he managed not only to graduate college but to go on to earn a Masters in drama from Yale.
Lewis has a real nose for bullshit and he loves bringing it to our attention and good for him. We need people like Lewis to point out the absurdities. Talking about gay marriage, here is his take on why the Old Testament states that man must marry woman:

Now, to be fair, there's a good reason why the Old Testament states that man must marry woman. It's because at that time, the Jewish people weren't civilized, and the Bible was, in large part, written for that very reason—to civilize people. So the leaders were forced to come up with a God who was such a prick he could keep those peckerheads in line. And I don't want to get any mail about this, but we were, as a breed, only ten hairs away from being baboons back then. So they came up with this really scary God and a list of rules, and they told everybody that God was there to enforce those rules.
They needed to do this because as the Jews were wandering around willy-nilly in the desert, one of them no doubt led a camel up to a rabbi and said, "I met her at an oasis and it's been wonderful. She looked at me in a way that I've always wanted to be looked at. We're in love and, well, Rabbi, we want to be married."
And the rabbi said, "Perhaps you didn't notice, but she's a fucking camel." Then he went back to the other rabbis and informed them, "Son of a bitch, we have to come up with another rule! Today a guy came back with a camel and yesterday one of them showed up with a snapping turtle. God knows what's going to happen tomorrow. We've got to get these people on track." Hence, the man-woman marriage rule in the Bible.

This is a funny, profane, vulgar book and I really enjoyed reading it. It is not for the easily offended though.

Me of Little Faith

By Lewis Black

I am not real familiar with the work of comedian Lewis Black. The only times I have seen him is when he appears on the late night talk shows. I remember from those times that he is one of those angry, acerbic comedians. Since I enjoy reading funny books, when I saw his new book I decided to check it out.
In this book, Black comments on religion and faith, telling of his own spiritual experiences, including transcendental moments he felt when taking drugs. He also talks about his experiences with a psychic whom he feels has real ability. It was kind of surprising that a man that pretty much dismisses religion gives such credence to drug experiences and psychics. Whatever floats your boat, I guess.
Anyway, I was hoping for a laugh out loud funny book, but this wasn't it. Sometimes his musings were mildly humorous. Towards the end of the book is a play he wrote and performed in, The Laundry Hour, which I found boring and a chore to wade through. About the only thing in the book that I thought was really funny was "An Airline Traveler's Prayer," in which a frustrated Lewis declares that, "I want to tear off my clothes and run on all fours onto the tarmac and bark at the planes like a dog." Now that was funny.
For people who enjoy reading religious ponderings, this book would probably be a good read. But for me, I just wanted a good laugh which I mostly didn't find in Me of Little Faith.

Review from Publishers Weekly.

New Words
Granfalloon: A term coined by Kurt Vonnegut, it is a group of two or more people who imagine or are manipulated to believe they share a connection based on some circumstance of little or no real significance. "But more than that, it was when I read Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle that I really understood my feelings about Israel. It's there I read about granfalloons and other false groupings. I felt like a Jew, I was a Jew, but I was not, by any stretch of the imagination, an Israeli."
Kol Nidre: the holiest Jewish prayer which is recited several times on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. "The spooky strains of the Kol Nidre, the sense of foreboding that God was getting out his pen to write my name in the Book of Death, and just sitting with all those people."