[.ca] The Prostitute In The Family Tree: Discovering Humor And ... (ISBN 0664256937)

An hors d'oeuvre -- not a entree -- but most tasty:
Books like this whet one's taste buds: one wants more and more. It's like having a healthy appetite for meat and potatoes and having to satisfy the inner man with finger food and water cress and cucumber sandwiches. The basic problem is that this Douglas Adams took his class notes and student submissions and bound them together without a decent editor. It is somewhat like reading a movie or play script instead of witnessing the performance. His exegesis on various Bible passages is positively brillant, yet he spoils it all with his stage directions ad nauseum. I would love to attend his classes and his homilies. Reading the directions for making these insights visible is boring. Yet I remain glad that I bought this tasty tidbit. I have already referred to it several times in "chatting" with literalists and those who use single Biblical verses to present their "dogmatic truths" from the Bible. \oCaveat: Although this Douglas Adams is a colleague of my wife, I have not met either D.A. {When I was a teenager, a certain haircut was referred to as a "D.A."}\c

An Excellent Exegetical Resource:
I wish Dr. Adams had lectured at the seminary I attended. This book is an outstanding addition to the professional preacher's library. It discusses scripture in down-to-earth-language, exegetes passages clearly without excess scholarly fuss, and provides an "alternative" view of some of our favorite biblical texts that is still firmly based in scripture and accurate in interpretation. If your congregation is not primarily consisted of PhD's, you will find this book a very helpful and amusing resource.

The subject matter is worth it:
As other reviewers have stated, the writing is not all there - the book doesn't seem like a book so much as notes the author would use for a class - but the subject matter is unique and worthwhile. Until there is some other book about tbhe subject (adams or otherwise) this is what we have to deal with, and I'd much sooner take it than leave it.

Not what I thought:
I thought that this would be a great book written by THE Douglas Adams, author of HHG2G and well known atheist. Wow, was I mistaken! Anyway, I've got nothing against this book. I just want to make sure other people don't make the same mistake I did.

Catchy Title - Slow Reading:
Have you ever seen a movie preview that was hilariously funny and promised lots of potential for developing that humor, only to find that all the best scenes were included in the preview? That's somewhat the feeling I had after finishing reading this book. Now, I would not go so far as to liken the book to Vogon poetry, but it could have done more with its topic and title! The book does have some interesting insights into the raw edges in Biblical stories. For clergy who are looking for innovative ways to bring the scriptures to life, this could be a very good resource. For individual study and/or entertainment, don't bother. Particularly disconcerting was the way in which the book simply ends - without any particular ending. It was almost as if Adams just ran out of ideas - or time - or pages committed by his publisher... Too bad: the title really did sound promising...