Beware of God: Stories

You needn’t be Jewish or have the thinnest veneer of understanding of Jewish orthodoxy to enjoy, nay, love “Beware of God.” Better than just hilariously entertaining, the stories are thought-provoking and relevant. To be sure, each launches from a patently absurd proposition. That is the point. Between laughs, the fearless and intellectually honest will find application to any dogma-driven group, religious or otherwise, within their own sphere. I have a keen appreciation for laying bare religious abuses via humor and sarcasm, thanks to my experience as the as-told-to-author of former Mormon polygamist wife Joanne Hanks’s snarky memoir, “It’s Not About the Sex My Ass.” I cannot recommend “Beware of God” highly enough. Your only disappointment will be that there isn’t more of it.

It's one thing to believe the message. It's another to worship the creed. Here's a collection of short, stark and funny parables about the futility short cuts to the bosom of Abraham.These are characters trapped in cul de sacs of legalistic fretting, and the god protrayed here in the one that would have to exist to make all this theological manuvering something other than absurd and pointless -- a smug CEO, frustrated with his penny-ante creations and bound by his own legalistic mind.It's a funny book, a ding on the vanities and motivations of hyperobservant followers everywhere. Not just Orthodox Jews.

This thin volume of stories is the funniest stuff I've read since discovering Woody Allen's writings more than 30 years ago. Knowing of my irreverent nature, a friend copied a story from it and gave it to me. I took it and read it while getting my car washed. People at the car wash must have thought I was crazy because, while reading, I was laughing out loud so hard. And it is not only funny; it can be profoundly thought-provoking. I want to buy a case of "Beware of God" and give it to my friends. I also want to drop off copies at the exits to all the Creationist theme parks. God knows they need a laugh.

I'm not sure if you have to be Jewish to enjoy this book,or if u have to have gone to Day School/Yeshivah. But I happen to fit that profile and that ,with my ambient level of irreverence has combined to give me SUCH an enjoyable reading experience that you will undoubtedly be reading or have already read of my being struck by lightning on the day before Yom Kippur.

Not as profound or funny as Foreskin's Lament.

I first heard Shalom Auslander on This American Life, and I enjoyed that segment enough to check out the book. I was not disappointed. The stories are unique and well-crafted, but mostly they are clever and thoughtful. They're funny and interesting, and that's what I was looking for.I enjoyed these stories, and I plan to seek out more Auslander in the future.

I know, I know, the first couple of stories feel very lazy towards the end, like the writing got tired of writing and tried to wrap everything up in a nice, neat, literary bow. But trust me, stick with Auslander! He is a master of his craft and the stories get much better as the book goes on. In addition, his novel Hope: A Tragedy is one of the most clever/funniest novels I have read in a long, long time. His Memoir...eh, not bad, but his fiction is amazing.

Shalom Auslander proves himself to be a first rate talent with this classic collection of short pieces. Like his shorter essays in the New York Times Magazine, this is clearly written in the voice of someone destined to be well known as both humorist and author in years to come.SO what is with the vanished reviews and ratings( many of them five stars) for Foreskin's Lament, his recently published memoir? Is there a hidden agenda of religious censorship going on at Amazon?Shame on you!

A mixed bag of hilarious, mildly amusing and just plain weird. But worth it for the good bits.