- Paperback: 368 pages
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster; REP edition (Nov 12 1997)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0684841258
- ISBN-13: 978-0684841250
- Product Dimensions: 21.5 x 14 x 2.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 318 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #7,798 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
Joseph Heller's powerful, wonderfully funny, deeply moving novel is the story of David -- yes, King David -- but as you've never seen him before. You already know David as the legendary warrior king of Israel, husband of Bathsheba, and father of Solomon; now meet David as he really was: the cocky Jewish kid, the plagiarized poet, and the Jewish father. Listen as David tells his own story, a story both relentlessly ancient and surprisingly modern, about growing up and growing old, about men and women, and about man and God. It is quintessential Heller.
Ingram
This zany, sexy version of the story of King David, told as a modern allegory of what it is like for a Jew to survive in a hostile world, is "original, sad, wildly funny, and filled with roaring. . . . Heller's King David, a splendid creation, is not so much a man for all seasons as man in all his seasons" (The New York Times Book Review).
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Abishag the Shunammite washes her hands, powders her arms, removes her robe, and approaches my bed to lie down on top of me. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Abishag the Shunammite washes her hands, powders her arms, removes her robe, and approaches my bed to lie down on top of me. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Old Testament Through Joseph Heller's Eyes,
By
This review is from: God Knows (Paperback)
Joseph Heller was one of two writers who ALWAYS made me laugh out loud (Mark Twain was the other one). This is a very funny look at the Old Testament, as told by King David. Only Heller could turn the wise King Solomon into Shlomo, the idiot. As David tells it, the famous story where Solomon suggested cutting the baby in half to find out who it's real mother was had been twisted around. According to David, Shlomo was an idiot and actually wanted to cut the baby in half!Some fundamentalist people will be offended by this book, but if God has a sense of humor I'm sure He got a kick out of this book. This was one of Heller's best books. If you've ever read anything by him and laughed, don't hesitate to pick this one up.
4.0 out of 5 stars
4.5 stars. One of the funniest "religious" books out there,
By "frankdirty" (Carson City) - See all my reviews
This review is from: God Knows (Paperback)
Heller is masterful breathing life into the well-known story of King David. Clearly, Heller has a scholar's knowledge of the Old Testament adding wit, sex, drama, and laughs to David's life. Those familiar with the stories in the bible will get the most out of this retelling of a biblical classic.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Blasphemy at its most hilarous and biting,
By
This review is from: God Knows (Paperback)
Although I would not say that this book is entirely on the level of Heller's first three books (all masterpieces), as it does not, perhaps, resonate with the vibrancy and poignancy of everyday life as those works do, God Knows is nevertheless an entertaining, blasphemous, and laugh-out-loud hilarous Bibilical parody. Many an author has turned their skills to the task of setting a famous Bibilical character into the universe of modern literature and re-telling their story that way, but few have done it with the intelligence, wit, and sheer knowledge of Heller. This is the work of a man that, though perhaps a Jewish atheist (I'm not too sure of what Heller's religious views were), nevertheless clearly had a vast and perhaps encyclopedic knowledge of the Bible - or the Old Testament, at any rate. Here, we have the story of King David ("the best story in The Bible", as the narrarator himself repeatedly tells us), told through Heller's first-person satiric lens, casting the famous and mythical character straight into the pantheon of modern literature. Many may well consider this book blasphemous (although I am glad, and pleasantly surprised, indeed, to see in some of the other reviews here that members of the clergy have read and enjoyed it), it is all in good fun, and quite an entertaining read - as well as also hitting home at several points. Although there are several laugh-out-loud segments, Heller, beneath the farce, is also asking existential questions, as well as tackling some complex moral issues: God's apparent inclination towards punishing the innocent for the crimes of the guilty is given a good bit of attention here. Although this book may well have some sort of a built-in audience due to it's Bibilical leanings, it probably does not have a more or less universal audience as his first three books did - being steeped heavily, as it is, in its subject matter. I think that you will enjoy the book a lot more, and will certainly find it funnier, if you are familar with The Bible - or at least the parts that it deals with. Indeed, if you are highly steeped in Bibilical subject matter, you may well consider this Heller's best book. I reccommend it regardles, however: even if you are not knowledgable with its inherent subject matter, you will still find the book enjoyable, especially if you are a fan of Heller's particular style and liked his other writings.
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