- Paperback: 328 pages
- Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press; Revised Edition edition (May 15 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0664231608
- ISBN-13: 978-0664231606
- Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 14.5 x 2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 454 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #306,018 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Religion journalist Pinsky offers a thoughtful and genuinely entertaining review of faith and morality as reflected through the irreverently sweet comedy of The Simpsons, drawing on a wide if not encyclopedic knowledge of key episodes and interviews with the series' creators. The animated series is unique in many ways, including its longevity and creative freshness, but no less remarkable is the show's attention to religious themes especially considering the prevalent invisibility or irrelevance of religion on TV. A recent convert to the show who only started watching in 2001, Pinsky had been repelled by controversy surrounding the series' edgier early seasons. But as the program and its characters have matured, many viewers have seen a fundamental affirmation of spirituality, family and community life that emerges in spite of the sarcasm and exaggerated situations. Chapters are devoted to important characters Homer, Lisa, Ned Flanders, Reverend Lovejoy, Krusty and Apu and the faiths they represent, as well as to issues such as images of God, the Bible, prayer and ethics. Pinsky reminds readers that ultimately The Simpsons is played for laughs, not deep spiritual or sociological insight. Yet the abiding charm of the show is how often its caricatures are devastatingly on-target and point to a deeper truth, as Tony Campolo points out in an excellent foreword: "Do not go too hard on Homer Simpson because more people in our churches are where he is than any of us in the mainline denominations want to acknowledge." (Sept.)Forecast: One of WJKP's longest-selling titles has been The Gospel According to Peanuts, which clearly provided a model for this new rumination on faith and popular culture. Here's hoping that Pinsky's book achieves similar success; given the publisher's recent economic troubles (see PW's "Religion BookLine" newsletter, July 9), the small Presbyterian press could really use a hit.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.From Booklist
On the heels of The Simpsons and Philosophy [BKL Ap 15 01] comes a seriously funny examination of the spirituality of the popular TV show. The Simpsons, after all, spend more time in church than any other TV family, though Homer can still only describe his religion as, "you know, the one with all the well-meaning rules that don't work in real life. Uh, Christianity." Pinsky makes a compelling argument that the show's writers' view of religious expression is complicated and sympathetic, despite the lampooning of fundamentalist Ned Flanders and Springfield's apathy toward Lisa's Jesus-like social activism. Pinsky, who is Jewish, may be a bit more immune to the Simpsonian critiques of Christian excesses than some fundamentalists, and excessive quotation from the show sometimes makes the book confusing and out of focus. As in The Simpsons and Philosophy, however, those quotations are invariably laugh-out-loud funny, and in the end, no one--not even Baptist activist Tony Campolo, who contributed the foreword to this book--can keep from laughing at and with TV's most religious family. John Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
A look at religion on The Simpsons,
By Steve Stowers (Springfield, Illinois USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Gospel According To The Simpsons: The Spiritual Life Of The World's Most Animated Family (Paperback)
The author is a journalist (one well-versed in both religion and popular culture), and this book definitely reads like the work of a reporter, as opposed to a preacher, a theologian, or a TV critic. Much of the book consists of summaries, descriptions, and retellings of the show's religion-related situations, characters, lines, and gags. This makes the book entertaining and fun to read, but there isn't a whole lot you can learn from the book that you couldn't learn just by sitting down and watching the episodes Pinsky quotes from (with the exception of an informative chapter on the religious backgrounds of several of the book's writers and producers). Probably the target audience for the book is, not those Simpsons fanatics who have every episode memorized, but rather, people with a passing familiarity with the show who still need to be convinced of the book's thesis: that The Simpsons depicts religious people and issues in a surprisingly sympathetic (yet still humorous and critical) way.
4.0 out of 5 stars
NICE STUDY OF THE SIMPSONS,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Gospel According To The Simpsons: The Spiritual Life Of The World's Most Animated Family (Paperback)
This book is an interesting analysis of The Simpsons. Well worth the read. It's interesting to read about how The Simpsons portrays various religions.I also recently read "The Simpsons and Society" by Steven Keslowitz. This book analyzes The Simpsons from a sociological/political perspective. I enjoyed "The Simpsons and Society" as well. If you like The Simpsons, I'd recommend that you check both books out. In fact, I recently found articles about the books in the NY Daily News ("The Simpsons and Society" was written up here), and the NY Post (a couple of years ago, the Post printed an article about Pinsky's book). Highly recommend BOTH books...
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Stretch? Possibly, But Very Compelling,
By
This review is from: The Gospel According To The Simpsons: The Spiritual Life Of The World's Most Animated Family (Paperback)
If you're buying this book thinking that it shows how watching "The Simpsons" saves souls, you should reconsider. This book doesn't focus on Simpsons providing the gospel through the show, this book focuses on the spirituality in general of the television series. I found this book to be an entertaining and serious look at the life of our beloved animated family, the book uses extensive show references to point out that "The Simpsons" *is* more spiritually relevent than "Touched by an Angel" or any other prime-time show. Pinsky points out time and time again how often "The Simpsons" tackle issues of morality and spirituality and even theology. While often satirizing Christianity and many other major religions, the show brings to light serious problems with the Church today. Again, this isn't a Simpson's sunday school reader, this is an organized and in-depth look at how The Simpsons relate to religion and deal with problems of spirituality.
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