Before I go on and review the latest book by Penn Jillette entitled “God, No! Signs You May Already Be an Atheist and Other Magical Tales, I feel it very important that I let you know that I have been a huge fan of this man and his partner, Teller for the past 25 years.
With Penn and I sharing a birthday, March 5th; and Teller and I sharing a first name (before he changed it) I always felt connected to these entertainers. From the very first time I saw their classic “Cups and Balls” trick on a Just for Laughs special I watched on CBC, to their Showcase series “Bullshit”, they have entertained me in a way that was unlike any other. In their act they told me that they were going to lie to me... they showed me how they lied to me and thanks to their incredible honesty about their lies, I laughed the whole way through.
I taught myself how to juggle a little just by watching Penn on video over and over and over, trying to repeat it in my living room. Growing up I did silly talent shows that involved juggling and skits that made fun of the teachers in my high school (in as pleasant a manner as possible) because I wanted to entertain and make people laugh they way Penn and Teller did for me. Hell, their act is the only reason I have any desire to go to Vegas, and I love Texas Hold ‘Em. I hope one day to have the coin to get down there and see their show, front row... and then shake their hands afterward (as they do that with anyone caring to after their shows) and thank them for the years of joy and enlightenment they have brought me.
I say all of this now because I want to make sure that, just like Penn and Teller, you know EXACTLY where I am coming from. That while I am doing my best to review this book objectively, I had expected to like this one from the moment I learned it was published.
Now...on to the show...
When my girlfriend and I went to the bookstore to find God, No!; I was also looking to find the Christopher Hitchens best seller entitled “God is Not Great”.
As a former Atheist in a Catholic school (long story) turned Mormon (even longer story), turned Atheist once more after Prop 8 in California, I have come to the conclusion that religion sucks and after watching a number of Hitchens debates on Youtube I thought this was someone I need to read more about. Hearing that Jillette had a book of his own on the topic of Atheism was the “cherry” on top and so I would purchase them both.
It took no time at all to find the Hitchens book in the “Faith” section of the store, but where was Penn’s tale? Like any man, I searched for a good 20 minutes in an area that would have taken two minutes to go over thoroughly before asking for help.
“Certainly we have that book” said the cheerful clerk. “We just put it out, two days ago. I knew it would sell” and she proceeded to bring me to the comedy section.
“This is stupid”, I thought to myself. “Why the hell would you have a book on Atheism in the comedy section? Why isn’t his book alongside that of Hitchens and Dawkins?"
So incensed, I decided to tweet my disgust to Penn himself, whom I have followed since I got into Twitter. My question was simple. ”Bought your book today but it’s in the comedy section and I’m annoyed it wasn’t with Hitchens. Are you?" Much to my surprise and delight, I received a response (that I have saved for posterity until the time when I can see him in person). It was short...to the point...and VERY Penn Jillette.
“I’m not fit to eat shit of Hitch shoes”
I got quite a kick out of the response and got to reading and quickly learned exactly why this book wasn’t next to Hitchens in the Faith Section. And it most likely has everything to do with the final two words of the book, although it was very clear much much sooner.
“Fuck Faith”
“God, No!” is filled with this type of straight shooting and often vulgar language that you come to expect from Jillette. You can say many things about this man, but one thing is for certain that is not up for debate, and that is he speaks his mind and there is no mistaking his stance once he has laid it out for you.
Just like much of his act, whether it is with his partner on stage or in his show, “Bullshit”, he finds a way to get the point across and does it in a way that very often turns his target against itself. In this case, he takes the Bible’s Ten Commandments and instead offers ten “Atheists Suggestions”.
Every suggestion offered is given as a direct alternative to the commandments from a book he clearly despises and one after the other, the reader is regaled with the stories of Jillette’s...UNIQUE...life and how his personal experiences effectively reinforce the suggestion made at the start of the chapter.
Very often I would laugh out loud like a fool all by myself, reading the stories told to me in a way that felt as though he was sharing a tale with me that he would tell to one of his closest friends over drinks (non-alcoholic ones of course). Some of them are so bizarre that not only will you laugh until you cry, as I did, that you can hardly believe their truth, until you realized that the writer is Penn Jillette, and he hasn’t exactly lived the “everyman’s life” and he is just telling it the way it is. (I tell you, I will never look at a hair dryer the same way again... as most assuredly Jillette doesn’t either.)
In and among some of the stranger stories, you will also find some very heartfelt moments from a man who is EXACTLY like “everyman” and experiences the trials and tribulations most everyone faces with their families and the passing of loved ones. There are genuine moments of raw emotion with details that are almost too intimate to have been shared...and then once again you remember who the writer is. I found his stories about his parents passing to be especially emotional and I was very thankful that he chose to share them.
What impressed me most in this book is that not once does it fall into the trap of being “preachy”. Certainly he does not hold back when it comes to what he thinks about those people who believe in “faith”. Clearly there is a great deal of disdain for those individuals (there really is no way to say someone is “batshit nuts” nicely) and maybe it’s because I have a greater tolerance of vulgar language than many others, but it feels like while he may have been calling people of faith, “batshit nuts”, he was doing it with the utmost respect. He doesn’t necessarily HATE them... they are just wrong, and they shouldn’t be trying to spread their lies. End of story. (Of course this vibe that I get may also be because I am all too willing to look the other way as it concerns a man I am a fan of. Therefore you have to just read and decide for yourself if my prejudice has gotten the better of me.)
To give this book a rating would feel like a lot of what Penn’s inspiration Houdini might call, Hokum, especially with my aforementioned bias in his support. That aside I certainly think this is an entertaining read and well worth the investment of time to go over the almost 230 pages. You may not agree with him, or the way in which he delivers his tale... but like everything else he does (even when he is lying to you)... he’s telling you the truth the way he sees it.
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