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THE GOD DELUSION |
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"At last, one of the best nonfiction writers alive today has assembled his thoughts on religion into a characteristically elegant book ... [Dawkins's arguments] are passionately stated and poetically expressed, but are rooted in reason and evidence." -- Steven Pinker, Author of How the Mind Works "An entertaining, wildly informative, splendidly written polemic ... We are elegantly cajoled, cleverly harangued into shedding ourselves of this superstitious nonsense that has bedevilled us since our first visit to Sunday school." -- Sunday Times (London) "The God Delusion is smart, compassionate, and true like ice, like fire. If this book doesn't change the world, we're all screwed." -- Penn and Teller Selected as a Best Book of the Year: The Economist, Financial Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Salon, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Capital Times, Kirkus Reviews, and others A BOOK SENSE NOTABLE BOOK Extraordinary International Acclaim for Richard Dawkins and The God Delusion "If I had to identify Dawkins' cardinal virtues, I would say that he is brilliant, articulate, impassioned, and impolite ... The God Delusion is a fine and significant book .... irreverent and penetrating." -- San Francisco Chronicle "Dawkins is frequently dismissed as a bully, but he is only putting theological doctrines to the same kind of scrutiny that any scientific theory must withstand." -- Scientific American "The God Delusion deserves multiple readings, not just as an important work of science, but as a great work of literature." -- Steven Weinberg, Times Literary Supplement (UK) "The most coherent and devastating indictment of religion I have ever read." -- Mail on Sunday (UK) "This thoroughly engaging thesis on atheism cajoles, bullies, persuades and dazzles ... Some of it is hard to disagree with, some of it will make you hopping mad. Perfect, really." -- Sunday Times (Australia) "Fascinating ... expressed in sparkling language which makes the book not only a pleasure to read but also a stimulus to thinking across this widest of spectrums." -- Financial Times "Engrossing ... this is an elegant, engaging and persuasive writer ... The God Delusion is a good, strong argumentative challenge to any thoughtful believer with the courage to read it with care and try to dispute it." -- The Globe and Mail (Canada) "A lively writer ... an entertaining read ... Dawkins's outrage at the persistence of medieval ideas in the modern era is warranted. In fact, it's overdue." -- The Nation "A spirited and exhilarating read ... Dawkins comes roaring forth in the full vigor of his powerful arguments." -- Guardian (UK) ''A wonderful book ... joyous, elegant, fair, engaging, and often very funny ... informed throughout by an exhilarating breadth of reference and clarity of thought." -- Michael Frayn, author of The Human Touch "The God Delusion is written with all the clarity and elegance of which Dawkins is a master. It is so well written, in fact, that children deserve to read it as well as adults." -- Philip Pullman, author of His Dark Materials trilogy "A brave and important book." -- Desmond Morris, author of The Naked Ape "Richard Dawkins is the leading soothsayer of our time. Through his exploration of gene-based evolution of life his work has had a profound effect on so much of our collective thinking and The God Delusion continues his thought-provoking tradition." -- J. Craig Venter, decoder of the human genome "Passionate religious irrationality too often poses serious obstacles to human betterment. To oppose it effectively, the world needs equally passionate rationalists unafraid to challenge long accepted beliefs. Richard Dawkins so stands out through the cutting intelligence of The God Delusion." -- James D. Watson, co-discoverer of DNA, author of The Double Helix "Should be read by everyone from atheist to monk. If its merciless rationalism doesn't enrage you at some point, you probably aren't alive." -- Julian Barnes, author of Arthur and George "A magnificent book, lucid and wise, truly magisterial." -- Ian McEwan, author of Atonement "Dawkins is Britain's most famous atheist and in The God Delusion he gives eloquent vent to his uncompromising views ... if you want an understanding of evolution or an argument for atheism, there are few better guides than Richard Dawkins." -- Sunday Telegraph (UK) "A surprisingly elegant and gracious conclusion, depicting science as exactly the kind of glorious expansion of our perceptions that we once thought only God could provide." -- New York magazine "[A] well-stocked arsenal of anti-religious thought." -- U.S. News and World Report "Passionate, clever, funny, uplifting and above all, desperately needed." -- Daily Express (UK) "Lots of good, hard-hitting stuff about the imbecilities of religious fanatics and frauds of all stripes." -- New York Times Book Review "You needn't buy the total Dawkins package to glory in his having the guts to lay out the evils religions can do." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review "A rallying cry to those who want to come out as non-believers, but are not quite sure if they dare." -- Daily Mail (UK) "A gloriously belligerent attack on the foaming tide of superstition that is washing over the world once again, from a great scientist who has demonstrated throughout his career the power of cool, hard reason to explain life itself." -- The Independent (UK) "Oh, it's so refreshing, after being told all your life that it is virtuous to be full of faith, spirit, and superstition, to read such a resounding trumpet blast for truth instead. It feels like coming up for air." -- Matt Ridley, author of Genome INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER "A powerful argument for how to think about the place of religion in the modern world. It's going to be a classic." -- SEED In his sensational international bestseller, the preeminent scientist and outspoken atheist Richard Dawkins delivers a hard-hitting, impassioned, but humorous rebuttal of religious belief. With rigor and wit, Dawkins eviscerates the arguments for religion and demonstrates the supreme improbability of the existence of a supreme being. He makes a compelling case that faith is not just irrational but potentially deadly. In a preface written for the paperback edition, Dawkins responds to some of the controversies the book has incited. This brilliantly argued, provocative book challenges all of us to examine our beliefs, no matter what beliefs we hold. "Everyone should read it. Atheists will love Mr. Dawkins's incisive logic and rapier wit, and theists will find few better tests of the robustness of their faith. Even agnostics, who claim to have no opinion on God, may be persuaded that their position is an untenable waffle." -- THE ECONOMIST "In the roiling debate between science and religion, it would be hard to exaggerate the enormous influence of Richard Dawkins." -- SALON Richard Dawkins is the Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University. He is the acclaimed author of many books, including The Selfish Gene, The Blind Watchmaker, Unweaving the Rainbow, and The Ancestor's Tale.
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