Bible Stories for Adults

by James K. Morrow

Book Overview

Morrow unabashedly delves into matters both sacred and secular in this collection of short stories buoyed by his deliciously irreverent wit. Among the dozen selections is the Nebula Award-winning "Bible Stories for Adults, No. 17: The Deluge."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0156002442
• ISBN13: 9780156002448
• Release Date: February 1996
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

"Where are my dinosaurs?" she shrieked. "I can't feel my dinosaurs!" - "Daughter Earth"

Morrow does indeed revisit some classic tales from the Hebrew scriptures, but the "Bible stories" he retells here involve the sacred (as in sacred cow) more generally. In his sights are such unassailables as God, the Unknown Soldier, Darwin's theory, and masculinity itself. Given that these stories, according to the title, are for "adults," one should not be surprised to be thrilled, shocked, and even offended by some of the author's jibes, yet each shot he takes is precisely aimed and well-deserved. Every story in this book was entertaining; several were masterfully crafted thought-provoking works suitable for extended rumination and discussion. In the first story, Nebula-winning "Bible Stories for Adults, No. 17: The Deluge," we observe along with our prostitute protagonist that, "When I destroyed my unwanted children, it was murder. When Yahweh did the same, it was eugenics." Morrow simply applies a single moral standard to the old tale of Noah and the Ark, to wicked effect. "Known but to God and Wilbur Hines" tells the story of a murderous, racist deserter who, through a twist of fate, enjoys a hero's burial and anonymous immortality in Arlington. "Bible Stories for Adults, No. 20: The Tower" inverts the traditional telling of the Tower of Babel legend, so that instead of confusing the human race with a gibber of languages, God trips up humanity by allowing them to communicate "without the benefit of semantic doubt." "So My plan is working. Half the planet is now a graduate seminar, the other half a battleground." Morrow likewise turns the entire Intelligent Design debacle on its head in "Spelling God with the Wrong Blocks," a story in which science missionaries confront a race of androids who insist that they originated through natural selection, when in fact they were created as an experiment by Harvard sociobiologists. When the science missionaries try to explain the androids' error, they are tried as heretics for speaking against the Two Testaments...of Darwin, of course. Morrow concludes the collection with the fantastic "Arms and a Woman." This story explores the life of Helen, lover of Paris and wife of Menelaus. When she discovers that the Greeks and Trojans have been fighting for a decade over her, she tries to win the peace by going back to her husband. But she has aged, and is now slightly less than launching-a-thousand-ships-beautiful, so the men don't want to hear it. That, and they really like the glory that comes from the battle. It turns out that Helen's abduction by Paris was really just an excuse. As the council of Greeks and Trojans explains to Helen, if they can make ten years of warfare over a single woman look rational, then men could make war over just about anything, and she wants to spoil all that fun. In Morrow's hands, the gentle anti-heroism of the feminine is lauded while the foundational epic of Western civilization is revealed as a work of a banal, baleful masculinity that has provided the rationale for mil

Science fiction satire by one of the best modern proponents

"Bible Stories for Adults, No. 17: The Deluge"--Not for the squeamish, this retelling of the Flood touches on some of Morrow's recurring themes. Why is it murder when humans kill, but not when God kills? What is the value of life? How should we live our lives? I did not find this as disgusting as when I first read it, but I'm also 10 years older. "Daughter Earth"--I've written about this story before, and it was a pleasure to reread it. It is one of my favorites--a strange metaphorical tale that has character, humor, and a biosphere. This is the kind of story I want to write when I grow up. "Known But to God and Wilbur Hines"--Well researched tale of World War I and how war is hell. It is okay, but we have seen the sentiment elsewhere, and, while the details are sharp and fresh, the actual plot and manner are a tad warmed over. "Bible Stories for Adults, No. 20: The Tower"--I like this one a lot better than "The Deluge," possibly because of the great humor inherent in a story narrated by God himself. Morrow has a real gift for merging humor into his satire, and this is a prime example. The story itself, with its criticism of Donald Trump and the hubris of the well-off, and its method of turning the tables on the idea of Babel, is just marvelous. "Spelling God with the Wrong Blocks"--This is a fabulous story. I finished this and, as with "Daughter Earth," thought, "This is the kind of thing that I try to write. A story that transposes one set of beliefs into the reference frame of another set of beliefs to put serious question marks into both absolutes." In this one, natural selection is seen as the "correct" and holy interpretation of evolution, and when the science missionaries try to convince the planet of androids that instead they were actually the result of special creation, things don't turn out so well. God, what a funny, but not so funny, story. Check double plus, highly recommended, in my top 20. "The Assemblage of Kristin"--Another great story, about an organ donor whose parts don't seem to want to give up life. Wonderful details, interesting characters, and a marvelous story structure. You know, if this book continues with stories like this, Morrow is going to move into real favorite status with me. Is this his only story collection (well, no, there was the Pulphouse Author's Choice one, but this is the only major publisher collection, I think)? "Bible Stories for Adults, No. 31: The Covenant"--Like "Spelling God..." this drops us into a apotheosis wherein what we find normal is switched. Instead of having Moses' law for over 2,000 years, this world has had to go without it, instead preserving the shattered bits of clay from Mt. Sinai. The purpose of the computer they build is to put the tablets together again, to reveal the holy word. But is it worth it? Great social commentary. Question: What is the purpose of the numbers to these bible stores for adults? In this collection, there are only four, but the last is numbered 46. Are there

A great collection of short stories

James Morrow's ideas are sometimes preposterous, sometimes pretentious, but always wildly inventive, and Bible Stories for Adults is no exception. While a couple of the included stories might cause the reader to roll his or her eyes in the presumptuousness of the author, or the wild implausibility of the ideas involved, it's a good bet the story will still get read -- if only because it's wonderfully entertaining. My personal favorite from this collection was "The Tower," in which God, fed up with human vanity, makes a personal appearance on Earth and creates a tower of Babel in reverse -- a world in which every human being understands one another implicitly, and no secret is left unrevealed. The impact to humanity is cataclysmic, and the resulting story is both humorous and unsettling. Bible Stories for Adults also makes a great introduction to the reader starting out with James Morrow, as it is lighter in tone and easier to digest than his (equally excellent) novel-length works.

Quality collection of short stories

After reading this book, I place James Morrow in the same spot I hold for Joe Haldeman: favorite short-story writer. Simply put, the stories contained in this book are EXCELLENT! Morrow has a true economy of writing - he says so much with very few words, and his subject matter is very well chosen, most of the time taking a fresh look at historical events or Biblical stories.I guess the majority of the stories vaguely qualify as science fiction, but each one has a profound message under its slight sci-fi trappings. Two definite stand-outs are "The Deluge", showing how evil remained in the world after the great flood (and making some nasty implications for the lineage of the human race), and "Arms and the Woman", a hilarious yet totally relevant retelling of the Trojan War from Helen's perspective. These two stories alone are worth the price of the book, but there's many more gems included. I'm still confused about the story concerning Job, but that's a minor detail; the others more than make up for it.

A contentious book is the best reading

I must say first that the delicious jibes at all things judeo-christian were more enjoyable knowing that the hometown Christian Women's Collective was probably frothing over perceived insults. For the more open-minded types, Morrow could very well serve as a call to rally against blind acceptance and inexplicable faith. But that would be inconsistent with the spirit of the short stories contained in "Bible Stories for Adults". An entirely honest title: bump the PG up to PG-13 for adult themes. The nature of consciousness, of environmental balances, of individuality and humanity. There's nothing petty, pointless or too detail-oriented about the institution of slavery in American society. Realize that it is behind us now, but in historical terms, not by too damn long a time. Morrow guts Western culture and preconceptions with gusto. But the real genius lies in the way he tempers his writing with humor, a great deal of it. The stories are nothing if not funny: the androids who are waiting for the Great Genital Coming, in which they will finally be differentiated into sexes; the other side of the Troy legend as related by a clever and aging Helen; Job's dung-heap, complete with a Zenith TV to pass the time. I enjoyed all the stories, some more than others. There was a slight degree of inaccessibility to some of the stories which relied heavily on Biblical scriptures. If you do not know your Bible stories well, you may not get all the jokes. On the other hand, if you know the scriptures well enough to get all the jokes, you probably won't find them funny. Well worth a few bucks, especially since I believe that Morrow will be unable to resist satirizing money in his next collection.