Gods Behaving Badly: A Novel

by Marie Phillips

Book Overview

In this "witty and entertaining" twist on Greek mythology (James Urquhart), the once all-powerful gods find themselves scraping by in a run-down London townhouse as they learn how to be human--and try... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0316067636
• Release Date: December 2008
• Publisher: Back Bay Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 1.0" x 5.3"

Customer Reviews

The Flaws of All

I can envision each of these characters so clearly. A fun read to take in the modern Gods. This book is definitely for an adult audience. I think the only thing I truly disliked about the book is that there isn’t more of it. As the author’s first book, it’s a hit. Recognizing the humanity and lack there of within the Gods and Goddesses, it then shines a light on a dysfunctional family in a whole new way.

Writers writing well

This is one of the funniest books I have read in a while. The premise is that the ancient gods are not only alive. But living in Hampstead in London in a crumbling townhouse (which they bought in the 1660s during Charles II's reign. Coping with modernity is task, not only for the mortals in the book, but also the gods themselves. This is the first book by Maria Phillips, a former employee of the BBC and all I can say is that this woman has a splendid career in store for herself. She has a wonderful imagination, shows great skill in blending folkloric elements into the modern day novel and what is most important in her case, a wonderful ear for dialogue. The book is one long series of wonderful exchanges between the gods and the two mortals (Neal and Alice). Phillips has limited her cast of gods to three primary figures, Aphrodite, Artemis and Apollo, with Athena, Hermes, Ares, Eros, Demeter, Dionysus, Hera, and Zeus as supporting characters. Artemis is the primary goddess who manages in the end to be the only one of the Olympians who has any basic sense. It is very difficult to explain the plot without spoiling some of the absolutely brilliant comic moments in the book. The gods behave, as they do in Homer, without and pangs of conscience for the harm they inflict on the mortals around them. Phillips manages to weave a comedic turn that combines plot elements of the legend of Orpheus as well as Cold Comfort Farm into a marvelous treat.

Oh Ye Gods

Oh Ye Gods Marie Phillip's novel, Gods Behaving Badly, will make you laugh out loud. Imagine Gods living in a crowded London flat, each with their own quirks and strengths. The Gods are losing their powers and must conserve their energy by not wasting them on silly things like turning mortals into trees. Mayhem breaks out when Apollo, who has taken a job as a television Physic , a job that he feels is beneath him. Apollo is smitten with love for a mortal woman, Alice, who is sitting in the viewing audience with her close friend, Neil. Alice unwittingly breaks one of her company's policies, is fired from her job and is forced to go from door to door looking for a job. When her job search lands her at the doorsteps of Apollo, she is hired by Artemis to keep the decaying flat clean. However, the Gods do not waste their powers cleaning. Alice is given two rules; not to talk to the other flat inhabitants and not to go up to the third floor. When Apollo finds Alice in their flat cleaning ,he does everything in his power to gain her affections but none of it works because Alice is secretly in love with Neil. All of the extra attention that Apollo bestows upon Alice makes her nervous, and she goes to Neil wanting to discuss her problem with him. But, she cannot since she promised not to talk about anything that goes on in the flat. Sensing that something is wrong with Alice, Neil goes over to the flat to see what is making Alice so nervous, but only makes Apollo angry that Alice could prefer Neil to him. Athena confronts Apollo and tells him that he should apologize but this causes major calamity. I truly enjoyed reading this and I found it to be different, fun and invigorating. I loved the personalities of the Gods; each one behaved as I imagined that they would under the given circumstances. I hated that the story had to come to an end. This novel had a great ending and left this reader satisfied. If you enjoy mythology you will love this book. It was a refreshing change of pace. Reviewed By Margaret Ball APOOO BOOKCLUB

Brit Christopher Moore

Like Moore, Phillips presents a pair of warm, breathing sympathetic characters who somehow learn and grow in the midst of a mass of fantastic events slowly spiralling out of control. Like Moore, Phillips finds room for some touching moments of humanity and many scenes of super-human hilarity all in one book. Gods Behaving Badly includes a parade of great little moments and characters-- Eros is a born-again Christian, Dionysius a hot DJ, Aphrodite as a phone sex performer. The plots starts with a simple tiff between Apollo and Aphrodite. But then she arranges for him to fall in love with the lady janitor Alice while filming his new cable tv show, and events (edged along by Hermes, God of Unlikely Coincidences) give rise to more and more chaos, until Neil the engineer is traveling on the subway Styx to rescue newly-dead Alice from the underworld, where she is in high demand as a Scrabble player. Not quite as over the top as Moore, and it's definitely funnier if you hear it with a British accent. A fun little outing and a very enjoyable read.

An amusing story that captures the personalities of the Greek gods and places it in a modern setting

Imaginative is the proper word to use in describing this book. The central theme is that the Greek gods, the contexts of their existence and their roles in the universe are real. When people die, their souls go to the underworld, which is ruled by Hades and Persephone. Hermes still takes the intellectual remains of the departed to their final residence, only now the entrances to Hades are in subway tubes. Eros still has his quiver of love arrows; Apollo is still the sun god, Ares the god of war, Artemis the goddess of the hunt and Aphrodite the goddess of love. However, the Greek gods have fallen on hard times, while they still have power; it is much weaker than it was in ancient times. Having found it necessary to get jobs, Artemis walks dogs, Eros is a Christian, Aphrodite is a phone-sex operator and a nymphomaniac, and Apollo is auditioning to be a television psychic. They live together in a filthy London town house, yet they remember the glory days and still engage in their petty bickering. In an attempt to settle a score, Aphrodite convinces Eros to hit Apollo with a love arrow while he is engaged in filming the pilot for the television show. The arrow will cause Apollo to fall madly in love with the first woman he sees. It happens to be the woman (Alice) who cleans the television studio, which initiates a chain of amusing events. Hera has locked the once mighty Zeus in an attic and the love struck Apollo manages to distract her long enough to visit his father. Zeus is now addicted to television, surrounded by the sparsest of furnishings. As a consequence of Apollo's visit, Zeus unleashes a mighty thunderbolt, with dire but predictable consequences. As this story unfolds, a great deal of Greek mythology is used, which makes the story even more interesting. It is not possible to give more details about the plot without revealing some of the details and possibly spoiling the story. In any case, the story is lively and at times hilarious, Phillips manages to capture the capricious nature of the Greek gods, yet develop a story that is thoroughly modern. I highly recommend it.

You won't need an Eros shot arrow to love this book

This is one of those books I truly wish I had written. Or at least had the idea to write. I mean, Greek mythology combined with aging and very bored gods in modern day London, two ordinary but shy mortals and one quest to save the world. What's not to love? Ok so, the whole Greek pantheon moved to London in the late 1600's when real estate was cheap. And there they have remained, slowly losing their powers and ability to cope with one another. Aphrodite does phone sex, Athena is busy working at a university and trying to "fix" the gods, Dionysus owns a sex club and makes his own wine and Artemis walks dogs. Hera and Zeus haven't come down the stairs in twenty years and Apollo just got a job as a TV psychic. All the problems start because Apollo refuses to heat up the water for Aphrodite's shower. So she gets her son, Eros (who has become a Christian) to make him fall in love with an ordinary mortal. And then that mortal has to clean the God's very dirty house. But this mortal, Alice, is already in love with equally shy Neil. So what happens when you reject a god? You get God's behaving badly. Literally. This book is hilarious, romantic, exciting and overall a lot of fun. It does have kind of a Peter Pan thing going on at the end, which I felt was predictable and could have been avoided by the author, but that's a minor complaint. I read it in about two hours and now I miss it. While a working knowledge of Greek mythology will definetly help you understand the complicated familal relationships of the Gods, it's not necessary to enjoy the book. You don't need to be a Delphi oracle to foresee great things from this author. Five stars.