Self Indulgence: Two Great Book Reviews

Today I get to engage in a bit of self-indulgence and shameless self-promotion.

I was very pleased to get not one, but TWO excellent book reviews. The first was from Dan Barker, co-founder of the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) and author of Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists (FFRF bookstore). Dan was kind enough to review my book and offer this endorsement:

An ingenious melding—a recombination, if you will—of genetics and memetics. Craig James has cracked open the mystery of Religion's tenacity. What Guns, Germs and Steel did for anthropology, The Evolution of Religion does for faith. It puts the pieces together into a fascinating, coherent model that makes sense!

Dan was also kind enough to give some detailed editorial comments and even point out a few typos.

Next came a review by Wes Unruh, author of The Art of Memetics (see the full review here), who writes:

This is a fascinating book, condensing the peculiar histories of religious texts and how decisions made hundreds and thousands of years ago still affect our cultural attitudes and beliefs ... James is nothing if not amusing, and his choice of quotes (and juxtapositions thereupon) make for compelling re-thumbing after you’ve finished the book. Seriously, Craig A. James has written an accessible book on evolution and religion that manages to explain memetics while being both funny and touching. ... I recommend leaving this book out where it can provoke conversations.

So, many thanks to both Dan and Wes for taking the time to read and comment on The Evolution of Religion.

Oh, and for my faithful followers, yes, that is a new book title. My publisher suggested, and I agreed, that The Religion Virus was a bit too confrontational. The Evolution of Religion will actually appeal to both theists and atheists, and I don't want to discourage any open-minded theists who want to learn the science behind the history of their beliefs.