Ben Myers provides a good review of Daniel Radosh’s new book, Rapture Ready! Adventures in the Parallel Universe of Christian Pop Culture (New York: Scribner, 2008).
According to Myers, Radosh is good-natured and generous towards his subject most of the time. But, when it comes to the Left Behind series, Radosh doesn’t hold back. Radosh quotes this gratuitously violent passage from the final book in the series, which is meant to describe what occurs at Jesus’ return in glory:
“Men and women soldiers and horses seemed to explode where they stood. It was as if the very words of the Lord had superheated their blood, causing it to burst through their veins and skin. Their innards and entrails gushed to the desert floor…”
Radosh sums the tone of that passage, and much of the Left Behind series, with a fine piece of mimicry:
“Gloria in excelsis Deo, motherfucker!” ( p. 78 )
Salty language alert!
Oops. Never mind.
That Radosh is a real potty-mouth.