Gods Behaving Badly: A Novel

I bought this book solely because many years ago I read Thorne Smith's 'The Night Life of the Gods' (1931), and I wanted to compare the two. it surprised me that - while possibly Smith's book could have inspired Phillips' - 'Behaving' more than stands on its own. The Greek gods, living in a crumbling Tudor house in London for five hundred years, lead the kind of lives they've always lived - promiscuous and untrustworthy Apollo, lascivious Aphrodite - though their powers have greatly diminished. Secluded in the attic and mostly bedridden, Zeus is suddenly goaded to kill a mortal who's been cleaning their house, inspiring a Quest with an unlikely hero. Will true love triumph? Well, yes, it's a rhetorical question, because while I'm still forty pages from the end, a happy end is hoped for by this mortal.

I originally picked up this book because I loved the premise - Greek gods, no longer used or needed are living out a droll life in modern day Hampstead, England. Nobody believes in them anymore and when you're immortal - well, there's only so much you can do before you've done it all - several times. And of course, I always love stories of immortality - goes right up there with invisibility. I gobble the stuff up.So while I was eager to read the book, unfortunately I wasn't able to get to it right away until recently when I noticed my husband was reading his way through Rick Riordan's  The Heroes of Olympus, The, Book One: Lost Hero  series. With renewed interest, I felt like I was sharing a literary journey with my beloved - while he reads about the half human son of Poseidon trying to discover his heritage and power in a Harry Potter-esque way - I was reading a slightly more um, adult version about the Greek Olympian gods.Since they are no longer the deities they once were and have fallen out of the limelight, the gods have picked up some occupations to keep themselves busy - Eros is a born-again Christian and attends church regularly - even is considering joining the priesthood - which causes some confusion, Dionysius runs a seedy bar is rather a hot DJ and serves plenty of his famous wine, Aphrodite, true to her nature as the goddess of lust, has taken on the job as a 1-866 phone sex performer - which is hilarious when she takes a call in the middle of a conversation. Artemis, no longer able to hunt, is now a professional dog walker and seems to be the most grounded of the group, which then brings us to Apollo....well - aside from chasing Aphrodite and turning mortal women into trees, he's starting his own TV show that taps into the latest trend of TV Psychics.Enter into their domain a meek but very mortal housekeeper named Alice with her new-found boyfriend Neil and suddenly everything is turned upside down. Alice and Neil go where no mortal has gone before - and live to tell about it. I just know you will love Hades and the Underworld - what a hoot, never would I have thought the game Scrabble would play such an integral part!Phillips conceived the idea for Gods Behaving Badly while listening to a philosophy teacher's comparison between the Christian God and those of the ancient world - she explains:"He was saying that the gods of the ancient world had flaws, they were more human, and I suddenly thought, what if they were right? There is something arbitrary about belief; if you are a Christian, then you have to believe that the Hindus are wrong, and the other way round. You can back your beliefs up with archaeology or sacred texts, but ultimately it comes down to siding with one team or another. And I thought - what about the Greeks? No one sides with that team any more, but what if they were the ones who got it right? So here's this group of gods, imagine if they were still around..."Interesting thought - and, a wonderful way to put that thought to words.

I wanted to like it more. I love the concept, the story is fine, but the people are so very unlikable. Even Alice and Neil. They aren't as bad as Apollo or Aphrodite, but I didn't really like any of them. I wanted to like Artemis and Athena, but they were so flat. Everyone, so flat.

I suppose the humor in this book has to appeal to you, because that could be the only reason I loved it and some other reviewers didn't. Just like some jokes make some people laugh and not others. Marie Phillips not only has a great sense of humor (my kind), but she can write great dialog, great descriptions, and a great plot. I loved it all the way through. Okay, the ending required a lot of suspension of disbelief. Actually, the whole book was premised on the reader being able to suspend disbelief, but it was easy for me to enjoy practically every sentence and forget about "reality as I know it". Forgetting about reality is the desired result of getting into a good story anyway. Hooray for Marie Phillips!I didn't buy the book when I first saw it in a bookstore because the title and cover picture made it look like a "fluffy" read, and I don't read "fluffy". But this book is "intelligent fluffy".

I really enjoyed this book! The premise is that the Olympians, being immortal gods and goddesses, still exist, but they are barely powerful since no one believes in them anymore. They live in a squallid house in London, jealously conserving their powers, and they have jobs appropriate to their expertise -- Aphrodite is a phone sex operator, Artemis a dog walker, Apollo an egotistical fortune teller etc. In this as well as the developing plot and the finale, the author stays true to each god's nature, so that their actions are plausible -- well, as plausible as an Olympian in London can be ....I disagree with a previous reviewer that the book doesn't take off until midway; I thoroughly enjoyed the novel from start to finish, and have no complaints about pacing. The plot revolves around the interaction between these immortals and a couple of humans who dance around their own courtship and yet must eventually dig deep to become modern equivalents of the ancient heroes. Can they do it? You'll have to read to find out -- and I highly recommend you do.This is a charming, fun read, and I look forward to the author's next outing.

My classical studies teacher recommended this in third year (then on second thought said it maybe wasn't for 14 year olds, too late though!).It's silly, predictable fun and I can't recommend it highly enough especially if you enjoy the ancient Greek myths :)

This book was good fun, although not to be taken seriously. A comedy pic that will have you chuckling and considering the world around you.

There are no redeeming features of this piece of rubbish. Dreadful plot, dreadful characters and the writing is wooden. Just awful from start to finish. How it got published is beyond me.

I did not enjoy this book and would return it if I could.

I picked this up as light relief after ploughing through a fairly heavy duty non-fiction book on a long haul flight.I was hoping for something that was both funny and perhaps a bit philosophical.I got both humour and thought, but I also was surprised to find myself quite moved at times, by the predicament of both the mortals and the immortals.So, well written, thought-provoking and entertaining. Perfect holiday reading or in-flight entertainment, even if not quite Nobel Prize for Literature standard.