Question 6

What is/are your favorite book/books on atheism?

• George Smith, _Atheism: the Case Against God_ Tom Paine, _Common Sense_ (Bill Felton #92)

• 'Erewhon' by Samuel Butler. (June Gill #364)

• Mark Twain's "Letters from the Earth". I'm open to suggestions for others. (Erikc #2)

• Bakunin - God and the state While most people would find the more political part of the book rather suspicious, the part about atheism is definitely brilliantly written. (Lutz van Hasselt #670)

• Alice in Wonderland / Through the Looking Glass -- Lewis Carroll

  Age of Reason -- Paine

  Flim-Flam -- James Randi

  Oz series -- Baum

  Letter to the Earth -- Twain

  Holy Horrors -- James Haught

  Who Wrote the OT -- Friedman{SP?}

  Origin -- Darwin

  Cosmos -- Sagan (Landis D. Ragon #45)

• My favorite book which deals with anything is "The Complete Essays of Schopenhauer". Though this book does not deal excusively with Atheism, it is decidedly atheistic. This book is a collection of essays ( duh ) on a variety of subjects which was originally written in German, and it was translated into English. It was translated some time ago, and it is a pleasure to read, because it does not contain any of the barbarism, which has invaded the English language in the last forty or so years. BTW don't expect to find it on the shelf in most bookstores. (Dedgod #655)

• Fiction:

  I like Terry Pratchett's _Small Gods_ (and the rest of the DW series, for that matter). Even though it deals with the Xtian Apocalyspe, Pratchett's _Good Omens_ is probably one of the most _humanist_ books I've ever seen.

  When I first read Eco's _The Name of the Rose_, I was catholic, and assumed the author was as well. When I re-read the book later, after learning that Eco didn't believe in God, I realised that the book was "really" about how much beliefs can influence actions and perceptions. It's not good "introductory" reading, but it's pretty interesting.

  Non-fiction:

  Somebody's already mentioned _Why I am not a Christian_ by Bertrand Russell. Also, though it's not about atheism per se, _The Real Frank Zappa_ book was instrumental in my de-conversion. There's something about seeing an intelligent person come out and say: "My best advice to anyone who wants to raise a happy, mentally healthy child is: KEEP HIM OR HER AS FAR AWAY FROM A CHURCH AS YOU CAN." that made a big impression on me. (Nick Matthewson #731)

• I haven't read everything out there, obviously, but I continue to search. My favorite so far is "The Demon Haunted World" by Carl Sagan. Damn, but it was a shame to lose him. (Nemo #1331)

• Language, Truth, and Logic by A.J. Ayer. (Darwin #1985)

• I'm surprised no one has said it yet - Dan Barker's "Losing Faith in Faith". (Adam Marczyk #2001)

• "The Demon-Haunted World" by Carl Sagan and "The Philosophy of Humanism" by Corliss Lamont (George Ricker #146)

• Ayn Rand - Virtue of Selfishness (Andrew C)