Skipping Towards Gomorrah: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Pursuit of Happiness in America

The negative reviews here are even funnier than the book! But then I'm not a homosexual so I can't really take offense at people recoiling in moral shock from Savage's politics. On the other hand I suppose if you are gay, the negative reviews on this site are a depressing reminder that people like Savage are judged for their sexuality and not for their ideas.But still, the reviews make me laugh even more than the book.

Who knew that the 7 Deadly Sins could be so much fun? Well, actually, they're NOT always so much fun, at least not the way Dan Savage describes them. And that's one of the things I really liked about this book: it's brutally honest about these "sins," the motivations behind them, and the people who pursue them in hopes of finding...fun? happiness? friendship? excitement? meaning in life? None or all of the above? Perhaps these "sins" are more complex and less, well, "sinful" than some might think. Perhaps it's not that eating or sex or gambling are good or bad in and of themselves, despite what the preachy moralists like Robert Bork (author of "Slouching Towards Gomorrah," which Savage's title plays off of) and William J. Bennett (he of the not-so-little gambling problem himself) would have us believe. Perhaps, Dan Savage suggests, it's more that any one of these activities has the potential to be good, bad, or indifferent. It all depends.Take gluttony, for instance. What, you might ask, could possibly be wrong about eating a giant piece of chocolate cake? Sounds great to me, chocolate lover that I am! But as the culmination of a humongous meal at a chain restaurant called "Claim Jumper," the two huge hunks of greasy, gritty, cheap chocolate cake that Dan Savage and a friend each scarf down can only be described as surreal, bizarre, and worst of all, not much fun. Actually, I would say that there's something pathetic and sad about the whole experience -- giant onion rings, giant glasses of water, giant roast chicken, giant order of ribs, etc. Maybe this "sin" stuff ain't all it's cracked up to be?A couple of chapters are truly memorable, including the one on "anger," which centers on guns. The title of the chapter, "My Piece, My Unit," alludes to the strange, semi-sexual appeal that guns apparently have for some (many?) people. Now THAT should be a sin! But the funniest thing about the chapter is that Dan Savage turns out to be quite a shot. Who knew that a liberal skinny gay guy from Seattle could be so good with guns, someone with a "gift" who could "learn to be a real marksman" with some practice (according to his instructor, Paul)? So much for stereotypes!Personally, I found the chapter on Greed ("The Thrill of Losing Money") to be one of the most interesting and insightful. Are people who gamble sick, depraved sinners? Are they greedy? Or are they just out to have a good time? How about "none of the above" or "it depends?" In just one of the insights that Dan Savage arrives at in his explorations, in this case he comes to the conclusion that "it's not about money, it's about risk and danger...and feeling alive." And to quote Bruce Springsteen (a bit out of context, but what the hell?), "it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive!"Besides gluttony, anger, and greed, Dan Savage's other chapters cover the rest of the deadly sins ("lust," "sloth," "envy," and "pride") more or less effectively and entertainingly. And all through

Dan Savage has given the world a delightfully wicked tale of his trip across America, as he takes the reader through his attempt to commit the Seven Deadly Sins: Greed; Lust; Sloth; Gluttony; Envy; Pride; and Anger. For each sin, Dan introduces the reader to people who have embraced the sin wholeheartedly. Or more appropriately, shows the reader people who don't think the sin is really a sin. To the sensitive reader, BEWARE, as some if not all of the tales are quite shocking. To everyone else, be prepared to double up with laughter at Dan's totally inappropriate, insensitive, and awful sense of humor. [Despite being appalled at some of the stories, I often had to bite my tongue and wipe my tears away as I was laughing so hard on the Metro. Doesn't say much for me being the sensitive guy most folks take me for!]In all honesty, I did not run out to get this book, and probably never would have read it except that my boyfriend recommended it to me. Let's face it . . . a book that flaunts the fact that the author purposefully decided to indulge in sin (whether or not you believe they are sins) just has a bad ring to it. [Although that's also a big draw to those of us who are a little upset with the religious establishment.] Before you judge it, however, you should realize it is much more than that. Mr. Savage provides facts about each sin, how it has been and is treated in society and politics, and the groups who "celebrate" the sin, including gays, gamblers, swingers, rich folks, and the National Association for the Advancement of Fat Acceptance. He provides commentary to dispel or just counter myths and information promulgated by right-wing virtuecrats as well as some liberals. It's truly a wonderful read, whether as pure entertainment or as a commentary on certain aspects of American society that most folks try to ignore.This is definitely a book I will NOT recommend to my family. Even those that are almost as liberal in their thinking as I am would have a hard time swallowing this much honesty. But to those out there who don't mind being shocked and offended by honest humor about touchy subjects, I would say pick it up and give it a go. It's definitely a wild read!!

In Skipping `Toward Gomorrah, nationally syndicated sex advice columnist, Dan Savage brings us an intelligent and reasoned voice of counterbalance to the many current (and extremely conservative) voices that cry out for Americans to "change their wicked ways and return to 'right living.'" In Skipping, Savage takes the creative route of investigating the Seven Deadly Sins as a lens through which to examine the U.S. Bill of Rights. His "sinning" is far from the real thing in my estimation and his experiences provide for some of the most entertaining illustrations of his points. Savage does an outstanding job of serving as a voice of counterbalance to the doomsayers among a rather large current crop of "conservatives" who tell us that society is going to "hell in a handbasket", and who set out to limit the rights of others and to define acceptable behavior for all "good" people. While anyone can invite others to a point of view, these neo-conservatives walk all over the Bill of Rights and insist that "good and right living" is defined on their terms and within their definitions of right and good and acceptable, and should be mandatory for all Americans. Those extremes I can live without! While often hysterically funny in the reading, the content of Skippingh Toward Gomorrah is, at its very heart, a soberingly serious discussion of the intentions of our founding fathers of our country. Savage brings a refreshingly honest voice to countering fundamentalists who -- n the name of morality, decency and all that is supposedly American, feel free to trample all over the Bill of Rights. Savage accurately argues the dangers of any kind of extremism. At its worst, it is a cancer fermenting within individuals and groups that seems to allow them to presume the right to act in reckless ways in the effort to "control others" beliefs and behavior for the "good of all American people". The most frightening realization that Savage very plainly articulates is the fact that Americans too easily allow extreme positions to go unchallenged. In a democratic nation where we have voice and vote, we are far too often docile, polite or silent (or absent from the polls) in facing down messages that challenge the foundations of our democracy. We fail to challenge those who tell us how to live, or to defend the foundational principles of our Constitution. From Jimmy Swaggert to Dr. Laura Slessinger to William Bennett, to Patrick Buchanan, to Robert Bork, we are inundated with non-negotiable voices for "right moral living". Savage, quite accurately, lets us know that when any individual, or group, tells us that theirs is the "only correct view," they become dangerous. Skipping Toward Gomorrah is a book to be taken seriously. Dan Savage provides us with a thought provoking and insightful books that ask us to question how easily we allow ourselves to be taken in by those who want to run our lives. He urges our greater personal decision-making and participation in the dialog

"Skipping Towards Gomorrah: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Pursuit of Happiness in America" feels like one part travelogue and one part memoir, pieces stitched together with an attack on the "virtuecrats" of the American far right. William Bennett, Robert Bork, Pat Buchanan, Dr. Laura, Jerry Falwell and Bill O'Reilly all take their turn on the chopping block as author Dan Savage traverses the country in search of hot spots where he hopes to commit each of the seven deadly sins. And he nearly succeeds. In one of the book's funniest episodes, Savage calls a prayer line that he found advertised on a Christian cable network, only to be informed that as a gay man who cannot marry, he is doomed to a life of fornication and shall never rise to adulterer status (he is reassured that "fire is fire" and he's bound for hell right alongside the adulterers). "Skipping Towards Gomorrah" is funny. Parts of it are laugh-out-loud funny, but as one would expect from Dan Savage - author of "The Kid," regular contributor to "This American Life," and editor and sex columnist for The Stranger - this book is not for the prudish. It's replete with four-letter words and anatomical descriptions that will make Mom blush, although Savage's forays uncover interesting and entirely unexpected snippets of American culture. Hoping to indulge himself in a little "Falwell-style" gluttony, Savage attends a conference sponsored by the National Association for the Advancement of Fat Acceptance (NAAFA) in San Francisco. He soon realizes that the meeting is little more than a thinly-veiled meat market. BBWs (big, beautiful women) attend primarily to try and attract an FA (fat admirer). In Las Vegas, Savage attends the annual Lifestyles Organization (LSO) convention which hosts a weekend of frolicking for more than 3,000, mostly suburban, "playcouples." He calculates that with many such groups across the country, there are more people involved in organized swinging than the entire gay male population, underlining the irony that while swinging is ignored by conservatives as a fossil from the '70s, gay marriage is blasted as an irreproachable threat to the American family. Savage begins each chapter by detailing the historical legacy of one of the seven deadly sins - greed, lust, sloth, gluttony, envy, pride and anger - pulling references from the likes of Dante and Saint Jerome on gluttony and Peraldus, a 13th-century Dominican friar, on envy. He ends each chapter with ruminations on the appeal of the sin. We gamble not because we are greedy, but because our lives are too safe and predictable. We need sloth because of increasingly hectic schedules. Savage does pull a few surprises. He points out that Osama bin Laden and Jerry Falwell harbor similar ideologies. They both hate liberated women, sexual freedom, secular culture and fundamental human rights. But then he goes on to unconditionally support the war on Afghanistan. In the chapter on pride, he offers a strong argument against gay pr