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Candidate Without a Prayer: An Autobiography of a Jewish Atheist in the Bible Belt
by
Herb Silverman
,
Richard Dawkins
(Goodreads Author)
In this deeply revealing and engaging autobiography, Herb Silverman tells his iconoclastic life story. He takes the reader from his childhood as an Orthodox Jew in Philadelphia, where he stopped fasting on Yom Kippur to test God’s existence, to his adult life in the heart of the Bible Belt, where he became a legendary figure within America’s secular activist community and
...more
Hardcover
,
255 pages
Published
June 1st 2012
by Pitchstone Publishing
(first published March 24th 2012)
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Community Reviews
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A fun though slight autobiography of Herb Silverman, mathematician and prominent American atheist. Silverman recounts his Jewish upbringing, his career as a mathematics professor, and his late conversion from an apathetic to activist voice for atheism.
Some of the most entertaining parts of the book involve his upbringing in a Jewish family, one which frowned on too much fraternization with gentiles and which certainly would not condone marriage outside the faith. Silverman ended up disappointing ...more
Some of the most entertaining parts of the book involve his upbringing in a Jewish family, one which frowned on too much fraternization with gentiles and which certainly would not condone marriage outside the faith. Silverman ended up disappointing ...more
Herb Silverman is a retired math professor and atheist activist living in Charleston, SC. My parents read about him in the local newspaper and over the years have sent me clippings of his adventures. Being a Yankee Jewish atheist in Charleston is no easy feat—it helps to be funny—and this pedestrian autobiography is full of witty tales of little outrages to common sense and decency he encounters in the South. Challenging SC law, he runs for governor since it is illegal for atheists to serve in p
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It was a bit of a challenge writing this book review without revealing or spoiling the number of anecdotal gems contained within. Herb Silverman, if you’re unfamiliar, is an atheist, activist, and the President of the Secular Coalition for America. When asked to review Candidate Without a Prayer, I was at first concerned that it would be a three hundred page advert for the Coalition. It wasn’t.
This book doesn’t take off quickly; in fact, the first three chapters have a very slow pace. These page ...more
This book doesn’t take off quickly; in fact, the first three chapters have a very slow pace. These page ...more
CANDIDATE WITHOUT A PRAYER: The Autobiography of a Jewish Atheist in the Bible Belt
By Herb Silverman
Forward by Richard Dawkins
Review by Tim Campbell
Print version published by Pitchstone Publishing 2012. E-Book published by American Humanist Press 2012. 252 pages.
First, a word about the E-book format. This is American Humanist Press’s first title to be published as an E-book. It is also coincidentally the first E-book that I have dealt with. I am by nature a traditionalist. I want to have the fe ...more
By Herb Silverman
Forward by Richard Dawkins
Review by Tim Campbell
Print version published by Pitchstone Publishing 2012. E-Book published by American Humanist Press 2012. 252 pages.
First, a word about the E-book format. This is American Humanist Press’s first title to be published as an E-book. It is also coincidentally the first E-book that I have dealt with. I am by nature a traditionalist. I want to have the fe ...more
The state constitution of South Carolina used to require all elected officials to believe in a supreme being. The US Constitution prohibits religious tests to hold office. Hmmm...wasn't this settled in the 1800's? Anyway, this is an interesting autobiography of Herb Silverman, a mathematics professor in South Carolina who ultimately got the state constitution changed. It is funny and touching. You learn about his life and about math, as well as his interactions with the SC government.
Good enough. Quite a few amusing bits, and some really good stories. I'm especially glad that when the person who loaned it to me let me know she needed it back, I skipped to the last chapter and read that when I still had a few more chapters to read. It encouraged me to finish the book, and when I got to the end of the penultimate chapter, IT was the perfect end to the book!
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Herb Silverman is founder and president of Secular Coalition For American and, as the book's subtitle says, he is a Jewish Atheist in the Bible Belt. This is his autobiography.
Silverman talks about his childhood, family, and education in a humorous, often self-deprecating, manner. He continues this entertaining style throughout the book as he describes his professional teaching career as a math professor, unwitting introduction into political activism, and his philosophies on introducing these s ...more
Silverman talks about his childhood, family, and education in a humorous, often self-deprecating, manner. He continues this entertaining style throughout the book as he describes his professional teaching career as a math professor, unwitting introduction into political activism, and his philosophies on introducing these s ...more
A fairly uninteresting life. It would be better served as memoir versus autobiography as the theme of atheism in the South is overshadowed by a life of a Jewish math professor who grew up in Philadelphia and had a normal life professionally and privately. Hitchens Hitch-22 had little about his personal life but was an astounding book of his travels and observations. This author could learn from that model.
Read this aloud with Doug on our trip to Seattle- enjoyed some of Herb's wiseass descriptions of his life- especially enjoyed his running for governor and his adventures becoming a notary public. What's with him and his mom?
I think I would have enjoyed this book more, but I found the narrator of the audiobook annoying!
This book made me laugh right out loud! Mr. Silverman is one audacious character. :)
Source: Friendly Atheist
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