The Gospel according to The Simpsons, Bigger and Possibly Even Better! Edition: With a New Afterword Exploring South Park, Family Guy, & Other Animated TV Shows

Mark I. Pinsky

May 2007 · Westminster John Knox Press

About this ebook

Is there anything holy in Springfield, the home to irascible Bart Simpson and his naive dad Homer, their enthusiastic evangelical neighbor Ned Flanders, the sourpuss minister Rev. Lovejoy, and the dozens of other unique characters who inhabit the phenomenally popular TV show? In this revision of the 2001 bestseller, author Mark Pinsky says yes!

In this entertaining and enlightening book, Pinsky shows how The Simpsons engages issues of religion and morality in a thoughtful, provocative, and genuinely respectful way. With three new chapters and updates to reflect the 2001-2006 seasons, Pinsky has given a thorough facelift to the book that Publishers Weekly called "thoughtful and genuinely entertaining."

The new material includes chapters on Buddhism and gay marriage and an extensive afterword that explores how religion is treated on the animated shows that have followed in the footsteps of The Simpsons: South Park, Family Guy, Futurama, American Dad, and King of the Hill.

About the author

Mark I. Pinsky is the author of The Gospel according to The Simpsons (with Samuel Parvin), The Gospel according to Disney, and A Jew among the Evangelicals. His writing has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and the Columbia Journalism Review. He appears frequently in national media discussing religion and culture.