Gods Behaving Badly: A Novel

Marie Phillips
Little, Brown and Company (2007)
ISBN 9780316067621
Reviewed by Irene Watson for Reader Views (11/07)


I can’t help but smile reflecting back on the plot of this book. Just coming back from vacation in Greece, it was fun to read about gods such as Appollo, Zues, Dionsysus and Aphrodite, as well as others, and wondering if it’s likely they still exist. Although fictional, Marie Phillips makes it possible for them to be in this world, but not of this world.

“Gods Behaving Badly” tells of Greek gods living in modern-day London in bodies like mortals. Once magnificent and prevailing, they are now only a myth in the eyes of humans.  The gods have lived in the same flat, dilapidated and filthy, for centuries. Bored, restless, and unhappy, the gods take matters of the world into their own hands, turning it into turmoil. 

Mixed in with the lives of the gods, mortals Neil and Alice become the product of the discontent of the gods.  The question becomes evident:  Will Alice and Neil be able to restore the world from the results of the turmoil?

I’m not sure how to comment on this book, maybe I could say it’s “weird.”  I was finding myself fluctuating between thinking the story is entertaining, to resonating with some of the characters, to shaking my head wondering how a particular scene came about. At times I found myself lost and had to re-read what I just read. 

However, what I can say is the story in “Gods Behaving Badly” is hideous at times, yet humorous and naughty, and certainly gives a satirical look at the Greek gods.  Marie Philips does a good job of painting the gods as they may be if they still existed today, unfortunately for them, not as they were revered at the time of their existence.  Or, maybe they still do exist….

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