The Left Left Behind

PM's Outspoken Authors #1

by Terry Bisson

Sardonic and merciless, this satire of the entire apocalyptic enterprise provides a humorous and timely interpretation of the bestselling Left Behind series—the adventures of those "left behind" to battle the Anti-Christ after all Born-Again Christians have ascended into heaven. From predatory preachers and goth lingerie to Indian casinos and “art cars” at Burning Man, this religious spoof deftly pairs the personal with the fictional. Featuring an extensive author interview and biography, this contemporary parody also includes the unique one-act drama, Special Relativity, which asks the question: When Paul Robeson, J. Edgar Hoover, and Albert Einstein are raised from the dead at an anti-Bush rally, which one wears the dress?

Genres: Science Fiction, Humor, Short Stories, Fantasy, Fiction, Satire

144 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2009

About the author

Terry Ballantine Bisson was an American science fiction and fantasy author best known for his short stories, including "Bears Discover Fire" (1990), which which won both the Hugo and Nebula awards, as well as They're Made Out of Meat (1991), which has been adapted for video often.

Adapted from Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

My second book read from the PM's Outspoken Authors series. Like KSR's The Lucky Strike, this one has also three parts:

1. The left left behind - a satirical and hilarious novellete, inspired by the religious series Left Behind, which I haven't heard of until now. (Fun fact: the Antichrist in the series is a Romanian. Lol)

2. Special Relativity - a one-act drama, featuring Einstein, Paul Robeson and J. Edgar Hoover, raised from the dead for an afternoon. Pretty funny too.

3. Fried Green Tomatoes - an interview with the author.

Overall, quite an enjoyable and light read; perfect after tiring days.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my 2010 "Book I Read During Inventory". This book was planned to be Tao Lin's Shoplifting from American Apparel, but that book hadn't been counted yet when I started to read, and this one had.

Because this is a BIRDI, it means that it's a short book that I could read in about an hour with lots of beeping going on around, people yelling and occasionally having to get up and point out where the ISBN number is on a book (I just realized how many times I've said the words "ISBN number", and how redundant that is since the N stands for number. I must get out of this awful habit).

This is a short book, with parts to it: a short story, a short play and a bit longer than short, but still shorter than the story or the play, interview.

The short story is a satire of the Left Behind series of books. The play and the interview didn't really do very much for me, so I'm only going to talk about the short story.

In "The Left Left Behind" the entire 7 years of tribulation is jam packed into about fifty pages of story, and about as much happens in these fifty pages of story as in the first 3,000 pages or so of LaHaye and Jenkin that I'd read (what a waste of engery when I think of it as that many thousands of pages or more that I'd read of Left Behind). Bisson captures the stupidity of the originals, L&J's lack of knowledge about the professions they have given their characters to be engaged in, the asinine descriptions of characters that are stuck on a binary scale of good/evil, cute/ugly without any sense of gradations. The story also picks up on the implicit USA number 1 vibe of the Left Behind books, and its Republican association that people who have money are good people, people who are poor are poor because they are evil. This isn't across the board mind you, because some good uppper class people needed to be Left Behind to run the Tribulation Force in the L&J books, and to make up the rock band The Tribs in this spoof.

I found the satire to be pretty funny, although I thought that there could have been a little more bite to it.

But to digress two points that maybe would be better placed in a L&J book review instead of here.

1. If the Rapture comes and you are left behind, and you feel like you've made a mistake and now believe in God, if you've done this then why care about anything else? Basically what I am saying is that everything that happens from the second book in the L&J series through probably the middle of book 12 just doesn't matter. The central tenant of Evangelical (or the modern Self-Help movement for that matter) is, you are an insignificant piece of shit, nothing you do will make any difference, it is only by giving up any illusion of control and throwing your cards in with a hero like JC will you succeed, and JC is like the ultimate shitty story device that just can't lose, so throw you're cards in with him and it's all good.

At least with Catholics there is the idea that your actions matter, it's doing good deeds and refraining from doing bad things, and when you do bad things you confess them that gets you into heaven. I get that I don't believe in it, but that makes sense to me. Evangelicals on the other hand don't believe in what you do, as long as you say you accept Jesus into your heart (or even on some tracts as long as you check Yes to say you are saved), then you goto Heaven, you have abdicated all responsibility from yourself. How easy, how American.

Now, if all you have to do is say you've got JC in your heart, and if this 7 year tribulation is going on and at the end of it JC and his zombie army is going to wipe out the anti-christ and his army of mere mortals and everything that happens has already been written down in some weird ass chapter to the Bible, if all this is true than, why do anything. Why start a force to fight the anti-christ? It doesn't matter, you won't stop him, JC will. Why try to stop the returned prophets from getting killed when the time comes for them to die? There is no reason, it's inevitable. Actually by trying to stop these things the Tribulation Force is actually showing how they don't really believe in the literalness of the trippy shit that makes up Revelations.

Which makes me ask do L&J really believe? Or do they doubt?

2. According the the mythology book I also read this week, some theories about the congruency of Hero myths from around the world have them as remnants of rituals from our earlier history, and are not actually historical events exaggerated. Lord Ragen's essay was especially devoted to this idea, and he gives a reading of The Iliad as partly the ritual of rulership passing from one king to another on an 8 year cycle (why the 8 year cycle I forget), but then the bulk of Homer's story is about the year leading up to and the year of abdication by a ruler and then the start of a fresh cycle.

According to Ragen's theory many of the qualities of a hero myth Jesus conforms to. Now, the Tribulation is a seven year cycle, which means that in the eighth year a new ruler takes over, which in this story would be Jesus, making a symbolic passing of power from what could be said to be an awful rule (which in reality most every leader probably is at the time) to the hopes for a new golden age, or a new great leader (like supporters of a new leader will always think before they are disillusioned by more of the same). Thus putting the story of Revelation in the universal hero myth category, and really no different from a bunch of other stories, and really not about the end of the world at all, but only about the normal passage of power from one ruler to another (reductive? Fuck yeah, and I don't really know if I believe a word of this, but it's just something that came to me this week, most of the details have been left out because I'm getting tired of writing right now).

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute. Nothing remarkable nor particularly original but decent, fun stories.

[John Defrog: global citizen, local gadfly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another installment from the PM Press Outspoken Authors series, from an author I haven’t read before. Terry Bisson does SF and speculative fiction, but also plenty of non-fiction, novelizations, plays and political writing (sometimes all at once). He’s also been the one handling most of the Q&As for this series (or at least the ones I’ve read so far). This collection features a parody of the Left Behind series – which doubles as a left-wing dream scenario where every conservative on the planet just vanishes forever – and a one-act play in which Einstein, Paul Robeson and J. Edgar Hoover return from the dead at a house full of protesters preparing for an anti-Bush demonstration. All of which is great if you share Bisson’s unapologetically hard-left views. For everyone else to the right of that (to include moderates) it may come across as heavy-handed, or at least too polemical and reliant on political stereotypes. Bisson isn’t necessarily unfair, but he’s not subtle either, and if yr not in the choir he’s preaching to, it can be a bit eye-rolling at times. That said, at least he has a sense of humor about it.

[Kersplebedeb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fantastic idea, ask an SF author for a short story (or two) and buff it up with an intrview. The folks at PM are friends of mine, but as you may have noticed i try and be a bit extra hard when judging pals' books - so thee four stars is well merited. (Esp. as i have found Terry Bisson a bit hit-or-miss in the past.)

The best part of the book was the interview at the end. Acessible but more than just basic.

My one gripe - and i'm not even sure if it is enough to be a gripe - is the "show us your tits" sub-theme that runs through the title story, and which i have noticed in some of Bisson's other stories. i've no objection to tits, sex-for-sex's-sake, or whatever, but the way in which all this comes through here just doesn't work well for me. Maybe because the story's a humourous satire, the way sex is incorporated into it feels a bit too much like a ha-ha-not-funny frat boy joke.

Still, worth the read.

[Peter Tillman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty heavy-handed parody, though it has moments.

[Pop Bop · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Nice Edge, But More Mellow Than the Blurb Suggests

So this satirical novella was either going to be heavyhanded and obvious or light and clever and good for a laugh. I was game to take a chance. Turns out that our author can work with a light touch when he wants to. There were some nice edgy throwaway lines tucked in amongst the more predictable broad strokes, but the feel was more wryly mocking than heavy. The book actually had a nice upbeat final twist to it, which was a welcome bonus. This was a fine entertainment.

The play, featuring Einstein, Paul Robeson, and J. Edgar Hoover, had its moments and a few snappy bits of dialogue.

The final third, an interview with the author, was surprisingly interesting and congenial, and much better than the usual author with her dogs in her garden puff pieces.

So, this isn't exactly first level transgressive fiction, but it was an entertaining and zippy take down of the whole "Left Behind" phenomenon, and since that is what was promised I was happy.

(Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

[David H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This special collection from the Outspoken Authors series has one novelette and one short play, along with an interview with the author.

The novelette, "The Left Left Behind," is a satire of the infamous Left Behind series, and I suppose in that vein, it's a good parody, but I was just bored by it because I think satires usually work better when you have familiarity with what's being satirized. The play, "Special Relativity," was more to my liking, with Einstein, Paul Robeson, and J. Edgar Hoover's ghosts present at a protest in the early 2000s. The interview with Bisson at the end was eye-opening; I think I've only read one or two short stories by him before, so I hadn't realized his background in activism.

[Friscomama · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read Left Behind by Tim LaHaye, the book that inspired, The Left Left Behind, I was interested in reading this book which almost has the same story. The small differences are crucial, as they lead to different endings.

Bisson fits all you need to know, The Left Left, a one act play, and an extensive author interview and biography into a very short book.
LaHaye's novel runs to 496 pages in the first book in the series.

[Roy Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Left Left Behind is a good satire of the original Left Behind series.

Special Relativity is a short play starring Albert Einstein, Paul Robeson and J. Edgar Hoover. Einstein figures out how to create a singularity that brings the trio to the early 2000's.

The interview has many interesting questions and responses.

[Alejandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was funny as hell. As usual Terry Bisson not only doesn't disappoint, but leaves me fishing this was a history book and not SF.
I would have loved more details about the world of the antichrist, but besides that, perfectly funny.

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

This had me laughing out loud. Love it. Needs some copy editing though.

[Porscha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isn't my favorite, but I may need to have a better understanding of the left behind series to get it?

[Elijah]

Fun!

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never read any of the Left Behind books, so I'm sure some of the satire involved was lost on me. Still, amusing.

[Tomasz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A neat start to a very neat series, this slim collection delivers exactly what is advertised on the cover: the late, lamented Terry Bisson in good form, ready to fight. Recommended.

[Shel]

Terry Bisson is editing PM Press' Outspoken Author series. I'm a fan! Each book includes a short story or two by an author and an interview. "The Science of Herself," by Karen Joy Fowler and "The Wild Girls," by Ursula K. Le Guin were fabulous and fascinating.

"The Left Left Behind," however, is farce and, OMG, silly.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

As Good As It can Get…

Left Left Behind is definitely a satire to be read in a parody of Left Behind series. Recommended specially for those getting tired of those Rapturized End Times crap. Yet it’s a fun read. The play about Einstein, Robeson, and Hoover, worthy of Twilight Zone pantheon. However, the text was kinda scrambled but still able to follow through. And an interesting interview with Terry Bisson. Recommended.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable but slight. Includes a story that's a deft parody of the Left Behind Christian apocalypse books, which features a nice ending, and a play that's fun, followed by an interview and a bibliography. I've enjoyed all the Bisson books I've read, but this one could have had more substance to it.

[David Schwan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a short story "The Left Left Behind" and a short play "Special Relativity." The short story takes the idea of the rapture and twists it in a fun direction, with an appropriate ending. The play has Paul Robeson, Albert Einstein and J. Edgar Hoover as characters and takes revenge on Hoover. A short book with fun satire.

[Shauna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is part of an interesting series that focuses on authors. This book's focus is science fiction writer Terry Bisson. It contains a short story—a parody of the "Left Behind" series—and a short play by Bisson, an interview with Bisson, and a bibliography.

[Gabriel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this parody of Left Behind, but alas, it's an incredibly broad and not terribly clever parody. The play that makes up the second half of the book, "Special Relativity," is better.

[Allan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on the interview who'd known Terry was involved with radical politics? Or friends with Peter Coyote or Mumia All Jamal?
If you're asking I enjoyed"The Left Left Behind", but I have preference for stuff that makes fun of Evangelicals. YMMV.

[Jamie Henderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The two fiction pieces in this book are each pretty cute, and mildly entertaining. Both have the feel, however, of a cute idea that didn't quite warrant the length they were given. For short works by Bisson that are tighter and better paced, I recommend the 'Bears Discover Fire' collection instead.

[Jamie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Man, why does most left-wing satire suck so much? Ew. I've been really enjoying Terry Bisson lately (more coming) but this just bit.

[Mallory · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clever little story about how the Rapture could actually be super fun for the folks who get "left behind".