The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers

I love the Coen Brothers. My favourites are probably Fargo, The Hudsucker Proxy and O Brother, Where Art Thou?. But my VERY favourite is without a doubt The Big Lebowski. These are the movies I buy, knowing that yes, I really will watch them again and again. And I’m not alone. There’s an almost-reverence among fans of the Coen Brothers, and The Big Lebowski in particular. Which is why the existence of the book The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers doesn’t surprise me.

Author Cathleen Falsanti, also a Coen fan, began noticing recurrent and complementary themes of morality, honor and right and wrong underlying the more overt storylines of the films, which are often anything but moral in appearance, ranging from ridiculous and ludicrous to shockingly violent. She became interested and perhaps a little obsessed, and the book was born. I haven’t read it yet, but I’m curious to – it would be a great gift item for movie buffs or theology students with a sense of humour.