Going into the reading of this book, I think I held hopes a little too high for what it eventually achieved. My hope was that it would be a wonderfully civil way to begin discourse between religious theists, agnostics, and atheists alike about the existence of God(s). I found Dawkins' prose brilliant, his thinking relatively flawless. However, there were moments when his detail to large scale and cosmic ideas were truly difficult to follow. I had to look up quite a few words as I read the book, and it really was work to get through. I'm glad I did. But for people who might be predisposed to disagree with Dawkins' hypothesis, I don't foresee many willing to put in the work to read it.

More problematic, I think, is something that Dawkins points out in the very first chapter of "The God Delusion"-- the respect that is required of anyone discussing religion. Dawkins asserts that he will afford it no more respect than if he were discussing any other subject, and he holds to that throughout the book. The problem is that Dawkins does NOT respect religion in the least, and so, while trying to hold it to the same standards as many other subjects, he often comes across as horribly demeaning and self-righteous in his proclamations. For a reader such as myself, who has no real ties to religion, I found many of these instances rather comical, in all honesty. For anyone more pious than myself, offense is the clear direction that would be taken, especially when they are used to the deference usually afforded to people enumerating their beliefs. Many of the others views dismiss Dawkins as someone who does not truly understand what he is discussing, is too narrowly focused, and lacking expertise. I must say that I find the book very thoroughly researched, footnoted, and allowing for the humanization of many of his targets, when appropriate. Unfortunately, because of the author's self-congratulatory, overbearing style, I think many may miss his most important points. Which is too bad, because they are not insignificant.