Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

I picked this book up for an inauspicious reason: I wasn't interested in it, and didn't care if I ruined it. I was heading into the mountains for a backpacking trip and wanted a book that was light, small, paperback, and expendable. "Good Omens," by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, was the perfect candidate; it was lent to me years ago by a now-disgraced and reviled ex-boyfriend of my sister-in-law...I would be perfectly happy using it as toilet paper if the need arose (and on a backpacking trip, it just might).
It is a happy surprise that the book turned out to be one of the more fun, entertaining, original and clever stories I've read in quite some time.
The authors are both famous in their own right (Neil Gaiman as a fantasy/comic book/modern myth writer - including Newbery Award winner "The Graveyard Book," which I've already reviewed - and Terry Pratchett as a Science Fiction author) who wrote this book collaboratively on somewhat of a whim. As they explain in the lengthy afterword, it was written before email, so they would literally talk on the phone, take turns writing the next few passages, and then send the manuscript back and forth to each other in the mail...pretty remarkable. What they miraculously came up with has turned into something of a cult favorite and commercially/critically successful modern classic of sorts.
The premise, boiled clumsily down, goes something like this: the Angel who originally guarded the Garden of Eden (Aziraphale) and the demon who tempted Eve (Crowley) have lived on Earth among men ever since, casually doing their respective evil and good duties; they've developed, over the thousands of years, two things: a friendly camaraderie and mutual appreciation, and a grudging love for the planet and us flawed beings who live here. So when they discover that the Antichrist has been born and Armageddon is approaching, they decide to band together to derail the plans and save the world so they can continue to enjoy it. Its a fun premise, and it is executed perfectly. The book is a rollicking, irreverent, non-stop comedic adventure full of wit, hilarity, memorable characters, and a surprising amount of heart and sensitivity. Although it drips with satire and sarcasm, the book has a beating heart; it is actually, in its amusing and charming way, quite thought-provoking, articulate and intelligent in the questions it raises about morality, ethics, religion, and humanity.
It was, in short, a great read, and one I'd enthusiastically recommend. In one fell swoop it upgraded that erstwhile ex-boyfriend from "useless ass, best forgotten" to "useless ass, best forgotten, who once lent me a pretty great book."
I'm keeping the book.