Reading Glutton

The God Cookie, by Geoffrey Wood

2012-02-12T14:42:00.000-08:00

What a refreshing entertaining novel! The God Cookie is a delightful read, with a bit of inspiration thrown in. When Parrish, a twenty-something coffee shop owner, decides to tell God he's "all in" for obeying him, he's not sure how to interpret his fortune cookie message: "Take the corner." He decides the message is from God, goes to the corner bus stop, and has a series of encounters that bring him to a better understanding of God in his life.

I should say up front that besides the theme of hearing and obeying God, much of the plot is a pretty standard romantic comedy. He and Audra meet cute, mix like oil and water, warm up to each other, he seems to get the girl, the girl pushes him away, he thinks she has another boyfriend, they have a falling out, and they get together in the end. (I hope I'm not giving anything away by telling you that he gets the girl.)

The romantic subplot and the witty banter with the love interest and with his employees, old buddies of his who work at his shop mostly so they can hang out and drink coffee, help tie the book together, but the main thrust does remain. When we commit to hearing God and obeying him, our lives are changed. I love the way Wood puts a practical face on Parrish's obedience. As a result of his commitment, he meets his neighbors and forms relationships with them. Fortune cookie or not, one of the primary ways we can live in obedience to God is by simply looking at the people around us with his eyes, and seeking ways to meet needs, whether physical or relational. What a great message.

I liked Wood's insight on hearing God. Parrish reflects on his reaction when people question his hearing from God. "'When God speaks to you, is it in an audible voice?' they'd inevitably ask. . . . " He compares it to nonverbal responses, like a nod of the head indicating a response. "Like that. A speaking in the head. The response to a gesture. One you don't see, but has happened. More than an intimation, less than audible. But words appearing, surprising ones, answers to questions I wasn't asking, hadn't even thought of yet, but they fit perfectly. And there's peace."

Later, when Audra, who isn't sure what to make of God and her new boyfriend's claim to hear from him, is trying to decide whether to pray, she thinks, "When everything all in a moment comes together, surprisingly perfect, it doesn't prove there's a loving God; but if there is, isn't it perfect when all in a moment, God proves how surprisingly he loves?"

The God Cookie isn't really an evangelistic novel; there's no explicit presentation of the gospel, and the characters are taking baby steps in faith and obedience. But Christians and non-Christians alike will enjoy the story and can relate to the questions raised. You might even be prompted to listen a little more closely to the voice of God every day!

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Eragon, by Christopher Paolini

2012-02-11T01:00:00.000-08:00

As part of my effort to keep up with Elliot's reading, I decided to pick up Eragon (on CD, of course) to see what all the fuss is about. First things first: Paolini wrote Eragon when he was 15. It's a pretty impressive work--for a 15 year old. He's just published book 4 of the series; I hope, for his sake, his writing has gotten better. But even not considering the age of the writer, Eragon is more like good fan fiction than an original work.

In terms of plot, the parallels to Star Wars are so numerous that it became downright ridiculous. The setting is Tolkien-esque, with elves, dwarves, and men, but the plot is all Star Wars. Did he realize this when he was writing? Is it coincidence, plagiarism, or tribute? I don't know. I'm not a big fantasy reader (other than Tolkien) but my suspicion as I read, confirmed by other reviews, was that many of the other story elements here are derivative from other fantasy writers.

None of this is to say that Eragon is a bad book. It's not bad, it's just a weak imitation of much better books.

99 Ways to Stretch Your Home Budget, by Cheri Gillard

2012-02-09T19:30:00.000-08:00

If you have ever read a book or magazine article about budgeting or personal finance, you have probably run across most ideas in Cheri Gillard's little book. In fact, if you stop and spend 20 minutes right now brainstorming with your spouse or a couple of friends, you could probably come up with many of the ideas here.

That said, Gillard's 99 Ways to Stretch Your Home Budget puts together some practical ideas in one place to spur the reader to live a bit more frugally. Some of the ideas are so obvious they hardly seem worth writing down: drop cable TV, eat out less often, check out books and movies from the library. Others seem a little silly: make your own baby wipes, shower at the health club as much as possible (why not just save money by dropping the club membership?), flush the toilet infrequently, give up tanning beds (just kidding, that's a good idea) and quit smoking (on smoking and tanning beds, why pay for cancer when you can get it for free?).

So maybe she's not the most original writer in the world, but if you're looking for a few new ideas to save money, or need to be reminded about some you already know, take a gander at Gillard's little book. You can at least find a way to save a couple of bucks for the price of the book!

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First Contact: Or, It's Later Than You Think, by Evan Mandery

2012-02-07T14:25:00.000-08:00

I was drawn to this novel because of the blurb on the cover, comparing it to works of Kurt Vonnegut and Douglas Adams. I like Vonnegut OK, but I think Douglas Adams is one of the greatest writers EVER! So of course I had to check out someone following in Adams's footsteps. I've read Douglas Adams, and Mandery is no Douglas Adams. Now that we've gotten that clarification out of the way, I'll say that I did enjoy Mandery's book.

More than Vonnegut and Adams, Mandery reminded me of Christopher Buckley's brand of political satire. In First Contact, aliens make contact with Earth, announcing their arrival on YouTube. The story revolves around an aide to the president and his relationship with the Rigelian ambassador. Their superiors, especially a bumbling, exercise-obsessed, hyper-religious U.S. President (Mandery's clear lampooning of George W. Bush was a little too mean to be funny. . . . But still kind of funny.), end up in a series of misunderstandings and ultimately a nuclear show-down (the American President's fault, of course).

First Contact is an entertaining trifle, but little more. Mandery is a funny writer, but his attempts to channel Adams fall short. Like Adams, Mandery uses lots of asides and digressions, Hitchhiker's Guide style, but somehow doesn't keep it all together like Adams did. If you ever liked Douglas Adams, Monty Python, or science fiction with a rowdy sense of humor, pick up First Contact for a laugh.

Man Alive, Patrick Morley

2012-02-01T20:41:00.000-08:00

I had not read anything by Patrick Morley before, although his book The Man in the Mirror has sold millions of copies and has served as the inspiration for men's groups and discipleship ministries around the world. Morley has a great reputation in men's ministry, and certainly knows what he's talking about.

Knowing Morley's reputation, his newest book, Man Alive: Transforming Your 7 Primal Needs into a Powerful Spiritual Life, was a bit of a let-down to me. Based on his decades of discipling men, he pinpoints some of men's greatest needs: to feel God's personal care, to get out of destructive behaviors, to make a difference, etc. But his answers fell short. The only chapter that really made me think and apply to where I am was a chapter where he gave some practical things to do to show your wife and kids you love them. He has some good ideas there.

The value of Man Alive lies in its potential as a discussion starter, which is the explicit design of the book. Each chapter has some real-life examples and some talking points centered on one of the 7 primal needs from the subtitle. He includes some questions for discussion at the end of each chapter. So don't pick up Man Alive if you're looking for some theological substance; place this one is the "small group materials" section with the discussion-starters books.

But don't take my word for it. Read the first chapter here or buy it here.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. Thanks, WaterBrook!
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The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

2012-01-26T14:14:00.000-08:00

My 12 year old was reading the The Hunger Games series last year, so I picked up the audio books at the library to listen to while I drive to work. Some youth fiction is intolerable, but Suzanne Collins's Hunger Games series was enjoyable, even if it did get a bit weaker with each book.

The Hunger Games occur each year, requiring each of the 12 districts of Panem to send a boy and a girl to compete in a fight to the death. Panem, a future incarnation of a sort of post-apocalyptic America, is ruled by an authoritarian elite in the Capitol, with shades of a new Roman Empire. This annual tribute is a primary means by which they maintain control over the districts. The Games are televised live; every move of every contender is monitored and filmed, like "Survivor," only with deadly consequences.

The heroine of The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, from one of the poorest districts, volunteers to take the place of her little sister when her name is drawn. Determined to show some independence and not to bow to the demands of the Capitol, she defiantly sets out to maintain her integrity while preserving her life, becoming a folk heroine in the districts. The Hunger Games tells the story of her first Hunger Games, Catching Fire has her returning to the Games, and Mockingjay has her leading a rebellion against the Capitol.

Jennifer Lawrence plays Katniss in the movie, releasing in March.

Collins creates a compelling, if not wholly believable, future world, a backdrop against which Katniss's self-realization can take place. Her character makes the story, a rebellious girl with a big heart, a determined leader, but a relatable, likable teenager who deals with the usual teen issues. Collins's strengths are her characterizations and the small-scale encounters in the first book. As the latter 2 delve into larger-scale political and even military machinations, the narrative breaks down a bit. It was good enough for me to finish the trilogy, but by the time Mockingjay ended, I was done with Panem.

This series is well-written and engaging and worth a read. Although it's being taught in high schools and middle schools, I'm not sure how much lasting literary value these books have. Will they be read and cherished for many generations? I doubt it. Still, I enjoyed the books, and especially appreciate any time literature promotes resistance to an authoritarian regime. We need more of that!

Rough Crossings, by Simon Schama

2012-01-21T13:38:00.000-08:00

They say history is written by the victors. I know my view of the American Revolution is colored by my having been born, raised, and educated in the United States. So here comes an Englishman to add a little bit of perspective to my America-centric view of history.

Simon Schama's Rough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves, and the American Revolution presents a slice of history not often considered in studies of the time during and after the American Revolution. British abolitionists were ahead of the curve, working to abolish the slave trade. Some of that spirit was behind the British attitude toward slaves in the American colonies, but, as Schama describes, the war took precedent. The British made an open offer to colonial slaves: fight with us, and we'll grant your freedom. Some of these black loyalists took them up on the offer, leaving the fields and taking up arms. As a reward for their service, they could go to Nova Scotia, the Caribbean, back to England, or elsewhere. Unfortunately, some were captured and sold back to slavery, and many ended up in servitude little different that slavery. But others did very well.

After the war, through the efforts of some British abolitionists, one group of over a thousand settlers in Nova Scotia, many of whom were former slaves, were given the opportunity to relocate to Sierra Leone and establish a new colony. Schama takes the reader through these events with a reporter's eye, bringing the stories alive with first-hand accounts and vivid descriptions. We know William Wilberforce, the most famous abolitionist. But before Wilberforce, there was Granville Sharp. Using natural law and legal arguments, Sharp campaigned against slavery, which he said violated English common law, and published the first major British anti-slavery book. His activism and advocacy were such that, as Schama writes, there was not a black person in the British colonies who didn't know Sharp's name.

We also meet John Clarkson, whose older brother Thomas was a major abolitionist alongside Wilberforce. John was recruited to lead the Sierra Leone resettlement movement, and, due to his commitment to the families moving from Nova Scotia, came to be revered by them as a modern-day Moses (or Noah, considering the means of transportation). One can scarcely imagine the feelings of these former slaves, many of whom were violently torn away from their homeland, suffered under the heavy hand of slavery in the colonies, and now would be returning to Africa as free people with the promise of land ownership and self-sufficiency.

Long before the 20th century civil rights movement, the blacks of Sierra Leone experienced unprecedented equality. Under Clarkson's leadership, blacks and whites were granted true equality, perhaps for the first time anywhere. Once they settled in at Sierra Leone, heads of households, including many women, voted for community leadership, "the first occasion on which African-Americans voted in any election." Schama goes on, "It was momentous . . . that the first women to cast their votes for any kind of public office anywhere in the world were black, liberated slaves who had chosen British freedom." In some ways, this band was a truer embodiment of the ideals of the American revolution than the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

If Rough Crossings has a weakness, it's the general lack of context. I wish I could have gotten a better sense of how many slaves actually fought with the British as a proportion of slaves in the colonies, and a comparison of how the Nova Scotia/Sierra Leone former slaves fared versus former slaves who lived elsewhere. I also wish Schama would have spent more time on the fact that almost side-by-side with Freetown a major port for the slave trade remained very active. The hypocrisy and split personality of the British Empire on slavery during this time is astounding.

Schama's book presents a little-known slice of history of the United States and the Africans who were brought here. His dry but compelling narrative captures the hardships of colonial life in both Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone, as well as the promise and hope they held out for a new life. Tragically, Clarkson's vision was thwarted by some of his countrymen, but Rough Crossings tells a terrific story that hints at what might have been in Africa.

Annie's Coming Out, by Rosemary Crossley and Anne McDonald

2012-01-16T14:04:00.000-08:00

It's not often that a book makes me cry. This book made me cry.

Several months ago I read William Horwood's unique and powerful novel Skallagrigg (read my review here), which follows a young girl's journey from an institution, where she had been placed by her family due to her cerebral palsy, to independence. Mr. Horwood commented on my review, noting that one of the inspirations for Skallagrigg was Annie's Coming Out, the story of Anne McDonald's journey from isolation in an institution--and in her own body--to communication, interaction, and self-determination.

So what's so sad about that? First of all, it's heartbreaking to read about the conditions under which Annie and her peers lived. Institutionalized their entire lives, these children, who had cerebral palsy or other severe disabilities, were trapped in a sort of limbo. The parents had placed the care of the children in the hands of the hospital. The hospital had written the children off as little more than vegetables. They suffered under the most horrible forms of abuse and neglect imaginable. Annie was a teenager before Rosemary Crossley came to work at the hospital and began experimenting with different means of communicating and began to build relationships with Annie and the other children.

In spite of the progress Crossley made with the children, using progressively more complex methods by which the children could spell out words and sentences, her superiors refused to acknowledge that the children could think and communicate on their own. Eventually Annie began to assert herself and started a legal fight for her freedom from the hospital. Eventually, to the chagrin of the hospital and government overseers, Annie won her freedom, setting a precedent for legal rights of the disabled.

Anne, pictured here with Crossley, died in 2010.

By improving her communication and bringing her case to the attention of the courts, Annie's case drew unwelcome attention to the hospital and its treatment of children. Hospital officials began to retaliate by separating communicative children from one another and ramping up the neglect. Annie lived in Australia, and the events of the book take place in the 1970s, but I am sure the attitudes and conditions described prevailed in the U.S. then, and, in spite of many improvements in care and therapy, are probably still around today. Reading Annie's Coming Out will make you want to stand up for the civil rights of disabled, institutionalized people in your community.

The saddest portion of the book, the section that put me over the edge, was Annie's reaction to her friend Stephen's death. As part of the hospital's retaliatory measures, Stephen was isolated from other patients and not allowed visitors. He was given no means of communicating. In his isolation and lack of hope, he died. Annie writes: "Stephen's death was the end of my belief in God. Previously I had wanted to believe in a caring God, who could love even people like us. No one who loved Stephen could have let him die a prisoner of his own body and of the Health Commission." I believe in a loving God, but I can scarcely blame Annie for her attitude, heartbreaking as it is. My prayer is that others in her shoes will get a taste of the grace and hope God offers.

God Gave Us Two, by Lisa Tawn Bergren

2012-01-12T20:45:00.000-08:00

When the little polar bear's mother is expecting a cub, Little Cub is full of questions. Mama and Papa reassure her as best they can: "God gave us you. Now he's given us two!" As Mama's lap shrinks, Little Cub becomes convinced that Mama's and Papa's love will only continue to grow when another cub comes along.

With Laura L. Bryant's beautiful art, featuring the bears' Arctic animal friends and lots of snow, Lisa Tawn Bergren's little story makes me want to snuggle up with my little cubs. I read God Gave Us Two to my two boy cubs, but I think they think they're beyond such cuddliness. When I asked E, age 12, whether he liked the book, he grunted, "No! It's for little kids!" When I assured him that I meant did he think it was good for little kids, he agreed that it was a good book. Unfortunately, Z, age 10 and infinitely distractible, was long gone.

God Gave Us Two is one of at least a half dozen Bergren/Bryant collaborations. I would definitely recommend it for the preschool/toddler set.

Thanks to Waterbrook/Multnomah for the complimentary review copy!
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Triumph: The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler's Olympics, by Jeremy Schaap

2012-01-11T12:55:00.000-08:00

Considered by many the greatest Olympian of all time, Jesse Owens took center stage at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, winning 4 gold medals and doing his part to shatter Hitler's myth of Aryan supremacy. Triumph follows his story, from his first informal races as a boy in Ohio, to his unprecedented performance at the 1936 Olympic Games. Jeremy Schaap tells Owens' story in the context of the history and controversy leading up to and during the Olympics, bringing the reader into the passions of the day.

Owens loved to run as a boy--no surprise there. His gym coach noticed him in class, primarily because of the perfect form of his legs. Throughout his career, his physical form was noted by many coaches and admirers. When, as a pre-teen, he ran an impromptu 100 yard dash in world-class time, the coach thought his stopwatch must have malfunctioned, but recognized the talent he had on his hands. Starting with the great raw material of Owens's natural form and perfect body, he worked around Owens's school and work schedule--young Jesse's earnings were a major contribution to the Owens family budget--and helped him gain the attention of college coaches. Owens attended Ohio State, where he set multiple records and led the track team, working toward qualifying for the 1936 Olympics.

Schaap spends a lengthy section of the book discussing the American movement to boycott the Berlin Olympics. The Germans were turning somersaults keeping Jews off their Olympic teams. Many Americans wanted to boycott the Olympics as a protest against the German's racism. The hypocrisy of the American position is laughable in retrospect. Jackie Robinson was still a decade away from playing in major league baseball. Consider Jesse Owens: the star of the OSU track team, he was not even permitted to live on campus! When he traveled to meets, he couldn't stay in the same hotels and eat in the same restaurants as his white teammates. Yet the Americans wanted to call Hitler on the carpet for his racism.

Coincidentally, I recently watched Leni Riefenstahl's Olympia, which documented the 1936 games. Schaap gives details of Riefenstahl's experiences during the filming. In spite of Hitler's desire to feature Aryan supremacy in the games and in the film, Riefenstahl made Owens the star of her film, just as he turned out to be the star of the games. Schaap gives some interesting background on Riefenstahl and her film, which was a much bigger deal than I realized.

Schaap presents Owens as a remarkable natural talent who remained humble about his accomplishments, yet always wanted to do more. When the press and others were famously talking about the snub from Hitler, who didn't formally congratulate Owens after his wins, as he did many of the white athletes, Owens refused to fall into the fray. He noted that Hitler waved at him after he won. In fact, he later cheekily went on to say that Hitler hadn't snubbed him, that FDR had by not sending Owens a congratulatory telegram.

Few have ever run as fast or as well as Owens. Winning 4 gold medals at the Olympics is a rare feat. Breaking 3 world records and tying a fourth in under an hour at a college track meet, as he did in 1935, may never be done again. He was truly a one-of-a-kind runner.

Forgotten God, by Francis Chan

2012-01-05T13:04:00.000-08:00

Francis Chan, founding pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, California, and sought-after conference speaker, will tell you that his books don't break new ground theologically. He's not out to be an original thinker; his goal is to inspire and energize the church. In Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit, he reminds us of the source of the energy and inspiration that should drive Christians and the church.

Chan's point is not that Christians aren't speaking in tongues enough. This book really isn't a treatise arguing for or against cessationism or supernatural gifts. Chan wants to focus on the supernatural presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Remember when Jesus, in John 16, shortly before his death, told his disciples about the Holy Spirit's coming? He said that it's good that he's going away, so the Holy Spirit can come to them. Imagine that: you're sitting next to Jesus, walking with him every day, eating meals with him, and he says, "I'm leaving, but I'm going to send the Holy Spirit. You won't be able to see him, touch him, or feel him, and it's really hard to hear him, if you ever do. But trust me, this is a much better arrangement for you!" Sounds odd, but if Jesus said it, I'll believe it, even if I don't really get it.

As believers, we have the exact same access to the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised his disciples. So where's the power? Chan calls on the church and individual Christians to rely on the Spirit's power. Churches often rely on slick marketing, talented worship teams, fancy facilities, eloquent preachers, and comprehensive programming to drive their growth. Chan isn't saying that such churches don't rely on the Holy Spirit, but that those features can drive a church without any Holy Spirit presence at all.

By the same token, individual Christians can show all the outwards appearances of following Christ, have effective ministries, raise Godly children, disciple younger Christians, exhibit the fruit of the Spirit, and avoid sin, all on their own power. But some people are just terrific people because of their character and upbringing, not necessarily because of the indwelling Spirit.

Chan wants to be able to attribute everything good that happens in a church and in a Christian to the Holy Spirit, so that there's no other possible explanation than the Holy Spirit for a church's growth and effectiveness, or for the transformed life of the Christian. This is a terribly hard thing to measure. Chan does a great job of reminding us to rely on the Holy Spirit, but also reminds us to do our part. So I can't get to the point where everything is attributable to the Spirit. If a church has great music, teaching, and programs, and grows like crazy, who am I to say whether they did it through their own creativity and charisma, or through the power of the Spirit? How about the fruit displayed by the people in the church? Who am I to say they exhibit the fruit of the Spirit because of the indwelling Spirit, or because they're nice people from nice families who have lived in a nurturing, supportive environment?

Chan's book does challenge me to be more aware of the Spirit's work in my life and more open to his leading. But I'm afraid he does little to rest my concern about discerning what I do and what the Spirit does in me. I know this is one of those theological tensions that will probably never be resolved in this life, but I would have liked a more thorough treatment of it.

(By the way, I listened to the audio version of Forgotten God, read by Chan himself. It was like having him in the seat next to me for my daily commute. He is an engaging communicator and brought a lot of life to the book.)

The Litigators, by John Grisham

2011-12-26T14:47:00.000-08:00

I think I have read every one of John Grisham's novels. Some are better than others, but I have enjoyed them all. The Litigators has some of the elements that make Grisham fun to read: the idealistic young lawyer, the bashing of big firms and big companies, the little guy getting the win. But I have to say, even though I enjoyed it, I kept asking myself why.

I don't know if this is a criticism or an observation, but after the first few chapters, The Litigators reads more like an account of an actual case. You know, one of those readable but ultimately pretty dry nonfiction works that tell the story of a case from the news or from history? It starts out on an entertaining note. David Zinc, sick of working 80 hours a week in a big firm making deals on foreign fixed income instruments, flips out, gets drunk, and, after seeing an ad on a bus for an ambulance-chasing law firm, shows up there looking for a job. He, along with the two colorful and ethically-challenged partners, gets involved in a class action suit against a giant pharmaceutical company.

Once that case, which fills most of the book, gets going, Grisham's lawyer takes over for his storyteller. This certainly may be his intent. If there's a good case in real life, with a good story behind it, I would want Grisham to write that book. It's generally considered a good thing when a work of non-fiction reads like a work of fiction. But I would counter that when a work of fiction sounds like a work of non-fiction, perhaps a bit more life needed to be injected into the story.

Yeah, I know, that sounds pretty shallow and petty, but that's my opinion. Two things: Grisham fans will like The Litigators, and, in spite of my criticism, I'll probably read his next book as soon as it's released.

The Fourth Fisherman, by Joe Kissack

2011-12-21T15:41:00.000-08:00

You may vaguely recall the stories a few years ago about some Mexican fisherman who drifted across the Pacific for months, ending up 5500 miles from home. The story of their survival made them into celebrities for a brief time, but came and went from the attention of Americans, like last year's rescued Chilean coal miners. Their story did not, however, escape the attention of Joe Kissack, a former TV executive whose life was falling apart. The Fourth Fisherman tells the fishermen's story, but mostly turns out to be the story of Kissack's struggles with addiction and workaholism, and his pursuit of the rights to tell the story of the three fisherman.

I like a good survival story as much as the next guy. The three fisherman struck a chord with Joe because of the fact that they said they read the Bible continually throughout their 9 month voyage and said they relied on their faith in God to help them survive. The facts of their survival are provided, with a bit of descriptive color, but I didn't get a real sense of the passage of time. They drifted a long, long way.

The four fisherman. (Three plus Joe.)

Their survival story ended up taking second fiddle to Joe's story. And his story sort of annoyed me. It's not his fault. I just get sort of tired of this type of story: the self-absorbed, materialistic businessman, making a ton of money, begins to get stressed out and reassesses his life. He quits his job to pursue his dream. That's what Joe does, spending years of his life and all of his savings to meet the three fishermen and tell their story. After spending all his money, selling his lake house and his wife's Lexus (feel sorry for him yet?) he's not much closer to getting a movie made.

Ultimately, we have here a pretty nice story about some fishermen who got lost at sea, and the impact they had on an American struggling in life. I like the way one lady summarized his story after Joe spoke at her church. The fishermen looked lost, floating in the middle of the ocean, while Joe had everything, but Joe was the lost one. "The fishermen were not lost at all--they had God." Maybe Joe will reach his goal of making a movie about the Tres Pescadores. I'll watch it. In the meantime, while I'm happy he got his life straightened out, I'm not that happy with this book.

This book is to be released on March 13, 2012. I received a complementary pre-release review copy from WaterBrook Multnomah. Thanks!

Please rate my review of this book here:

Robopocalypse, by Daniel H. Wilson

2011-12-16T14:29:00.000-08:00

You know that cool remote engine starting feature of your car? How about the computer controlled traffic light system? Or the drones the military is using? What if a malicious artificial intelligence entity managed to gain control of all that--and more? That's the scenario Daniel Wilson lays out in Robopocalypse. In his near-future novel, we don't just have remote start but auto drive; not only traffic lights but emergency vehicles are computer-controlled; and most actual combat is done by robots. A lone scientist has perfected the creation of a complete thinking, reasoning artificial intelligence. He took safeguards to keep the AI contained, but it learned so quickly that it was able to "escape" and slowly take over the computers of the world.

The problem is that Archos, as the AI calls itself, has apparently been reading Al Gore's books. It is disgusted with the way humans treat their environment, and begins to eliminate the human virus from the earth. His program of extermination begins with small acts, like a domestic robot who attacks humans, a peacekeeping robot who overcomes its nonviolent programming to kill civilians and soldiers, a robotic doll who attacks the child owner, the elevators that take building residents to their deaths. (Uh, oh, maybe it's beginning! This happened in NYC! Story here.) This is where Robopocalypse is strongest: telling the stories of these episodes of technology turning on us, where people are no longer the master, being mastered by their tools and toys. Imagine the horror of being behind the wheel of your cool new car with all the bells and whistles, then losing control as the autodrive takes over, mowing down pedestrians, then drives you into the lake where you slowly drown with your family.

With so much of human life relying on computerized and robotic controls, civilization quickly crumbles once the robots really get going. Here's where the weaker part of the book. Not that the second half of the book is bad; it's certainly entertaining. But it becomes a little cliched: if you've seen one post-alien invasion or post-nuclear war movie, you've seen them all. People flee, they learn how to survive in adverse conditions, unlikely heroes arise, and they unite to fight a common foe. This will make a fun, special-effects filled movie. In fact, the book reads like that, cutting from one scene to another, playing out like a screenplay.

There's not a ton of depth here, but it's a fun read, like the summer blockbuster it's destined to be. Enjoy!

To Be Perfectly Honest, by Phil Callaway

2011-12-01T10:56:00.001-08:00

He's a funny guy!

I have never met Phil Callaway, but after reading To Be Perfectly Honest, I almost feel like I know him. Callaway brings his sense of humor and perceptive view of life to bear on the question, Can I go a whole year without telling a lie? Truth-telling is the thread that holds the diary-like narrative together, but he offers insight and encouragement for lots of areas of life.

To Be Perfectly Honest is like a bag of potato chips, only it's not bad for you and doesn't leave your fingers greasy. I found it hard to put down, not like a page-turning thriller, but like a snack that you keep on eating until all of a sudden you're at the bottom of the bag. Callaway is a great story teller, and manages to mix humorous anecdotes, touching moments, and even some challenging, convicting passages.

I particularly enjoyed Callaway's self-deprecating humor and humility (he is being honest, after all). Under the guise of humor, the reader can relate to his confessions, laughing along with an "I resemble that remark!" To Be Perfectly Honest is good fun and might even make you think a bit about how you're living your life. I think you'll enjoy it--no lie!

Check out his web site, http://www.philcallaway.ab.ca/, or go to YouTube for some funny videos.

Thanks to WaterBrook Multnomah for this complementary review copy.

Freeheads, by Kerry Nietz

2011-11-26T12:30:00.000-08:00

Last summer I read books 1 & 2 of Kerry Nietz's DarkTrench saga, and loved them (see my reviews here and here). Lucky me, about the time I was finishing those books, Nietz was finishing up book 3, so my wait was blessedly short for Freeheads. In books 1 & 2, debuggers SandFly and HardCandy are sent to repair a robot on DarkTrench, an interstellar ship which has just returned from a voyage to Betelgeuse. The robot, as well as the crew, had encountered a curious song from a star, which had transformed them. SandFly and HardCandy then take DarkTrench on a return journey to Betelgeuse where they encounter a seemingly idyllic but ultimately malicious alien race. Freeheads opens with the pair returning to earth, in hopes of bringing the message of A~A³, Nietz's moniker for God, to people spiritually enslaved by a controlling Islamic regime.

Through a series of events driven by both divine intervention and sabotage, SandFly and HardCandy have to abandon DarkTrench, intending to head straight to earth, but end up on the moon. There they discover a colony of exiles from earth and learn the source of the rogue stream they had briefly accessed on earth. To their great surprise, they realize that due to a malfunction on DarkTrench, 40 years have passed since they left earth; to them, it had only been weeks. Also to their surprise, the message of A~A³ and the superlative stream managed to make its way to earth via the original DarkTrench crew. However, the fledgling group of followers of the message have been persecuted and nearly eliminated.

Things had changed on earth during their absence. Before they left, everyone lived under religious oppression, but that oppression had progressively become widespread slavery. SandFly returning after 40 years to confront the leaders and lead the people out of slavery? Any Biblical allusions you might imagine here are certainly no accident.

Nietz has a spiritual message in Freeheads, not in the sense that he preaches, and certainly not in a way that deters from the story. In fact, that's part of the fun of the whole DarkTrench series: In a world in which Christianity has been effectively quashed by world-dominating Islam, what would it look like to reintroduce the gospel? Nietz gives us a warning to heed. Sandfly's theory as to why the message of the Bible "just faded out": "Those who knew the Truth got lazy, or worse, refused to share what they knew. . . .They cloistered. Failed to do something when they had a chance." Sobering words for a Christian culture that sometimes seems to make itself irrelevant to the wider world. . . .

Besides a great story and a compelling spiritual message, Nietz handles the science well. Freeheads is chock full of speculative technology, but Nietz, not satisfied with simply throwing out crazy devices or giving people and machines unfounded superpowers, gives enough description and background to make the technology almost believable. He's no stranger to natural science either; his descriptions of a close encounter with a comet and a walk on the moon's surface are quite convincing as well.

With his DarkTrench saga, Nietz shows his skill as a captivating writer, adept at conveying a fast-moving story with thoughtful spiritual reflection and an imaginative view of the near future. The three books can certainly be read and enjoyed independently, but they're best taken as a whole, showing both SandFly's development as well as Nietz's development as a writer. He's got a few more books to write before he enters the pantheon of sc-fi greats, but I do like Tim George's blurb from the back cover of Freeheads: "Nietz writes in a way that makes me wonder what the masters of the genre like Asimov and Heinlein might have written had they known A~A³." Well-said. I'm already wondering what Nietz will come up with next!

Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline

2011-11-21T13:00:00.000-08:00

What a game! I don't consider myself a gamer, although I wasted plenty of hours with my Atari 2600 and later with a Nintendo. Now I play with my kids sometimes on their Wii and PS3, but it doesn't quite have the appeal as it once did. Ready Player One is a novel for gamers, especially for those who fondly remember those Atari 2600 days, but the story will draw in non-gamers as well.

In Ernest Cline's world, about 3 decades in the future, the internet has become a virtual reality environment. It started with the OASIS, an online game, which became the standard operating system/ web browser/ social environment for virtually everyone. The creator of the OASIS, game programmer James Halliday, a fabulously wealthy, childless recluse, hid an "Easter egg" somewhere in the OASIS and, when he died, had a video released in which he stated that whoever finds the Easter egg would inherit his fortune. The hunt would require an encyclopedic knowledge of 1980s pop culture, including video games, TV shows, movies, music, and more. The world goes crazy for 1980s fashion and culture, as everyone would love to have a piece of that fortune.

Cline's protagonist, Wade Watts, known in the OASIS as Parzival, is about to finish high school, and as a poor orphan in a bleak world, lives in the OASIS as an escape. He has dedicated the 5 years since the start of the contest to learning every bit of Halliday's favorite 1980s culture. Finally, he has a flash of inspiration and becomes the first person to find the first clue, making him not only an overnight celebrity, but also the target of a ruthless corporation with the aim of taking over Halliday's company.

Cline's Delorean doesn't travel through time, as far as I know.

Ready Player One makes for a fun read, a roller-coaster ride of Wade's adventures, avoiding threats both virtual and real-life. A child of the 1980s will love some of the tasks he has to perform in his search, like playing the Matthew Broderick character in an interactive version of War Games (if he misses a line, he loses points; luckily Wade has watched the movie enough that he has it memorized) or playing against Halliday's avatar in the arcade classic Joust. All of his research pays off time and again. Many of the cultural references, on which the story hinge, will be lost to readers older or younger than Halliday's generation, but it's still a fun story.

This is a fun read, sure to satisfy readers like me, fans of Cory Doctorow, and players of online multi-player games. I'm sure it will make a great movie, coming to theaters sometime in 2012. In the meantime, let your imagination run wild as you picture life in the OASIS, where you can drive a time-traveling DeLorean, go to school exclusively in a virtual reality school, fly your own X-wing fighter, and make your virtual living room look just like the one on Family Ties. Enjoy!

God, No! by Penn Jillette

2011-11-17T15:42:00.000-08:00

Penn Jillette is a hilarious comedian, talented magician, lucid thinker, and noted libertarian. He's also a proselytizing atheist, a hard-core atheist who feels like it's his duty to inform anyone who believes in God of the error of his ways. God, No! continues his atheist proselytization, but I'm not sure how many converts he'll get.

If you don't know Jillette, you may recognize him as half of the comedy/magic team Penn and Teller (and a recent appearance on Dancing with the Stars, if you're into that sort of thing). One thing you need to know before you pick up this book, or watch his T.V. show Bulls---, is that he has a filthy mouth. He cusses and curses and uses crude sexual and scatological language more than anyone I've ever known. So if that sort of thing turns you off, you'll want to avoid this book. (I assume the Penn and Teller magic show in Vegas is a bit less profanity laced.)

Would you buy a philosophy of life from this man?

God, No! is really for a the Penn Jillette fan. Mostly it's a memoir, with loosely connected autobiographical stories intermixed with anecdotes from Penn's adventures in life and show business. There are plenty of stories to make you laugh, like his account of his trip on the zero-g plane and his ill-fated use of a blow dryer in lieu of a towel after a shower. He also tells plenty of stories that show his big heart, love for people in his life, and love of life itself. This man loves life and makes the most of it.

The stories provide some relief from the stated purpose of the title and chapter titles: an attempt to deny the existence of God and to provide an alternative ethic for atheists, "one atheist's ten suggestions." Penn says he's been an atheist all his life, in spite of his being brought up in church, but he refers frequently to some of the "new atheists," like Hitchens, Dawkins, and others. Penn has done some reading. God, No! is not an academic treatise or systematic defense of atheism, but Penn does make some good points.

The most damning argument for Christians revolves around proselytizing. Penn thinks Christians are wrong about God, Jesus, and eternal life. However, if someone really does believe that anyone who does not become a Christian is going to hell, he has an obligation to tell everyone he knows how to become a Christian. Otherwise, Jillette doesn't want to hear anything from him:

If someone really believes in everlasting life . . . , then letting someone ---- up everlasting life is much worse than letting someone get hit by a train. ----ing up everlasting life is being hit by a train forever . . . . This is like real no-kidding . . . forever, like dentist-drilling-into-your-teeth forever. You have to do whatever you can, even if the heathens laugh in your face . . . . You can't respect someone's right to not believe in something that's going to give him or her eternal life. That's not real respect, that's callous disregard. That's negligent eternal homicide. . . . If you believe in everlasting life and don't annoy me about it, if you're polite and let me believe what I want, even thought I'm going to spend eternity in real break-is-over-back-to-the-handstands-in-the-river-of----- hell, what kind of scumbag are you? Get away from me! How much do you have to hate someone to let the everlasting train of lost eternal life squash someone's heathen ---?

Wow. As a Christian who believes that Jesus is the only way to heaven and eternal life, this passage convicts me. In the same way, Rob Bell and Francis Chan, in their books about hell, assert that a belief in hell should inform one's evangelistic choices. Surely if I believe in God and hell, my lifestyle should demonstrate a regard for others which demands that I share the gospel at every opportunity.

A video Jillette posted on his blog about proselytizing made rounds in some church circles recently, leading some groups to target him with prayers for his salvation. I'll join those prayers, specifically praying that, in spite of the many phonies in the American church, Jillette will meet some Christians who demonstrate the love of Christ in such a way that he will see both the hope we have in Jesus as well as the reasonableness of believing in him and following him. Miracles do happen.

The Scroll, by Grant R. Jeffrey and Alton L. Gansky

2011-11-09T19:59:00.000-08:00

Biblical archaeology might not strike you as fodder for an adventure novel, but Grant Jeffrey and Alton Gansky make it work in The Scroll. Taking cues from Indiana Jones and Michael Crichton, these authors send the world's foremost biblical archaeologist, Dr. David Chambers, back to Israel for the dig of his life. Struggling with his faith, he has decided to branch out into other pursuits, but his old mentor and a pile of money lure him back. He and his team, including his ex-fiancee, pursue the treasures of the Copper Scroll, including artifacts from the Temple in Jerusalem.

Here's where The Scroll excels, adding fiction to non-fiction for a thoroughly believable story. The Copper Scroll in question, one of the scrolls found with the famous Dead Sea Scrolls, inventories the locations of vast stores of gold and silver, as well as the Temple items. The monetary value would be sufficient to inspire a hunt, but we quickly learn that the real agenda is to recover the Temple artifacts and use them in a new, restored temple. This effort has been the subject of many fictional works since the discovery of the Copper Scroll.

The real scroll.

One major plot element is the discovery of tunnels beneath the old city of Jerusalem. I particularly enjoyed this due to my own experience there. In the early 1990s, when I was in Jerusalem with my parents, I took a solo journey through Hezekiah's tunnel, which runs from the Gihon Spring to the Pool of Siloam. According to 2 Kings 20:20, Hezekiah directed the tunnel to be built to bring water into the city. This tunnel is only a few hundred yards long, but with the curves and utter darkness (I only had a book light to guide me), it felt much longer. Dr. Chambers's treks through much longer tunnels reminded me of my short walk, and made me thankful there weren't armed men pursuing me.

However, The Scroll is fiction, after all, and gets into plenty of fanciful archaeology, a petty love triangle, and melodramatic action sequences. I appreciated the setting and history, especially the realistic portrayal of a dig site and the reminder that biblical archaeology constantly affirms the historicity of scripture. But The Scroll qua novel fell short, feeling a bit amateurish. Not a great book, but a fun read.

(Disclaimer: I received this book for free from Waterbrook/Multnomah in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks!)

In the Garden of the Beasts, by Erik Larson

2011-11-01T08:46:00.000-07:00

The more I read about Hitler's rise to power, the more I am convinced that a) he was pure evil, and b) the German people were not duped, but handed over power to him gladly. Erik Larson's new book, In the Garden of the Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin, covers the period from 1933 to 1937, portraying Hitler's rise and the consequent transformation of Germany through the eyes of William Dodd, U.S. ambassador to Germany during those years.

Dodd was not FDR's first choice. In fact, he asked a whole string of people who refused before Dodd accepted. At the time, Dodd was contentedly teaching history at the University of Chicago. He did not fit the diplomatic mold. Diplomats then, as seems to be the case now, were independently wealthy and lived well while in the field. Dodd, whose modest personal wealth and small diplomat's salary did not permit him to live and entertain like most diplomats, ruffled many feathers with his frugal, no-nonsense ways. He rented the home of a wealthy Jewish family drawing criticism both from Germans, who were offended that he lived in a Jewish home, and from some Americans, who felt that he was taking advantage of a persecuted family by paying so much less than market value.

The Dodd family

Another source of criticism came from people who knew something about Dodd's daughter, Martha. A bit of a tart, to put it mildly, she made the most of her status as the young (in her 20s), attractive daughter of the American ambassador. She traveled in elite circles, carrying on affairs with Germans and foreigners alike, including the head of the Gestapo and a Soviet diplomat. Her well-known and indiscreet "social life" caused one critic to say that the Dodd's house was a bordello. She got around, but was attractive and desirable enough that one of her Nazi friends thought she would be a good match for the Fuhrer himself. She was introduced to Hitler, but apparently didn't make enough of an impression for a second date.

Not only was Dodd a little clueless about Martha's affairs, but, at least at first, took some time getting up to speed with diplomacy in a changing Germany. To be fair to him, nearly everyone in the U.S. government failed to see what was boiling under the surface. The greatest concern in the U.S., even into the latter half of the decade, was not the rising Nazi threat but the failure of Germany to pay off bonds held by Americans. FDR charged Dodd with getting payment from the German government, but no one there cared much about satisfying the Americans.

Over time, the Dodd family came to see what the Nazis were made of. When violence against their own people by the German police state even spilled over into violence against Americans in Germany, Dodd's objections went unheeded. His refusal to attend Nazi rallies caused the Nazi leadership to shun him. Dodd was slow to grasp the reality of what was coming in world history, but being on the ground in Berlin placed him way ahead of the curve. Ultimately, he was called home, to his relief, but the U.S. might have been better off if they had heeded his warnings and taken some action against Germany when it might have done some good.

Larson's highly readable account will certainly satisfy any World War 2 history buff and the general reader alike. The story of Dodd and his family provide a unique perspective on this piece of history.

Retarded Isn't Stupid, Mom, by Sandra Z. Kaufmann

2011-10-21T13:07:00.000-07:00

Raising children with special needs can be full of challenges. Every parent has the task of providing children with a safe, nurturing environment at home, school, and in the community, but the task can be much more daunting if the child has physical or mental disabilities. Likewise, every parent struggles with letting go of the strings and control as children approach adulthood. Parents of children with special needs have to struggle with how many strings to let go, how soon, and then worry over and question every decision.

In Retarded Isn't Stupid, Mom, Sandra Kaufmann tells her story. When she is told that her daughter, Nicole, has mental retardation, her world is permanently and inextricably changed. In her sometimes brutally honest and consistently insightful narrative, Sandra tells stories of the good times, struggles, and failures of her family's life together with Nicole from early childhood to early adulthood. Besides her experiences as a mom, Sandra returns to college to complete her degree and ends up as a researcher in a UCLA ethnographic research group studying the lives of individuals with intellectual disabilities. So her researcher's eye adds to what might have been a typical parental narrative.

Sandra's stories will make you laugh and cry. Much of the focus of the book involves her helping Nicole work toward independence. Nicole, who repeatedly shows her resourcefulness and independent-mindedness in spite of her intellectual shortcomings, announces to her parents that she wants to move out. Against all logic and reason, they agree to help her get set up in an apartment. Shortly, her boyfriend moves in, leading to constant worry about pregnancy. Together, Nicole and her boyfriend--whom she would eventually marry--go through the typical trials of a newly independent couple trying to make it with their low-paying jobs. Facing the usual struggles, not to mention prejudice, mistreatment, and bad luck, with aplomb and determination, Nicole makes her way with some success.

One thing I hadn't thought much about before is friendships among adults with intellectual disabilities, and friendship between disabled adults and typical adults. The ideal would be for such friendships to get past the point of one helping the other, or serving the other, to both serving, loving, and learning from the other. Nicole sees the distinction here. At one point, in a conversation with Sandra about a trip to Universal Studios, Nicole said she'd like to go back with her sister, Jill, and Jill's boyfriend, "If they wouldn't be offended by us." After that conversation, Sandra wonders, "What would it be like to know that all the 'normal' people in the world, even brothers and sisters, merely tolerated you? To know that they would never permit the close sharing of reciprocated friendship?"

Sandra acknowledges that she and her husband do help Nicole in many ways; without their help, her struggles would be immeasurably greater. Even with the support that disabled individuals can access from community programs, as well as from government assistance, just getting by can be a huge challenge. For Nicole, many "angels" in her life helped her out with assistance on the job, at home, and around town. I was challenged to think about how I can be an "angel" to people with disabilities in my life.

Sandra bares all as she struggles with letting go of control in Nicole's life. Managing her own money, maintaining her own apartment, even opening up to the possibility of pregnancy, Sandra finally lets go and lets Nicole learn on her own, growing from her many mistakes. The Kaufman family's experiences are instructive for any parent, but parents of disabled children especially can relate to and learn from the hard choices they have to make.

Hell, no? Hell, yes!

2011-10-18T19:23:00.000-07:00

He wears all black and stylish glasses.
How can we not believe what he says?

Rob Bell knows how to make a splash. When we moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1998, Bell preached at the Saturday night service at a local megachurch. In 1999, he founded Mars Hill Church, which, by the time we moved back to Texas in 2002, had taken over a shopping mall, where thousands of people attended multiple services every weekend. His best-selling books and teachings have raised eyebrows in the church world, but none more than his most recent book, Love Wins: A Book about Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived.

Bell, a gifted communicator who captivates his readers and listeners, couches weak theology in entertaining and thoughtful messages, leaving them wondering how anyone could disagree with him. In Love Wins, Bell makes the case that a God who loves us and created us for fellowship with him would not toss us into a fiery pit of eternal suffering. Bell loves narrative theology, the story of God. He says, "Telling a story about a God who inflicts unrelenting punishment on people because they didn't do or say or believe the correct things in a brief window of time called life isn't a very good story."

Another gifted communicator whose resume parallels Bell's in some ways is Francis Chan. Chan started a church in Simi Valley, California, in 1994 which now has thousands of members and has planted a number of other churches. He also has a couple hot-selling books, especially Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God. His theology is, shall we say, more in the mainstream of evangelical theology.

Also wears black. Also shaves his head.
No cool glasses. Hmmmm. . . .

Partly in response to Bell, Chan co-wrote, with New Testament scholar Preston Sprinkle, Erasing Hell: What God Said about Eternity, and the Things We've Made Up. They argue that while we may not always understand the ways of God, the full testimony of the Bible teaches the existence of hell, where there is actual suffering. While Bell certainly does quote scripture, he does so in a selective way to fit his "story." Chan approaches scriptural themes more comprehensively. On universalism, for example, in Philippians 2, Paul writes that "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow . . . and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord." Taken alone, that sounds like it could teach universalism. But in chapter 1 of the same letter, Paul writes of those who oppose Christ being destroyed, and in chapter 3, he says the destiny of the "enemies of the cross of Christ" is "destruction."

Given the choice between story and scripture, I have to choose scripture. Bell is certainly a good storyteller, and avoids dogmatic statements while making some really good points. I have to agree with him that we have over-simplified the gospel to mean mere fire insurance. But he goes too far the other way, stopping just short of declaring himself a full universalist, but still strongly implying that all will eventually be saved. Hell is not a place to him, as taught in so many passages in scripture, but it is a state of horrible conditions on earth: famine, holocausts, domestic abuse, sexual slavery are all forms of hell. Jesus will redeem the earth and rescue us all from this earthly hell. Amen to Jesus' redemptive work, but as hellish as those human experiences are they are not hell.

Not so fast, Chan and Sprinkle argue. Jesus taught in the context of a Jewish theology and culture that firmly believed in hell as a place of suffering. He never denied that, and that cosmology is supported in his teaching. Good stories aside, the one story we should avoid is the one that starts, "If I were God, I would never. . . ." That seems to be Bell's take: if he were God, he would not send anyone to hell. But just as the clay can't tell the potter how to shape it, much less understand it, neither can we understand all the ways of God.

My pastor, Jack Deere, has responded to this and other heresies in some recent sermons. (There, I said it: heresy. Bell is teaching heresy. Jack never names Bell, but I am thinking he would agree.) He made a couple of relevant points. First of all, we should never put our own reason before scripture. Sure, we might be able to come up with some good arguments to support a point of view, but it our conclusions are out of line with scripture, we have to lean on God's word. A second, related point is that mysteries are OK. Predestination, Trinitarianism, inspiration, all leave us with unanswered questions. But the author of those questions is much bigger than we are, and we can't expect to have perfect understanding of his ways.

Both Chan and Bell have a compelling writing style and a refreshing humility when it comes the their teaching. But Chan's approach, based in scripture, must prevail. It's not without a cost, though. If there is an actual hell, where people who don't know Christ will suffer, the burden is on us who do know him to live as if that's true. People we meet every day, people we love, are destined to suffer there. Our task is to partner with God in leading people to relationship with Christ. It would be much easier to agree with Bell, that we'll all end up in heaven anyway, so no big deal, but I'm afraid we don't have that option.

Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, by Eric Metaxas

2011-10-13T13:37:00.000-07:00

A measure of a great biography may be the extent to which it elicits a desire to learn more about the subject and read his or her writings. With this extensive biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Eric Metaxas has certainly accomplished both, as far as I'm concerned. I think I first became aware of Bonhoeffer while I was in college, through his Discipleship, or The Cost of Discipleship as most English translations title it. Other than than, I had no more than a vague, one or two sentence idea of his involvement with the plot to kill Hitler. That did become a defining element of his life, as it lead to his execution, but, as Metaxas tells the story, there is much more to the man, his ministry, and his work in public and church life.

As a young pastor and theologian during the Nazi's rise to power Bonhoeffer opposed the German church's easy assent to the dictates of the Nazi party, including excluding anyone of Jewish heritage from ministry positions, and supplanting the message of the cross with the message of the twisted cross of Nazism. As a leader in the confessing church movement, and as head of a new seminary founded as an alternative to the Nazi-tainted seminaries of the German church, Bonhoeffer rose in status and became a target for the Gestapo.

I think I would have liked Bonhoeffer. Maybe we can hang out in heaven.

While telling Bonhoeffer's story, Metaxas does a beautiful job of portraying life in Germany in the years leading up to and including the rise to power of Hitler and the Nazi party. Bonhoeffer's family, not rich but certainly among the intellectual and cultural elite of Germany, had close connections in academic, political, and military circles. For the most part, these groups did not welcome the rise of Nazism; they hoped for its quick demise, and bemoaned its unlikely entrenchment in German politics and governance. That surprised me as much as anything: in spite of the powerful opponents to Nazism, and there was much, Nazis managed to gain unprecedented power. Many common Germans, not just Jews, opposed the Nazis. I can't help but think most of Germany was complicit in Nazi crimes, but Metaxas makes it clear that many opposed them, even in the military.

I particularly enjoyed Metaxas's portrayal of Bonhoeffer as a defender of the faith against theological liberalism and against Nazi attempts to dilute the work of the church. The ready acquiescence of the German church distressed him. Neither was he very impressed with the academic theology he encountered in the U.S. during his stay in New York, at Union Theological Seminary. Of the students, he had this to say: "There is no theology here. . . .They become intoxicated with liberal and humanistic phrases, laugh at the fundamentalists, and yet basically are not even up to their level." He also had a hard time finding good preaching:

In New York they preach about virtually everything, only one thing is not addressed, or is addressed so rarely that I have as yet been unable to hear it, namely, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the cross, sin and forgiveness, death and life. . . . The sermon has been reduced to parenthetical church remarks about newspaper events. . . . I have heard only one sermon in which you could hear something like a genuine proclamation, and that was delivered by a negro.

Bonhoeffer himself has been, at times, championed by theological liberals, due in part to some fragmentary writings that he left behind, the unfinished nature of which lead to some misinterpretation. On religionless Christianity, an idea which, Metaxas points out, has "led to a terrific misunderstanding of Bonhoeffer's theology," Eberhard Bethge said the "isolated use and handing down of the famous term 'religionless Christianity' has made Bonheoffer the champion of an undialectical shallow modernism which obscures all that he wanted to tell us about the living God." Contrary to his liberal interpreters, Bonhoeffer's theology, Metaxas writes, "was dedicatedly Bible centered and Christ centered."

As Hitler's power increased and life for Jews and the confessing church (not to mention the disabled and many other groups), Bonhoeffer had the opportunity to return to New York for an extended stay as a lecturer. He could easily have stayed in the U.S. for the years, perhaps even through the duration of the war. But Bonhoeffer knew his place and his work was in Germany. He joined the Abwehr, military intelligence, and worked as double agent. Besides working on behalf of the church, he helped smuggle Jews out of the country and was a part of the plot to kill Hitler. (This plot was portrayed in the movie Valkyrie, but I don't remember that Bonhoeffer was named in the movie. Obviously it involved many in the military, as well as many civilians.) I was interested to read about Bonhoeffer's struggle with the ethical issues of his work. Lying, deceiving his government, even plotting to kill a head of state became justifiable in light of the actions of the Nazi government.

Bonhoeffer was arrested not because of his involvement with the assassination plot, but because of his covert intelligence work. Later, however, after the near-miss with Hitler, the Fuhrer wanted vengeance on everyone he could find who was involved. Bonhoeffer's name made the list, and he was hanged only days before the Allies claimed victory, and weeks before Hitler took his own life.

Metaxas's biography, a terrific read with just the right blend of historical background and detail about Bonhoeffer's life, renewed my interest in Bonhoeffer. On my shelf I have copies of The Cost of Discipleship, Life Together, and Ethics. I read the first two, but I'm not sure I ever tackled the third. I'm inspired to do so now, and to wonder what Christendom lost with Bonhoeffer's early death. What more can we ask of a biography: a great writer writing a great story about a great man. Worth a read.

Inside the Revolution, by Joel C. Rosenberg

2011-10-05T09:30:00.000-07:00

It's refreshing to read a perspective of the Middle East that is both informed, from an insider's perspective, and is Bible-centered, from someone knowledgeable about Biblical prophecy. Joel Rosenberg, a Jew by heritage, Evangelical Christian by faith, has worked as an advisor with U.S. and Israeli leaders, and, as founder of the Joshua Fund has worked extensively on humanitarian projects throughout the Middle East. He has written a series of novels in which Biblical prophecies play out in today's climate, and has written Epicenter and Inside the Revolution, non-fiction books about the Middle East.

I was particularly impressed by a promo for his books that pointed out his foresight. Check this out, from his Wikipedia entry:

Nine months before the September 11th attacks, Rosenberg wrote a novel with a kamikaze plane attack on an American city. Five months before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, he wrote a novel about war with Saddam Hussein, the death of Yasser Arafat eight months before it occurred, a story with Russia, Iran, and Libya forming a military alliance against Israel occurring the date of publishing, the rebuilding of the city of Babylon, Iran vowing to have Israel "wiped off the face of the map forever" five months before Iranian President Ahmadinejad used similar language, oil and natural gas in Israel (a major gas discovery occurred in January 2009).

All of this to say, Rosenberg has extensive experience in the Middle East, and has uncanny insight into trends and events as they occur, even before. Whether or not he's right on every point, he deserves to be listened to.

Inside the Revolution is really three books as one, as indicated by the subtitle: How the Followers of Jihad, Jefferson, and Jesus are Battling to Dominate the Middle East and Transform the World. In the first section, Rosenberg details the threat of Islam from those who believe Islam is the answer and jihad is the way. This is the message we hear from many on the right: Iran wants to wipe out Israel, American is the great Satan and Israel is the little Satan, the Koran teaches Jihad against infidels, radical Islam won't rest until the whole world is under sharia law. Based on his account, it's worse that I thought.

The second section, on the followers of Jefferson, showcases the vast majority of the Muslim world, those leaders who truly desire Jeffersonian democracy and an Islam that does not do violence against its enemies. They believe Islam is the answer, but jihad is not the way. These are the Muslims President Bush refers to when he says Islam is a religion of peace. It's hard to believe, if you only listen to reports of terrorist attacks and threats and IEDs and insurgents. But Rosenberg makes the case that Jeffersonian Muslims are on the rise. Based on his account, it's better than I thought.

The third section is most encouraging. In pockets of the Muslim world, revival is breaking out! Many Muslims are becoming Christians. They believe that Islam is not the answer, and Jesus is the way. Of course, by the very nature of life in the Muslim world, we don't hear much about these Christians. But some Muslim countries do enjoy a measure of religious freedom. It's fascinating to hear about these MBBs (Muslim background believers) who are following Jesus and evangelizing the Muslim world. Prepare to be amazed both by the incredible stories of faith under persecution, and the miraculous ways our loving God reaches out to people in these countries that lack much Christian witness. He wrote more about the conversion of Muslims in the booklet Inside the Revival.

Rosenberg's reporting is thorough, and the cast of characters is huge. Inside the Revolution provides valuable insights into the recent history and current trends in the Middle East. Unsurprisingly, he is strongly pro-Israel, which will bother some of his Muslim readers. He also clearly holds a pre-tribulation rapture view, which some of his Christian readers will nod in agreement with, but others (like me) pause and wonder if he's right. (Side note: I was curious about his fiction, so I picked up Dead Heat, which starts with a nuclear attack on the U.S. and ends with the rapture. He writes in page-turning, pot-boiler style, but raises some good questions, not the least of which is, How do we protect the U.S. from a terrorist attack like this one? It would be very easy for a dedicated band of bad dudes to pull off an attack that makes 9/11 look mild.)

Another side product I looked at was his documentary, Epicenter, which is based on his first non-fiction book by the same name. The video focuses more on the first 1/3 of Inside the Revolution, the threat of Islam. Even though the threat comes from a tiny portion of Muslims in the world, it's hard to overlook. A small group of people can do a tremendous amount of damage, physically, culturally, and otherwise. So in spite of the hope Rosenberg offers in Inside the Revolution, I can't help but focus on the threats, and the possible scenarios of Dead Heat and his other novels. There's no question that Islam poses a grave threat to the U.S. and to the hope of peace around the world. Rosenberg reminds us that whatever the state of the world, God is in control, has a plan, and loves his children.

Farthing, by Jo Walton

2011-09-29T10:16:00.000-07:00

Here's another fun story set in an intriguing alternative history of World War 2 and its aftermath. Farthing is a murder mystery not unlike what I imagine Agatha Christie would have written. (I've never read Christie's books, which is why I imagine. . . .) At a gathering of aristocratic Englishmen and -women at a storied country estate, one of the guests, an up-and-coming politician, is found murdered. A detective from Scotland Yard, feeling a bit out of place among these blue bloods, comes to investigate.

The year is 1949, and the victim was one of key players in the negotiation of Britain's peace treaty with Hitler in 1941. Yes, you read that right. In Walton's world, the British and Germans negotiated for an end to hostilities before the U.S. even entered the war. Hitler reigns on the Continent, and anti-Jewish Fascism is taking hold in England.

Walton weaves an intriguing mystery, drawing out the suspense while capturing the culture and mores of the mid-20th century British upper class. But what makes Farthing most interesting is her exposition of her alternative post-WW2 history. I think we'll all agree that Germany's defeat and Hitler's death were good things, but what about the loss of lives and destruction during the war? Could that have been avoided? My tendency is to think that the lives lost and cities destroyed were worth the defeat of Hitler, but if it were my city, my father, my sons who were lost, I might think differently.

By exploring a world in which Hitler still reigns in most of Europe, Walton can show the dangers and evil of fascism, both in an established expression under Hitler, and its creeping influence in England. Farthing is quite entertaining on a number of levels. Highly recommended!

Saving Jesus from the Church, by Robin R. Meyers

2011-09-23T20:24:00.000-07:00

In the interest of Christian charity, I will begin this review by looking at the positive elements of Robin Meyers's Saving Jesus from the Church: How to Stop Worshiping Christ and Start Following Jesus. As a tenured pastor, at Mayflower Congregational Church in Oklahoma City, and a professor of rhetoric at Oklahoma City University, you might expect that Meyers knows how to communicate. Indeed, his writing is lucid and engaging, as I suspect his sermons are as well.

The latter half of the book's subtitle encapsulates the strength of Meyers's message. The church has tended to ignore the teachings of Jesus and has not done a good job of following him. We have reduced faith to "a set of 'beliefs' that certain statements about the Bible, Jesus as the Christ, and church doctrine and dogma are true. . . . faith as intellectual assent to propositional statements." In doing so, we neglect the Christian life as a way of being. Being a Christian should not simply mean reciting a creed or praying a formulaic prayer, but should be an all-encompassing way of life.

Some of Meyers's chapter titles show how he builds on this theme: "Faith as Being, Not Belief," "Christianity as Compassion, Not Condemnation," "Religion as Relationship, Not Righteousness." I can jump in with Meyers on many of his assertions, especially as they apply to American megachurches and fundamentalists. There is often more concern with theological, biblical purity that with practice, defending the Bible but neglecting to do what it says. As a telling example, he recalls Albert Schweitzer. While he was toiling in Africa, heroically treating the sick and destitute, well-fed theologians sat in their comfortable offices criticizing Schweitzer's liberal theological writings. Meyers asks, Who better exemplifies and follows the teachings of Jesus?

So Meyers rightly calls on the church to examine itself and follow the example and teachings of Jesus. The problem is that Meyers jettisons orthodox Christian theology. The first half of the subtitle reveals Meyers's case: Jesus is not the Christ. Stop acting like he is. The church's obsession with the blood atonement needs to stop. We are not sinners in need of a savior, we are children of God trying to do good works. So in spite of his friendly tone and readable prose, Meyers lost me early in chapter 1, "Jesus the Teacher, Not the Savior." That title says it all. He buys into the whole liberal project, denying the divinity of Christ, his resurrection, and his redeeming work on the cross. How about these examples:

[Fundamentalist Christians] are 'decoding' the salvation 'contract' that is presumed to be hidden in scripture, so that true believers can cash in their winning ticket and collect their eternal inheritance. Being a disciple today means little more than believing stuff in order to get stuff.

The conviction of the followers of Jesus that he was still with them was itself the resurrection. To ask the question of whether the resurrection is true, and to mean by this that only a resuscitated corpse constitutes such proof, is to impose the standards of the modern mind upon a prescientific culture of myth and magic.

We need to turn away from the institutional forgeries that constitute orthodoxy for millions: the blood atonement, fear-based fantasies of the afterlife, 'vertical' notions of heaven and hell, selective providence based on human ignorance. . . . (emphasis added)

Winning ticket? No resurrection? Myth and magic? Forgeries? Fantasies? Ignorance? Throughout Saving Jesus, Meyers ridicules and rejects core values of orthodox theology. Many Christians have held to the Apostles' Creed as a statement of central beliefs that unify Christians across denominational lines. He can only mock it, directly and indirectly. "The Apostles' Creed . . . eliminated the life and message of Jesus." Meyers quotes from the Creed: "'Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate. . . .' Look carefully at what separates the birth of Christ from his death. The world's greatest life is reduced to a comma." He makes a clever point, but the larger point is that he would throw out most of the Apostles' Creed as superstition or irrelevance.

Here is the creed, and my imagined response by Meyers.
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.(OK, so far so good. But the creation stories in the Bible are primitive superstitions.)
I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, (Yes, as a historical figure, but certainly not divine.)
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, (Are you kidding me?)
born of the Virgin Mary, (Mary, sure, but a virgin? A laughable claim added by later Christians.)
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried; (He may have been crucified. He certainly died--doesn't everyone?--and would have been buried, perhaps, although he may have been carrion, like most who were crucified or otherwise executed.)
he descended to the dead. (Are you talking about Hell? It doesn't exist.)
On the third day he rose again; (Haha! You really believe that stuff about the resurrection still?)
he ascended into heaven, (a figment of hopeful imaginations. . . .)
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come again to judge the living and the dead.(Whatever.)
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints, (This is what it's all about. People who follow Jesus' teaching getting together to share community and do good works.)
the forgiveness of sins, (As if we need forgiveness.)
the resurrection of the body, (Not.)
and the life everlasting. Amen. (This life is the one that matters. Not some fantasy of an afterlife.)

Meyers'sMeyers's position is not unlike that of followers of Buddha, Hare Krishna, Martin Luther King, or Justin Bieber. Pick someone you admire, and try to be like him. But Jesus did not come just to be a teacher or role model; he came to seek and to save the lost!

I can join with Meyers's mocking of televangelists, megachurches, and certain streams of fundamentalism such as the prosperity gospel. But he uses these as straw men to attempt tear down a huge swath of historical Christianity, anyone who believes in the redemptive power of the cross and Jesus death and resurrection as atonement for our sin. It's almost as if he's never met Christians who both believe in the traditional Christian faith and follow Jesus. For every Albert Schweitzer, there are thousands of Christians whose theological conservatism would appall Meyers but whose works in service to God would rival Schweitzer's.

Paul said he "resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified," and that "Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day," and that "if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless." Dr. Meyers, I'm sure you know how to preach a lovely sermon. Although I've never been to your church or heard you preach, my thought is that perhaps your preaching is useless.

Don't buy this book.

Skallagrigg, by William Horwood

2011-09-13T09:58:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year my whole family read and loved Sharon Draper's Out of My Mind (review here), a novel told from the perspective of a young teenage girl who has cerebral palsy. That wonderful book gives insight into the life of this girl and any other individuals who have difficulty communicating due to physical disabilities, and the frustrations they experience when their mind can't connect with the minds of others.

An Amazon.com review of Out of My Mind referred to another novel with a similar theme, William Horwood's Skallagrigg. Following the lives of Arthur and Esther, who both have C.P., Horwood delves into not only the communication challenge, but the culture of the disabled and the changing role of institutionalization in the 20th century. Arthur, in the early part of the 20th century, is institutionalized as a boy. He begins to tell stories of the Skallagrigg to his friends, and the legends grow, passed along from one institution to another. Esther, in the latter part of the century, hears bits and pieces of these stories, begins to compile them, and incorporates them into a video game which becomes a world-wide hit. Her whole life turns into a quest to find the Skallagrigg.

Without getting too much into or giving away the story, several elements are worth noting. First, the system of institutionalization of the disabled in England. Arthur, institutionalized most of his life, suffered terrible abuse by those charged with caring for him. With no means to communicate, and inadequate supervision, the abuse continues for years. Although not the main purpose of the book, Horwood's depiction of the institutions and the changes and reforms over the course of the story make me glad for more humane and enlightened treatment of others.

Second, Horwood describes a subculture of the disabled that I never thought about. With limited ability to communicate with others, people with C.P. communicate with a combination of speaking (as they are able), gestures, sounds, and eye movements. I love the way the characters manage to communicate on a different plane from the rest of us, and create a unique community and relationships that others are only dimly aware of, if at all.

Finally, Horwood traces the development of assistive technology for disabled persons. Esther's father, a high-tech executive who got into the field early on, directs the resources of his computer company to develop specialized keyboards and devices to help Esther and others communicate like never before. Of course we all think of the brilliant Stephen Hawking and shudder to think of how different his life would have been had he been born a few years earlier. But even non-genius but perfectly intelligent people benefit from the efforts of the non-fiction counterparts of Esther's dad. Like Melody in Out of My Mind, Esther's life is completely changed by the simple ability to type.

Besides being a story that brings insight into the life experiences of people with cerebral palsy and the improvements that have come in treatment and communication, Skallagrigg is a thoroughly enjoyable story of a young woman's quest. It doesn't pack the emotional punch of Out of My Mind, primarily because it's a densely told, intricately plotted novel of over 700 pages, versus OOMM's 300 pages, written for a younger readers. But with the additional length comes a more satisfying and substantial read.

I highly recommend Skallagrigg for anyone who comes into contact with people with cerebral palsy or other disabilities. It's guaranteed to broaden your view of people with disabilities. Besides that, though, it is a beautiful story, beautifully written.
--------------------
First published in 1987 in the UK (I'm not sure if it was ever published in the U.S.), Skallagrigg was not the easiest book to find. I got it through ILL at the FW library. Because I want to read it again and share it, I have ordered a copy from Amazon. If you are reading this and would like to read the book, let me know and I will lend it to you.

Also, for an abbreviated but still decent portrayal, the BBC produced a movie version in 1994. You can watch it on youtube.

The Declaration of Independents, by Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch

2011-09-08T17:38:00.000-07:00

During the 1996 budget battles in Congress, when the "Contract with America" was beginning to show its worthlessness, and the Ds and Rs fought over who can spend money faster, I received a solicitation in the mail to join the Libertarian Party. It seemed like they were the only political voice supporting limited government, free markets, and personal freedom. The Ds and Rs get bits and pieces, but inevitably increase government power, constrain the market, and limit freedom. Alas, the Ls have not made any no significant inroads in national politics. The D/R duopoly has reigned for decades.

In the meantime, Reason, one of my favorite magazines, has been promoting "free minds and free markets." Editors in chief Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch have teamed up, with their characteristic good humor, solid insight, and strong libertarian perspective, to give a breath of fresh air and a challenge to conventional two-party thinking in American politics.

The Rs squandered the opportunity, with a majority in congress and a popular president, to bring real change to the way the U.S. government works. Instead of cutting spending and reducing government programs, they increased federal involvement in education, added an enormously expensive drug entitlement for seniors, and spent billions on war and everything else. To top it off, they gave millions away to failed business at the end of Bush's term. Obama has only made things worse. Gillespie and Welch write:

Americans have watched, with a growing sense of alarm and alienation, as first a Republican, then a Democratic administration has flouted public opinion by bailing out banks, nationalizing the auto industry, expanding war in Central Asia, throwing yet more good money after bad to keep housing prices artificially high, and prosecuting a drug war no one outside federal government pretends is comprehensible, let along winnable. It is easy to look upon this well-worn rut of political affairs and despair. (6)

There doesn't seem to be much hope that either party has anything to offer, and fact share the goal of centralized power. "It's time to stop pretending that the two parties are actually in conflict with one another (as opposed to colluding in a power-sharing agreement at the expense of the rest of us)." (14)

Knowing that we cannot look to government for serious reform--"Looking to Democrats and Republicans for the next big thing is like asking General Motors and Ford circa 1975 to map out the future for the auto industry." (37)--the authors look at the airline industry, trends in the business world, and the media for direction. Whether we're talking about travel, corporate structures, or how we get our news and entertainment, choices are better and freer than ever before. We should embrace that same sense of independence and choice in the world of politics.

Unfortunately, in three important areas, health care, K-12 education, and retirement, the government has such a stranglehold that innovation is near impossible. The authors point out that "we are so out of money," and to expect government to bring real reform to these areas may well be delusional.

This is a terrific read, and will be sure to challenge Rs and Ds alike. If you are familiar with libertarian thinking, and/or are a reader of Reason, not much here will surprise you. More power to Welch and Gillespie as they try to get Americans to both be independents in politics and to declare independence from politics.

Awakening: A New Approach to Faith, Fasting, and Spiritual Freedom, by Stovall Weems

2011-08-31T18:38:00.000-07:00

Stovall Weems, pastor of a large multi-campus church based in Florida, believes there is a key to having a "life fully awakened to God at all times." We should aim to "live life as God intended it to be lived--fully awake, fully alive, and walking in a continual state of freshness and newness before God!" I don't know about you, but my walk with God has not been marked by freshness and newness. Sure, there have been moments, but they are few and far between. I don't mean to belittle those times of increased intimacy with God or awareness of his active presence in my life, but most of the time I'm left dry and feeling distance from God.

So what is the key? For Weems, it's fasting. He has led his church in Awakenings, 21-day periods of fasting and focusing on God. This book is part inspiration, but mostly it's a handbook for having an Awakening of your own. While I can't really disagree with anything he says here, it seems like he's oversimplifying and overpromising. However, I should say that I'm writing this before actually going through the 21-day fast.

The second, and more important, part of the book is a guide for the 21-day fast. Each day he includes a short selection to read, a scripture passage to read, suggestions for prayer focus, and some space to write down reflections. I can't help but think that if one were to follow this plan consistently and intentionally, one would certainly be drawn closer to God. Plus, as Weems points out, after 21 days, habits begin to form, and the faster's devotional life might be moved up a notch.

So my preliminary evaluation is a little bit skeptical, but hopeful that at least some of what he talks about here will be available to me. My plan is to start up the fast next Tuesday (after a weekend at Mom's--I can't fast when she's cooking!). I'll check in after the 21 days and let you know how it goes. . . .

(I received this book for free from Waterbrook/Multnomah in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks!)

Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids, by Bryan Caplan

2011-08-28T18:56:00.000-07:00

Bryan Caplan is on a mission. This parenting book is not written by a psychologist, counselor, or pediatrician. Caplan is an economist. As an economist, one of his interests is measuring costs and benefits; he knows that a good investment is one in which the reutrns justify the investment. In Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids: Why Being a Great Parent is Less Work and More Fun Than You Think, he demonstrates that the costs of parenthood don't have to be as great as they sometimes are and that benefits or returns are usually greater than we realize.

First, the macroeconomic question. One of Caplan's inspiration was Julian Simon, who argued that man, as the title of his most well-known book indicates, is The Ultimate Resource. In other words, every person born is not just a consumer--sure, the first years of life are spent primarily consuming--but virtually everyone makes a contribution. As long as they're "alive and self-supporting" they are a net gain to humanity. And, of course, as we grow older we need younger people to sustain society as we age and fade back into a position of being a net consumer.

Most of Selfish Reasons is spent on the microeconomic level, arguing that for an individual family more kids are better than fewer. Caplan asks for parents to think long term when considering family size. When you have a little one at home, keeping you up nights and requiring constant diapering and feeding (or two, as Caplan did with twins), you think, "No more!" Or when you have two or three running around to sports and school activities in different places, you think, "This is plenty!" But when the kids are out of the house, married and having kids, that's when it's nice to have a bunch. More kids increases your chances of having more grandkids, which, as my Dad (father of 4) says, is when parenting pays off! More kids also means better odds that you have an adult son or daughter come around to visit or help out when you're old and lonely.

One of the reasons some people choose not to have more kids is the pressure for performance. Parents want their children to succeed academically, to be involved in sports, music lessons, etc. Parents believe that if they have more kids, they have less time to invest in their kids' development. But Caplan compiles the results from twin and adoption studies that show that parents ought to just relax. There is very little we do as parents that determines the long-term success of our children. We might have some short-term impact, but nature wins out over nurture. Caplan says that we think children are like clay, that we can shape them and mold them. But in reality, they are more like plastic; when we mold and shape them, they may stay that shape for a while, but they ultimately pop back into their original shape.

Because we have little long-term impact, we should avoid activities or parenting methods that introduce undue stress or difficulty on the family. The little guy doesn't want to go to karate class? Stay home and play. The little girl doesn't want to go to ballet? No sweat. An easier schedule will make happier parents, and the kids won't be any worse off.

Of course, there are limits to Caplan's arguments. He points out that all of the twin and adoption studies involve first-world families. There are obvious benefits for children raised in the developed world where nutrition, sanitation, and health care are adequate. And he certainly does not promote neglecting or ignoring your children altogether. But he emphasizes relaxing. Rather than get stressed out about parenting, reading parenting books, signing up for all the activities we can fit in, and worrying about college prospects of graduates of certain preschools, Caplan says if we can be approved by a typical adoption agency, we are good enough parents. All of our other efforts, for whatever short-term impact they have, have very little long-term effects.

Caplan's writing is certainly entertaining, especially considering that he's an academic economist, and, I think, he makes a compelling argument. But I'm an easy audience: I have a huge admiration for parents who choose large families, and as a father of 3, I can't help thinking that we're not done. We have two biological children and one adopted, and hope to add by adoption at some point. I do wish he would have spent more time addressing family growth by adoption. I share Caplan's hope, that couples who have no kids will think about having a couple, and that couples with two or three might think about having a couple more.

The Yiddish Policmen's Union, by Michael Chabon

2011-08-20T11:54:00.000-07:00

How about a little detective story in an alternative present? I've never read Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon before, but I figured if he won a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (in 2001 for The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay) maybe he's worth a read. Speaking of awards, The Yiddish Policemen's Union won a Hugo award for best novel (Hugo awards are for science fiction and fantasy. TYPU fits the sci-fi genre in the sense that it presents an alternative history.)

In the world of The Yiddish Policemen's Union, the fate of the Jews took a different twist in the mid-20th century. In the late 1930s, when the persecution of the Jews was becoming uncomfortably evident to those outside Germany, a number of proposals bounced around for relocating the Jews. Two weeks after Kristallnacht, FDR's secretary of the interior proposed the use of Alaska as a "haven for Jewish refugees from Germany and other areas in Europe where the Jews are subjected to oppressive restrictions." In real life, this proposal didn't get far. In Chabon's world, thousands of European Jews immigrated to Sitka Island, establishing a Yiddish-speaking stronghold of Jewish culture.

Against that backdrop, Chabon spins a noir detective story featuring a hard-boiled, independent-minded, rumpled detective of the sort we see in Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe private detective stories and others. Chabon's detective, Landsman, is called in to investigate the murder of an apparent junkie in a sleazy hotel. Turns out the victim is the son of a prominent rabbi/organized crime figure, so Landsman gets drawn into that world.

Besides the strong detective story, Chabon explores the world of Orthodox Judaism in Alaska, the land of the "Frozen Chosen." An entertaining subplot involves the keeper of the boundaries. The eruv is the enclosed area out of which an Orthodox Jew may not travel on the Sabbath. The boundary keeper has extensive maps of the eruvin, which are marked out with rope around the community. For someone unfamiliar with this practice (me), this sounds like it must surely be made up, but it's really observed in many Orthodox Jewish communities.

A larger Jewish theme, and a theme more central to the story, is the Jewish hope for the coming of the messiah and the reestablishment of the Temple in Jerusalem. The Sitka Jews had placed a lot of hope that one of their own would be the messiah, but then, well, he turned up murdered in a sleazy Sitka hotel. His death doesn't deter them from continuing with their plans, and we learn that the Jews are in cahoots with right-wing elements of the U.S. government, who want to see the Jews returned to Israel in accordance with their evangelical beliefs.

With Landsman's quirky personality and personal problems, his uncanny ability to get into problematic situations while uncovering the truth behind his case, and the believable alternative Jewish world, Chabon manages to make the reader laugh out loud and believe that there really is this Jewish enclave in the north. Driving the urgency of the story is the fact that the 60 year agreement is coming to an end; soon the Jews will be on their own again, seeking a homeland. I, for one, am grateful that in our history they did find a homeland in the restoration of the state of Israel. In the meantime, you'll get a kick of Chabon's picture of what might have been.

The Superlative Stream, by Kerry Nietz

2011-08-10T02:27:00.000-07:00

I recently read Kerry Nietz's first novel, A Star Curiously Singing, loved it, and was delighted to see that the adventures of Sandfly continue in a sequel, The Superlative Stream. In ASCS, we meet Sandfly, a debugger who is sent to investigate the self-destruction of a robot on the space ship DarkTrench. In the course of the investigation, he discovers a possible cause: curious singing from a distant star. TSS picks up where ASCS leaves off. Sandfly and his fellow debugger HardCandy take DarkTrench to search for the source of the singing, the superlative stream.

Nietz clearly matured as a writer with TSS. As good as ASCS is, TSS adds a higher level of depth and complexity to his engaging style. Utilizing flashbacks to their lives on Earth, we get to know Sandfly and HardCandy better and see how circumstances have brought them together. We also gain insight into the Muslim culture of their world. Nietz will not win friends in the Muslim community, as he takes certain elements of Sharia law to their logical, painful conclusions.

A subplot in both books deal with Sandfly's implant. As a result of his encounter with the superlative stream, his stops are removed, so, if he wishes to, he can sin with impunity. For the first time in his adult life, he experiences free will unencumbered by the programmed controls of the implant (and this right at the time time he embarks on an interstellar voyage, alone, with a beautiful woman!). Given the Islamic theology of good works, he struggles with the realization that his good works can never tip the scale in his favor; his sinful nature will continually pull him toward 50.1% bad works.

Sandfly's understanding will no doubt continue to develop as he gets to know the source of the stream, whom he knows now only as "(A~A)³." (That's A not A cubed, A being the shorthand for Allah, who is not named in the novel. ) Nietz skillfully weaves basic, thoughtful ideas like this throughout the story without preaching or distracting from the overall plot.

Much of the story takes place on a planet in the Betelguese system. There the humans encounter a whole new civilization, technically far ahead of human civilization. This part of the story will feel very familiar to any reader of sci-fi or viewer of sci-fi movies and TV shows: an idyllic, communal society, where there is no evident material need, where everyone seems happy, yet everyone sort of looks and dresses alike. Nietz kept me going for quite a while, trying to decide if this were some sort of angelic community, or if there were something more ominous under the surface. I'll leave that discovery to you when you read it. . . .

Nietz shows his skill as a bona fide sci-fi writer with his use of hard science as a driver in the story combined with plenty of realistic scientific and technological speculation. Combining that with his use of hard theology, exploring theological questions from a refreshing outside perspective, he gives us a thoroughly entertaining and satisfying read. And here's the good news: the Dark Trench saga will continue! An e-mail from Nietz confirmed that he has completed book 3. It's in the hands of the publisher now, so we should see it in the coming months. Keep an eye out at Marcher Lord Press for the release.

To Find Hope: Mother Teresa, by Sam Wellman

2011-08-07T07:40:00.000-07:00

Few Christians in the 20th century were as well-known and admired as Mother Teresa. Though a devout Catholic, her humility in service to the poorest of the poor brought her fame and adulation from around the world, among Christians of all stripes, and among people of other faiths or no faith at all. Sam Wellman, prolific author of Christian biographies for young readers, provides an easy-reading introduction to Mother Teresa in his novelized biography, To Find Hope.

Like most people, I have been vaguely aware of Mother Teresa's work and legacy for some time. I remember when she died, on the same day as Princess Diana, regretting that Mother Teresa's death was overshadowed by the publicity-loving celebrity princess. But that is probably what Mother Teresa would have wanted. Never comfortable with the media attention and honors she received, including a Nobel Peace Prize, she suffered through the praise with humility in order to bring more attention and needed funds to the poor.

One thing I always loved about Mother Teresa was her speaking out on behalf of the most helpless people: the unborn. Her Nobel speech summed up her view: "I feel the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion. . . . Because if a mother can kill her own child, what is left for me to kill you and you to kill me? There is nothing in between." Preach it, sister! Er, Mother! She backed it up by promoting adoption. "Please don't kill the child. . . . I am willing to accept any child who would be aborted and to give that child to a married couple who will love the child and be loved by the child."

However, I was never quite comfortable with her universalist-sounding talk. There is no question that she was a follower of Christ, and that she followed and adored Christ in a way that has been equaled by few Christians. But I have a hard time processing statements like this: "We convert Hindus into better Hindus. Muslims into better Muslims." Surely there are many who became followers of Christ as a result of her ministry, but, at least in Wellman's telling, we don't hear of many. To be sure, serving the poor for the sake of the poor, and touching them as if touching Jesus, is a good unto itself. But I'm left wondering about her ready embrace of other faiths.

Wellman's uncritical treatment may not satisfy someone with a serious scholarly or theological interest in Mother Teresa's life and influence, but he captures her life and work in a way that will inspire the reader to try "something beautiful for God."

"Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans . . ."

A Star Curiously Singing, by Kerry Nietz

2011-08-03T13:02:00.000-07:00

I have long been a fan of sci-fi, but have been skeptical of Christian sci-fi as a genre. Several years ago, I read some novels by Jeff Gerke (under the pen name Jefferson Scott) in the sci-fi/tech/suspense genre. I enjoyed them, and wondered what happened to him. Lo and behold, he has started a publishing house dedicated exclusively to Christian sci-fi and fantasy titles, Marcher Lord Press. Of course, titles from this small, new publisher are not available at my local library, so I went against my reading glutton, cheapskate tendencies and actually bought a few titles from Marcher Lord Press.

I was more than pleasantly surprised by Kerry Nietz's first novel, A Star Curiously Singing. This is not a second-rate, knock-off imitation sci-fi novel, but the real deal. Nietz creates a believable, if a little scary, near-future earth, incorporates creative technological ideas, and introduces likable characters in an engaging story. I was reminded of some of Asimov's stories; like Asimov, Nietz weaves a detective story into a future setting, letting the technology and cultural commentary provide a rich background while giving primary attention to an engaging plot. Sandfly, the narrator and central character, is a debugger whose owner sends him to check out a robot who self-destructed during a deep-space mission. That sentence alone requires a large amount of explanation, immersed as it is in the context of the book. Nietz takes the reader directly into that world, so it may take a few pages for you to feel comfortable, but he does so artfully, quickly drawing you in.

Without giving away the story, I'll highlight a couple of story elements that set A Star Curiously Singing apart. First, the cultural context. In the world of the novel, everyone, I mean everyone, is now Muslim. Sharia law is the law, and it's zealously enforced. Nietz doesn't go into much detail about how that transition came to pass, but he does off-handedly imply that the Muslim takeover occurred primarily due to birth rates. It's a little on the extreme side, of course (Catholics have high birth rates, too.), but it stands as a warning to us Western Christians who have small families and whose children tend not to embrace their parents' faith. And before you write off the possibility of world-wide sharia law, keep in mind that there are heads of state in the Middle East whose stated goal is just that, and they have, or will soon have, nuclear weapons.

As a debugger, Sandfly has an implant which not only gives his owner a means of control (think of a training device like you might have for your dog, only implanted in the brain. Ouch!), but the implant also controls his actions when he's alone. Tell a lie. Zap! Steal. Zap! Blaspheme A (The full name of the deity is not spelled out here.). Zap! Yet free will and the sin nature survive. Using this device, Nietz explores human nature and our sin nature in a unique way.

The core of the novel, the singing of the star, makes the story. In a world where Christianity has been successfully quashed, where all reference to it has been eliminated, no witness to God remains on Earth. But, as Jesus said, if we keep silent, the stones will cry out! Why not the stars, too! I love this depiction of God's calling out to his children, even when his children have cut off all communication. I hope and pray we don't come to a place where the whole world rejects God, but if it ever comes to that, Nietz reminds us that creation will not keep silent.

I heartily recommend this book, and encourage you to check out Marcher Lord Press, as well.

1611 Bestseller

2011-07-20T12:25:00.000-07:00

As I was reminded by an article in Baylor Magazine, this year we celebrate the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible. It's hard to overestimate the impact that the King James Bible had and continues to have on the English language, Western culture, and the church. (Plus, as my Uncle David discovered, some distant relative of ours was on the translation committee! But I don't get a discount on Bibles.)

I have also been reminded multiple times recently that I have not been spending time in the word. If you never saw this post, which shows a tribe getting the Bible in their language for the first time, check it out. I can only imagine the thrill of hearing God's word for the first time in a way I could understand, whether I had only heard it in Latin or Greek, or maybe never in a language I could understand. What a privilege to have such easy access to the Bible in many forms!

So to celebrate the quadricentennial and to try to revive my own love of God's word, I bought myself a KJV Bible. I had one at one time, but I think I gave it away years ago. I considered buying a cool edition that reproduces the original printing, but I figured I'd get tired of the antiquated letters, like using a v instead of u,or I instead of J. I just got a modern printing instead.

So my plan is to read the KJV all the way through over the next several months. I'm using a reading plan I've used before (this one); I like it because it's a one year plan but it's undated, so you can start whenever and wherever you like. Maybe I'll post some gleanings from my reading from time to time. Or not.

Primal: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity, by Mark Batterson

2011-07-17T09:13:00.000-07:00

First of all, let me say that I was pleased that Primal is not the book I thought it was going to be. It is not an attempt to find some kind of pure expression of Christian worship, faith, and practice, seeking to replicate the first century church today. Those sorts of efforts tend toward cultural ignorance and folly. Batterson does long for a sort of early church purity; the book was at least in part inspired by a visit to the catacombs of a church in Rome. Batterson wants to be sure modern Christians are able to see beneath the "bells and steeples . . . creeds and canons . . . pews and pulpits, hymnals and organs, committees and liturgies" that have come to be a part of the Christian experience, to remind us of what is most basic about Christianity.

It's pretty simple. The church is "not great at the Great Commandment. In too many instances, we're not even good at it." He sets out his recovery plan with four big ideas:

The heart of Christianity is primal compassion.

The soul of Christianity is primal wonder.

The mind of Christianity is primal curiosity.

And the strength of Christianity is primal energy.

Taking each of these things, he offers a couple of chapters each to flesh out the ideas.

I can't be 100% sure, but I have little doubt that this book started as a sermon series at his church. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but the end result feels a little cobbled together. Much of the exposition feels like filler; he came up with the basic ideas, then had to stretch them out for Sunday sermons. And his preacher's habit of pulling in random scientific factoids to illustrate his points got a little annoying.

However, one important measure of a book like this is, Did he accomplish what he set out to do? I would say the answer is yes. By the time I got to the end, my level of inspiration had moved up a few notches. I didn't read all of the discussion questions at the end, but they definitely provide good fodder for reflection. Ultimately Batterson wants to see a new reformation. Whereas Luther's Reformation was a reformation of creeds, marked by the rallying cry Sola fide (faith alone), the new Reformation should be marked by deeds of compassion, wonder, curiosity, and energy, with the rallying cry Amo Dei (love God).

Thanks to WaterbrookMultnomah for providing this free copy for review!

Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand

2011-07-13T20:44:00.000-07:00

OK, there's just no way I can sufficiently treat one of the twentieth century's greatest (and longest!) novels in the usual space of a Reading Glutton review. So I'll just give some highlights and personal thoughts. But you wouldn't expect anything more of a shallow book consumer like me, would you?

I first read Atlas Shrugged in 1987, just after I graduated from high school. (Thanks, Chelli, for turning me on to Rand!) I still have that paperback, and have read it a couple of times since then, but not in years. With the movie coming out (still haven't seen it) I thought I'd revisit it. I have to admit, I did it the lazy way: I got the CDs from the library. (In case you're wondering, it's 45 CDs, 50-something hours, I think.)

I had forgotten what a great read this is. Yes, it's long--my edition, a trade paperback, is 1084 pages of teeny tiny print--but Rand does not write fluff. Her descriptions are memorable, the dialogue is tight, and the story line moves briskly. One criticism often made is that the speeches are too long. She does have a few long expository passages, where the characters flesh out their ideas, but they're all naturally part of the story and do not detract. The one exception is John Galt's major radio speech late in the book. It goes on for 57 pages in my edition. On CD it's 3 hours. In the book, they refer to it as a 2 hour speech. In any case it's long, and one certainly has to suspend disbelief to think the whole nation would listen to the entire speech, much less take it all to heart. Maybe I'm too jaded by our media saturation; in the days of radio, I guess it's possible. I could just see a modern audience tuning out within 5 minutes to see what's on ESPN.

As great a novelist as Rand was, she is more remembered for her ideas. She unabashedly promoted the virtue of selfishness, especially from the perspective of business. I am a Christian, and I know that we are to follow Christ's example of selflessness, but I do not believe Rand's conception of selfishness conflicts with the Christian life. Business is all about serving the needs of others; a businessman who does not do so finds himself out of business. Adam Smith captured this idea in his line: "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we can expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest."

One of Rand's heroes, Hank Rearden, made a similar point at a speech when he was put on trial for violating the restrictions placed on industry by the government.

I work for nothing but my own profit--which I make by selling a product they need to men who are willing and able to buy it. I do not produce it for their benefit at the expense of mine, and they do not buy it for my benefit at the expense of theirs; I do not sacrifice my interests to them nor do they sacrifice theirs to me; we deal as equals by mutual consent to mutual advantage--and I am proud of every penny I own. I made my money by my own effort, in free exchange and through the voluntary consent of every man I dealt with. . . . I refuse to apologize for my ability--I refuse to apologize for my success--I refuse to apologize for my money. . . . I could say to you that I have done more good for my fellow men than you can ever hope to accomplish--but I will not say it, because I do not seek the good of others as a sanction for my right to exist.

The villains in Atlas Shrugged (not to mention the current administration) never seem to get the point that by making money, a good businessman does vastly greater good for society and his fellow man than he ever can by giving money away.

Speaking of the current administration, Wesley Mouch's description of the John Galt Plan (which had nothing to do with Galt's ideas, he simply attempted to conscript Galt's name into government service) sounds suspiciously like something Barack Obama would say. As you read this, please picture BO and his Teleprompter:

The John Galt Plan will reconcile all conflicts. It will protect the property of the rich and give a greater share to the poor. It will cut down the burden of your taxes and provide you with more government benefits. It will lower prices and raise wages. It will give more freedom to the individual and strengthen the bonds of collective obligations. It will combine the efficiency of free enterprise with the generosity of a planned economy.

This is the kind of doublespeak I have come to expect from Washington. Sometimes it seems Washington is taking its cues from Atlas Shrugged. Rand talks about the "aristocracy of pull," which rewards the well-connected at the cost of successful enterprises. What other explanation is there behind the bank bailouts? Washington rewarded failure by bailing out the failed banks, costing the economy and the country, and penalizing successful banks. I am in awe of the idiocy of our federal government's economic policies, but they would not have surprised Rand at all.

In many ways, Rand was an offensive figure, and she was certainly no friend of the Christian faith. But I long to have someone like her making sense of the world today. If you have never read Atlas Shrugged, you owe it to yourself to take a look.

snooted haughtily at me, "Impossible!" and walked on. In spite of her rejection, and in spite of Rand's hostility to religion, I do believe that Rand's principles and Christianity can be fruitfully reconciled.)

Fed Up!: Our Fight to Save America from Washington, by Rick Perry

2011-07-05T18:57:00.000-07:00

Will he run for president? Sure looks like it. Can he win? I don't know. Many people outside of Texas will see him as Bush 2 (or Bush 3, depending on how you view Bush 2's presidency as a sequel to Bush 1's). Personally, I'd rather see the other Texan presidential hopeful, Ron Paul, in the White House.

In spite of people's perception, Perry's book Fed Up demonstrates Perry's differences with Bush. Granted, they're not black and white, but Bush is more Washington than Austin. Perry differs with Bush on several points where Bush tends toward federal government solutions. His book is a clarion call to Americans to pay close attention to that crucial tenth amendment to the U.S. Constitution, so often ignored or forgotten by Washington:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Perry's not just a states' rights zealot; he argues that a great strength of this amendment is the ability for states to serve as laboratories of public policy. Why not try things 50 different ways? The best policies will be noticed by the other states and imitated and adapted for their particular state's needs, a much more efficient means of shaping policy. Witness the huge bureaucracies that have been created in response to Obamacare, when we have no idea how health care will look on a nation-wide basis?

Whether or not he decides to run, and whether he not he can win the nomination, much less the presidency, I hope Perry's message of less regulation, lower taxes, and less control over our lives and communities by the federal government will continue to find a hearing in the halls of power. But I'm not holding my breath.

Do Hard Things, by Alex and Brett Harris

2011-06-29T08:54:00.000-07:00

I don't have a teenager yet--but I will in about 14 months! Scary! So this book written by teens, for teens struck a chord with me. These young men, twin brothers Alex and Brett Harris, offer up a challenge to teens to join their "rebellion against low expectations." With stories about their own endeavors, as well as many of their peers, they inspire kids to dream big and not be satisfied with our society's tendency to write off the teen years as a waste. I was reminded of Mark Twain's parenting advice: when your kids turn 13 put them in a barrel and feed them through a knot hole--then, when they turn 16, plug up the hole!

The Harrises give reason for hope and provide practical advice and clear steps for kids wanting to have an impact on their world. They have presented "Do Hard Things" conferences around the world, and maintain a web site with useful resources and forums: http://www.therebelution.com/. I must admit, even as a middle-aged parent, they challenged me to stretch myself (not to mention chiding me for my self-centered, wasted teen years. . . .).

By the way, I picked up the audio book at the library, and didn't realize until I was into it that Alex and Brett's brother is Josh Harris, the pastor and author whose Dug Down Deep I just read! This is a remarkable family whose successes speak well of home-schooling!

The Daughter's Walk, by Jane Kirkpatrick

2011-06-21T10:35:00.000-07:00

I have been taken in by tales of cross-country races, like the "Bunion Derby" of 1928 (I reviewed C.C. Pyle's Amazing Foot Race here.) and the more recent Trans American foot race (I reviewed David Horton's A Quest for Adventure here.) More recently, I followed Jeff Rudisill's walk across America (here). So I was interested to hear about Helga and Clara Estby's walk across America in 1896.

Think about coast-to-coast travel at that time: transcontinental railroad tracks had been completed less than 30 years before. But Helga Estby boldly accepted a wager from sponsors in the clothing industry to walk from their home in Spokane, Washington to New York. If they complete the walk in the allotted time, they would be awarded $10,000. That money would have saved their farm from foreclosure and helped their struggling family.

Jane Kirkpatrick, an accomplished writer of historical fiction, pieced together the limited historical record of their walk and creates an epic story of the Estby family. The account of the walk itself fills only about a quarter of the book. Most of the book deals with the impact on the family, specifically Clara's life after the walk. Two of Helga's children died while they were on the journey, so the grief-stricken, controlling patriarch forbade the rest of the family from even mentioning "the walk." Helga and her daughter Clara, then 19, had kept detailed accounts of the walk, but the family destroyed those records. This family rift bothered me. Talk about holding grudges: twenty years later, Clara was still ostracized from her family.

Helga and Clara sporting the racy, scandalous outfits.

Kirkpatrick paints a detailed picture of life at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, especially from the women's perspective. The walk itself promoted the "reform skirt" which showed the ankles (actually, the ankle high boots or stockings; bare ankles would have been too racy) and did not have a corset. That alone caused some scandal; women walking unescorted added to it. Their biggest supporters were suffragists; remember, at this time women could not vote. The suffrage movement was in full swing, but it would be another 20 years before women were granted the vote. Excluded from family life, Clara set out on her own, making a living in the fur industry, buying and selling real estate, and farming. As an independent woman, she was an anomaly, but seems to have found success in spite of her unusual path.

I enjoyed the realistic, informative historical setting of The Daughter's Walk, and loved the account of the walk itself. The women's audacity in undertaking it, their resourcefulness and perseverance in completing it, and their boldness, speaking out for women, made for a great story. But after that, with the family drama and Clara's subsequent life and business ventures, the story either withered, or became a women's book. I didn't enjoy the rest of the book as much; I don't think I was the target audience.

I am curious to know how much Kirkpatrick embellished the story, given the lack of historical record and the nature of Clara's story itself. There is a non-fiction account of their walk, Bold Spirit: Helga Estby's Forgotten Walk Across Victorian America, by Linda Lawrence Hunt. Hunt also maintains a web site, http://www.boldspiritacrossamerica.com/index.html. Also, in what must be a strange twist of publishing, Clara's great niece, Carole Estby Dagg, published her own fictionalization of Clara's life, The Year We Were Famous. Dagg's book was released within a day of Kirkpatrick's. Dagg also maintains a web site, http://www.caroleestbydagg.com/index.html.

The Other Jesus, by Greg Garrett

2011-06-17T21:41:00.000-07:00

Reading Greg Garrett's The Other Jesus: Rejecting a Religion of Fear for the God of Love back-to-back with Josh Harris's Dug Down Deep: Building Your Life on Truths That Last (my review here) made for an interesting contrast. Harris falls broadly into the conservative Evangelical camp; Garrett has Evangelical roots, but has morphed into a more ecumenical Episcopal Christian. Both books cover major topics of systematic theology in a personal, lay-oriented way. I have to say my personal theology lines up closer to Harris's than Garrett, but Garrett does have some good contributions.

I have never met Greg Garrett, but have been aware of his career for some time, as he is a popular English professor at Baylor, my alma mater. I knew I'd find some common ground with Garrett, but from that common ground we have taken divergent paths.

Garrett writes in the tradition of Christians who have found their denominational roots too limiting, legalistic, exclusive, close-minded, and/or stifling. The problem with Garrett and other writers of his ilk is that they over-generalize the "other" Christians, creating a straw man church, and they oversimplify their own theological expressions, resulting in a nebulous, rootless theology.

He starts off by offending me and all but a few hundred Christians in Waco, by saying that in Waco "you might indeed set foot in a dozen extremely conservative Southern Baptist churches before finding a Baptist church that imagines people on a quest to work alongside God in the healing of creation," then goes on to name three churches that pass muster for him, churches where "you could begin a spiritual journey that would be meaningful and lifelong and not revolve purely around your answering an altar call to claim your salvation once and for all."

This sets the tone for the book: most Christians and most churches, especially those of more conservative persuasions, are myopic and insular. Most American Christians exemplify "a shortsighted focus on individual salvation, a disengagement from the world, a fear or hatred of those who differ from them." I know there are plenty of Christians out there who obsess over end-times, and who think that praying the sinner's prayer is all there is to the Christian life, but in my experience, including my experiences in a number of terrific Waco churches, that is not the norm.

Garrett rightly calls Christians to be more engaged with the world and more open to learning from traditions other than their own, even non-Christian traditions. But I think he goes too far in his criticisms and in his rejection of theologically conservative Christianity. One major point, related to his subtitle about "a religion of fear," is the exclusivity of the Christian faith. Garrett explicitly states that he is not a universalist, one who believes all will be saved. Yet he seems to embrace an "all roads lead to God" theology. Yes, we can learn from the teachings and practices of other faiths, but, other world religions to the contrary, Christianity teaches that Jesus is the only way to God. That may be expressed in a variety of ways, but Garrett moves toward rejecting that basic theological truth.

Garrett has a problem with Christians who do believe with absolute certainty that Jesus is the only way to God. "Absolute certainty leads people to fly planes into buildings, . . . to launch wars, [and is] a sign that religion has become evil." Obviously, there are historical examples of this, even among Christians. But my experience has been that for the most part Christian groups who do believe in the exclusivity of salvation through Jesus Christ respond not with demonization and a desire for extermination, but with compassion and evangelization. Again, there are plenty of historical examples to the contrary, but they are notable because they are outside the norm, not because they are the norm.

I did enjoy The Other Jesus. I appreciate a challenge to think more deeply about my faith, to stretch my ideas about the Christian life, and, most of all, to have a humility about my faith. One of the joys life in heaven will be laughing with other believers about how wrong I was about them, perhaps how wrong they were about me, and how little we really knew what we thought we knew.

I wish Garrett had better experiences in his early years as a Christian, and am happy that he has found renewed faith in his current role. But I wish he could see more value in the churches of his youth. Maybe they are not as contemplative as they should be, maybe they are too emotionally driven, maybe they are too easily led, maybe they have a hard time with a global perspective. These may be valid criticisms, but they seem to be more tied to style, education, and intellectual elitism, not to genuine questions of faith.

Dug Down Deep, by Joshua Harris

2011-06-14T19:43:00.000-07:00

For my 100th Reading Glutton blog entry (yippee! 100!), I decided I should actually review a book, unlike my last 2 entries. For the 100th entry, I will be reviewing Dug Down Deep: Building Your Life on Truths That Last, by Joshua Harris, which I received free from the publisher for the Blogging for Books program. (Click the icon to the right to go to the Blogging for Books web site, and give all my reviews 5 stars!) I have the paperback. For some reason, the hardcover title is Dug Down Deep: Unearthing What I Believe and Why It Matters. Maybe it's common to change subtitles like this, but it seems odd.

This video introduces the book better than I can:

Joshua Harris, pastor of Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland, first gained publishing notoriety with his best-selling I Kissed Dating Goodbye. At that time, tackling the biggest questions in the minds of teens and 20-somethings, he was 21, but now, as a pastor, he tackles nothing less than systematic theology. Harris writes with a personal, conversational style, whittling down theological conundrums into bite-size morsels. With a pastor's heart and preacher's gift for communication, he brings the reader to a deeper understanding of many areas of theology. Eschatology was noticeably absent, but he covers a wide swath of Christian teaching.

For the most part, any evangelical will be comfortable with his exposition. His perspectives are representative of his denomination, Sovereign Grace Ministries. (I know they don't call themselves a denomination; they are a "family of churches." But from an outsider's perspective, they seem to operate much like a denomination.) Harris draws from his church's Reformed, charismatic theology. He is comfortable with and relies on the writings of John Piper, Wayne Grudem, John Stott, and others. If you know who they are, you have an idea of where Harris is coming from.

As a Baptist-turned-charismatic (I identify with the Vineyard tradition), I found Harris's strongest chapter to be the one on the Holy Spirit. He calls on us to embrace the gifts of the Spirit while being careful to avoid the excesses that sometimes creep up in the church. "You can limit him by thinking he can never work in specific ways. But you can also limit him by thinking that only the spectacular is meaningful." Most importantly, the Spirit gives us the power of a changed heart and life. Like a spotlight focusing on a stage, the Spirit spotlights Jesus. "You know the Spirit is working if you're more amazed by Jesus, more desirous to serve and obey him, more ready to tell other people about him, more ready to serve the church he loves."

I was less impressed with his chapters on salvation and sanctification. I felt like he was really trying to convey the reformed position, but he had a hard time fleshing out that difficult balance between salvation that comes as a work of God's grace alone, and that comes by our faith in Jesus, and between the holiness that comes from God and the obedience that comes from our effort. I'm sure I couldn't do a better job with these questions, but I finished those chapters torn. Did he make sense or didn't he?

Overall, this is a helpful, thoughtful book for the new Christian and the mature believer alike. Whether or not he has all the answers, he provides fodder for discussion (discussion questions included at the end) and points us to resources for further study. Dug Down Deep reminds us that if we want to know God, we ought to make an effort to know about him as best we can.

Celebrities and Bestsellers

2011-06-10T11:26:00.000-07:00

I noticed on a recent list of NY Times bestsellers (they publish the list in the Sunday Star-Telegram) that most of the books are simply celebrity crap. OK, I haven't read them, so I don't know that they're all crap, but here's the run-down, from the May 22 hardcover non-fiction list:

TV star memoir
rock star memoir
movie star memoir
TV star memoir
poems collected by a Kennedy
country singer memoir
Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand
biography of Barack Obama's mother
Navy Seal book
TV star memoir
football coach memoir
Starbucks CEO business book
movie star memoir
The Social Animal, by David Brooks
TV star book
movie star memoir

Nine of the top 16 are these celebrity books, 10 if you include the football coach. Plus, BO's mom is a person of little consequence, and, even though some great, famous poems are collected in the Kennedy book, would anyone care if they were collected by, say, an English lit prof who doesn't come from a famous political family? Unbroken is a great book (I reviewed it here), I'm sure the Starbucks CEO has some interesting things to say, and Brooks's book sounds pretty legit. A Navy Seal book may not be great literature, but it's probably an interesting perspective on their role in the U.S. military, especially given their role in the raid to kill Bin Laden (which was quite a distance from any navigable body of water. . . .hmmm . . . ).

So what's my point in all this? I don't know that I have one, except it bothers me that 75% of the NYT bestseller list, the thermometer of American literary culture, is a bunch of garbage. I guess I'm used to the fiction list being a mix of movie tie-ins, pulp fiction, and good literature. But these "books" that make it onto the non-fiction list bother me.

I was prompted to write this by a Star-Telegram article this morning (here's the link to the NYT version) that discussed upcoming novels by the Kardashian sisters, Snooki (from some reality show), and some other people who are famous for being famous. It's a funny article, especially when the air-headed celebrity "authors" talk about the rigors of writing, then, as it turns out, have a ghost writer doing the real work.

Speaking of writing garbage, maybe that's what I'm writing with this little rant. I just hope the future of a literate United States doesn't rest exclusively on the shoulders of Snooki, Shania Twain, and the Kardashians.

Treasuring the Word of God

2011-06-06T12:46:00.000-07:00

As a Reading Glutton, I read a lot. I almost always have at least a couple of books going, plus an audio book. But even though I read some good books, maybe even some edifying books, I have neglected the best book of all: the revelation of God's love for us in his Word. I'm being honest here, I can't even remember the last time I read the Bible devotionally. I have been mildly convicted by some of my recent reading, but today I ran across a powerful reminder of what a treasure we have in the Bible.

According to KimyalTribe.com:

The Kimyal Tribe live in the Eastern Highlands of West Papua, Indonesia. They are sustenance farmers who were untouched by the outside world until World Team missionaries Phil & Phyliss Masters brought the Gospel to their area in 1963. Phil Masters was martyred in 1968 when he and fellow missionary Stan Dale were killed and cannibalized by the Yale tribe. . . . From the beginning, the Kimyals have had a love and desire for the Word of God. The World Team missionaries that came after the Masters have been witnesses of this.

The Kimyals have had access to portions of scripture in their own language, and in the languages of neighboring tribes. But until last year, the did not have the complete New Testament. The following video shows part of the celebrations around the arrival of the first copies of the New Testament in their language. Watch the exuberant dancing, tears of joy, and passionate prayers as they welcome these Bibles. They act like the Bibles are a gift from heaven!

Of course they do. In my media-saturated, Bible-saturated, Christian-radio-saturated, church-culture-saturated world, I forget that the Bible is just that: a gift from heaven! A love letter from God! A history of salvation! Words of life! Thank you, Kimyal people, for reminding me not to be a glutton, not to munch God's word like it's a bland but hopefully healthy meal, but to take it in like it's both the finest delicacy imaginable as well as the source of life.

The Comeback: How Innovation Will Restore the American Dream, by Gary Shapiro

2011-05-27T10:12:00.000-07:00

Observant readers of the Reading Glutton will note that the last book I reviewed talked about taking your faith back from the American Dream, where this book wants to restore it. Other than the reference in the respective subtitles, these two books have little, if anything to do with one another.

Shapiro, president of the Consumer Electronics Association, has held a front row seat to many innovations in late 20th century and early 21st century America. The book is a wake-up call to us, as Americans, to reclaim our place as the world's leading innovators. With policy proposals and a touch of inspiration, Shapiro hopes to reignite the innovative spirit. Of course he emphasizes education, but I like his emphasis on immigration. While some say immigrants take American jobs, he argues that immigrants in fact have created jobs and boosted American innovation, especially in his field of consumer technology. He has a simple proposal for keeping promising foreigners here: if someone earns a PhD, put them on the fast track for citizenship. Too many come to the U.S. to study, then, unable to gain permanent status, return to their home countries. Some would return in any case, but why not try to get them to stay here?

Much of Shapiro's proposals are explicitly free-market, libertarian positions. He does call for some level of government intervention in a few cases, but mostly to protect and encourage markets. I think this statement sums up his position fairly well: "Government at its best will be neutral. At its worst, it will get in the way and create barriers to innovation, investment, trade, and the creation of long-term jobs." We need a neutral government, not what we've had lately, a government that rewards failure and tries to pick winners. Your bank is failing? I'm sorry, how about a few billion to tide you over? Your product can find a market? Oh, sorry, how about we heavily subsidize it, even though no one wants to buy it?

I've been listening to Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged in the car for a few weeks (more on that later). Shapiro's book reminds me of what Rand was talking about: when the innovators disappear from America, the country falls apart. Hopefully we can recover innovation before things get as bad as that. I don't think I have it in me to be an innovator, but The Comeback makes me want to be.

Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, by David Platt

2011-05-20T11:57:00.000-07:00

My friend Christina recently returned from a mission trip to Central America, where she and her husband joined a group building simple ovens for families who live as their ancestors have for centuries, cooking over an open pit in their hillside hovels. She mentioned this book to me as an inspiration for how they were seriously reconsidering and altering their lifestyle. Upon that recommendation, I was eager to see what this book is all about.

I must say I came away with mixed feelings. Early on in Radical, David Platt describes himself as the "youngest megachurch pastor in the United States," making me cringe in response to his humility, or lack of. Throughout the book, he describes his struggles, what a tough life he has, trying to downsize from his big house, dealing with his big church, leading his wealthy congregation. As he challenges his readers to downsize and rearrange priorities, he seems to suffer from a lack of perspective.

That said, his challenges are still valid and, well, challenging. Platt calls on American Christians (of course some of this would apply to all Christians, but his particular target is a complacent American church) to live more radically committed to Jesus. A worthy message, to be sure! But has there ever been a generation of Christians that didn't need to hear? The only ones who come to mind are those who are or who have been persecuted. Platt has spent time in communities of persecuted Christians around the world. The stories he tells certainly inspired me to take my faith more seriously and to be thankful that we live in a free country with endless resources for Christian growth and worship.

When Platt began venturing into the world of economics, I braced myself. The subtitle implies that the "American Dream" is incompatible with genuine Christianity, and his text supports that stance. Whenever preachers start talking about economics, it's bound to get ugly. It's true that American Christians can afford to live more simply and give more generously, but Platt's examples and exposition imply that Jesus wants all of us to sell our houses and quit our jobs. But where does it stop? If I live in a 6000 s.f. house, I should downsize to a 3000 s.f. house, right? But 3000 sf is bigger than what most people in the world live in, so I guess I should look for a 1800 s.f. house. I happen to live in a house that's less than 2000 s.f. It suits my family of 5, and doesn't seem extravagant, but it's more than many people have. Should I put it on the market? (Maybe there's some radical Christian who is looking to downsize from his 5000 sf house and would like to buy mine.) And beyond the house, what about your personal spending. Eating out twice a week? You could feed a family for a year on that money in some parts of the world. That $100 pair of shoes? Someone is going without a home. That $3 cup of coffee? You just drank someone's week's worth of groceries.

The money you spent on that lovely fountain? Could have provided clean water for thousands of people with dysentery in the third world.

The money you spent on that spiffy sanctuary? Could have built dozens of churches in Africa.

Similarly, what about quitting one's job? To be sure, many Christians have quit their jobs to follow Jesus and serve in various capacities. In my opinion, Platt sets this up as the norm, at least implicitly. But what about the professional who uses his unique skills and resources in more secular ways? There's nothing explicitly spiritual about performing surgery, trading stocks, or arguing a case in court. But those jobs can be done in such a way to bring glory to God. What about someone who owns a small business? He provides jobs for his employees, adding to the economy. Or the manufacturer who produces goods for others' use? If these people walked away from their jobs in order to serve the poor or become a missionary, what would they be taking away from the livelihood of others? What contributions would their fields of expertise be missing out on? In Platt's view, missions and work among the poor are higher callings than so-called secular work. I heartily disagree.

And what about the clock-puncher, who doesn't have the resources to leave his job? No big 401K to cash in, no big house to sell. He has to live on something if he quits to be a radical follower of Jesus. He can just pray that the doctors and executives and business owners in his church stay in their jobs long enough to contribute to his cause. The problem is, I am confident Platt would agree: Of course not everyone is called to quit their job or sell everything and give it to the poor! But his book implies that to do so is the highest calling, the norm, and the path of the radical. I was reminded of what Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck wrote in Why We Love the Church (my review here). The younger generation, DeYoung and Kluck argue, is "prone to radicalism without follow through." It might not seem radical, they argue, "to be a line worker at GM with four kids and a mortgage, who tithes to his church, sings in the praise team every week, serves on the school board, and supports a Christian relief agency and a few missionaries from his disposable income," but such a lifestyle reflects a "long obedience in the same direction" and can be just as much a lifestyle of submission to God as Platt's radical Christian.

My biggest problem with Platt's book is his guilt mongering. You're not giving enough, your house is too big, you're not spending enough time evangelizing, you're too self-centered, you're not serving Jesus in your job enough. All of which may be true. But Platt leaves the reader with a feeling of "I've got to do more! More! More!" without a good set of principles or guidelines for making judgments about how much more. To me this seems pedantic and irresponsible.

OK, that all sounds vitriolic and maybe a bit defensive. Fact is, I know I'm not giving enough, I know my house is plenty big, I'm not spending any time evangelizing, I am too self-centered, and I'm not serving Jesus in my job! So I will end this review on a positive note. Even though Platt made me a bit angry and I grew frustrated by his undisciplined exposition, he did challenge me to think about where my life is and what about it, if anything, is directed toward serving Jesus.

He ends the book with a challenge he calls The Radical Experiment. For one year, he challenges the reader:

To pray for the entire world
To read through the entire Word
To commit our lives to multiplying community
To sacrifice our money for a specific purpose
To give our time in another context

In fact, these are not radical things to do, but should be normal for Christians. That's where we are as a church: what should be normal is viewed as radical. Or, again, is that always how it is for Christians? The radical ones are the ones who are actually doing what they're supposed to do? (Remember when The Door magazine named Mother Theresa Loser of the Month, because she receives such accolades for doing what a nun is supposed to be doing? Of course you don't remember, because that magazine had a readership of about 500 which is why it's no longer published!)

So in spite of my problems with Radical, when I finished reading my mind (dare I say my spirit?) was racing with how its message might apply to my life. My life is far from radical. My heart is far from sold out to following Jesus. But Platt has planted some seeds and pushed me along, forcing me not only to reflect on where my Christian life stands now, but to think about what I'm going to do about it.

Average Joe, by Troy Meeder

2011-05-09T19:17:00.000-07:00

The promo for Average Joe caught my eye:

Now we're older, with a wonderful wife and kids, as well as a mortgage, a minivan, and a fulfilling but not-so-glamorous job. What happened? All the dreams that once inspired us have evaporated into traffic jams, computer screens, bills, and deadlines. Why is life so ordinary?

Look at that! A book about me! I had mixed feelings picking it up, though. I was not supposed to be average or ordinary. I always believed what my parents and teachers told me: that I was a cut above, that I had promise, that I was exceptional, etc. I entered college and my ordinariness reared its head quickly. I can relate to what my cousin once told me, that he seemed to get a little less smart at every step in his education.

So here I am, middle-aged, an average Joe. (Or maybe below average. . . .) So what encouraging words does Mr. Meeder have for a guy like me? Not a lot, as it turns out, but I still was encouraged by his great stories and affirmation of what, in the world's eyes, is mundane and common. Meeder's strength, his down-home storytelling with life lessons, has made him a sought-after conference speaker. I love the fact that the stories he tells and the people he profiles are not public figures or historical personalities, but, of course, average Joes he has had the privilege to know: the head landscaper at his college, his grandfather who loved to fish, the cowboy who exemplifies simple wisdom. None of these people made a big impact on business or civic life, but the way they lived touched lives around them in profound ways.

Troy Meeder, above-average Joe

This is one of those books that's easily summarized, with its simple lessons and gentle reminders of what you probably already know. But like a good motivational speaker, Meeder engages you with stories and examples that drive home the simple message. I either read too much into the promotional material for this book, or else the promotional material oversold the message. The subtitle, "God's Extraordinary Calling to Ordinary Men," gave me hope of a stronger, more motivating message. I am torn between Meeder's theme, that even though you're ordinary, you can have an eternal impact on the world around you, and what we typically hear from motivational speakers and writers, that we should aim beyond the ordinary. Meeder's task is to redefine what is ordinary, but I think that task ends up being bigger than what he offers here.

Meeder may be a case in point. This book is the first I have heard of him, but he mentions his work with Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch, which he and his wife founded in 1995. This sounds like a terrific ministry, which rehabilitates rescued horses and where kids and families can come for healing and restoration. Yes, Meeder came from a poor family, definitely average Joe material, but he founded this ministry, which is "a global force in its ministry to children, families, and equine rescue." He and his wife "speak at conferences, churches, and events throughout America." I don't know about you, but being the founder of "a nationally renowned nonprofit organization" sounds like former average Joe material, definitely above average Joe. So I'm left feeling like an average Joe being encouraged by an above average Joe that it's OK to be average.

I wouldn't by any means say, Don't read this book! Meeder's stories are engaging, and he provides a handy discussion guide for use in small groups. But I have mixed feelings about it. Maybe I'm wrong. I'm just an average Joe, what do I know?

By the way, Waterbrook Multnomah provided this book to me free of charge for review.

The Science of Kissing, by Sheril Kirshenbaum

2011-05-08T20:17:00.000-07:00

On a whim, I picked up The Science of Kissing from the new releases shelf at the library. I thought it would be a fun read, and I wasn't disappointed. Kirshenbaum, a marine biologist and science journalist (and a research scientist at UT-Austin, but I'll try not to hold that against her), decided to delve into the nature and origins of one of my favorite things to do, kissing. Turns out there's not a ton of primary research in that particular field, but she tracked it down, and did some original research of her own.

Why do we kiss? Well, there are a number of possibilities. The origin of kissing could be tied to the practice of mothers pre-chewing their babies' food and depositing it in the babies' mouths (this pertains to humans as well as animals). She reveals her background as an evolutionary biologist when she observes that babies' mouths have evolved to be a perfect receptacle for a nipple. That the system of feeding our young with mother's milk originated by design is completely outside of her worldview. Kissing could be linked to the practice of smelling one another on greeting (again, humans and non-humans). There are definitely chemical triggers and responses when we kiss, determining compatibility and guiding relationships. "Kiss and make up" works for a reason: we trigger chemical reactions in one another.

Many animals kiss or engage in kissing-like behaviors.

Lots of what she writes is speculative. Controlled experiments to observe chemical responses and neurological activity related to kissing inevitably interfere with the act of kissing. The closest she came was exposing subjects to images of kissing and measuring neurological activity. But that didn't seem to lead to many firm conclusions.

Kirshenbaum's goal with The Science of Kissing seems to have been more about entertainment than serious science. That's not meant as a criticism: she is skilled at engaging her reader while distilling good research, in ways that a layman can understand and enjoy. This is a fun read, sure to make you want to put into practice what she writes of. She does conclude with 10 (definitely scientifically based!) tips for kissing. I like the final one best, and I will be sure to mention it to my kissing partner:

Kiss regularly and often. Once you've found someone special, a kiss works to maintain the strong partnership you share by helping to keep passion alive--with plenty of assistance from those hormones and neurotransmitters. Lots of kissing is a telltale sign of a healthy relationship, because the connection fosters a sense of security through companionship--which in turn has been physiologically linked to happiness.

Something old, something new, something borrowed: Clancy and Flynn

2011-05-04T16:01:00.000-07:00

Back in 2009, I read the whole Mitch Rapp series (books 1-10) by Vince Flynn. (Reviews here and here.) As I noted at the time, these books feature super-agent Mitch Rapp, who has much in common with Jack Bauer of the TV series 24. The books could each be a season of 24. I also wondered about a link to Clancy. The two are often compared, or I should say, Flynn is often compared to Clancy, as in "fans of Tom Clancy will like Vince Flynn." Clancy is a master of spy/military/political fiction. I won't say he created the genre, but I think he did prime an audience for Flynn and others.

With that in mind, I picked up The Hunt for Red October on CD. Red October, the 1984 novel that vaulted Clancy to instant celebrity, set the standard for realism and accuracy in suspense. This great story of the defection of a Soviet submarine commander introduces us to the hero of Clancy's books, Jack Ryan. Clancy famously won a huge following in military circles with the realism and accuracy of the story. Reading it now, 27 years after publication, after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, I enjoyed the Cold War perspective. What a different world, when the U.S was the beacon of prosperity and capitalism, and the Soviet Union was a slave state. I'm afraid our beacon doesn't burn as brightly now, and we are closer to being a slave state than we have ever been in my lifetime. Cold War-era books like this can hopefully stick around as a reminder that we have been, and still are, at least for now, the nation to which people will give their lives, or steal a submarine, to get to.

Clancy, looking pretty military.

Over the course of the next several decades, Ryan moves on from CIA analyst to president to retiree. His son takes up the mantle of American hero, and in Dead or Alive we find him fully enmeshed in a secret, off-the-books ops group tasked with hunting down Osama bin Laden and thwarting a major nuclear attack on the U.S. OK, it's not really bin Laden, but the character in the book is clearly modeled after him. Over the years, Clancy's books have become longer and more complex. He handles the vast cast of characters and variety of settings well, but sometimes it just feels too unwieldy. The nuclear plot Clancy creates for Dead or Alive made me wonder if any real terrorist had thought of it before, and if they hadn't, whether they would try it now. Readers of Debt of Honor (published in 1994) had to wonder if the 9/11 terrorists got some inspiration from Clancy's rogue Japanese pilot who crashed a 747 into the capital during the State of the Union speech, crippling the government.

As I write this, a few days after the real Osama bin Laden was tracked down and killed in his home, I can't help but wonder how Clancy might have inspired some of those involved. The raid was carried out by Seal Team 6, which sounds similar to Clancy's Rainbow 6. I know there have been occasions where novelists and script writers have met with government officials to brainstorm about terrorism (and I'm sure may other things). Surely Clancy would be at the top of those lists.

So how are they? If you've never read The Hunt for Red October, do. It's a great book, a great story, and the book itself has a great story. If you've read some of Clancy's other books and liked them, you'll want to pick up Dead of Alive. It's been a long time coming; it had been seven years since he published Teeth of the Tiger. But a Clancy newbie might not embrace it. There's an awful lot of reminiscing and hinting at the previous books, interrupting with the flow of the story, and, as I suggested, it is pretty cumbersome.

I don't know if Flynn would credit Clancy for inspiration, but the comparison is hard to avoid for fans of both. Flynn's stories seem much more serial-like than Clancy's. As I've said, one of his books could be a season of 24. Clancy's could be 3 or 4 seasons. In a way, that makes Flynn more enjoyable. His books are generally shorter and narrower in scope than Clancy's. His writing does not neglect great character development and depth, but are more action-oriented and fast moving. His style may be different, but his themes, characters, and military descriptions do recall Clancy.

Flynn doesn't look so military.

American Assassin goes back to before Transfer of Power, the first Mitch Rapp book. We learn about the Rapp's early days, his recruitment, and his first major mission. It stands alone, but Rapp fans will enjoy meeting some of the regulars from the Rapp books, and will appreciate the back story here. But it's not all back story; it's a hard-driving action story, too. Rapp's fiancee was killed in the Pan Am Lockerbie explosion; now he gets to track down the terrorists behind the plot and get his revenge. Of course, it's not as simple as it seems. Once again, I am reminded of Osama's take down. The plot the Seal Team 6 guys used could have been planned out by Flynn--or is it vice versa? I have never been in special ops--far from it!--but from reports we hear in the press about raids such as the one on Obama's compound, Mitch Rapp is based on the real deal. Insiders could, I'm sure, pick Flynn's descriptions apart, but it seems like Flynn, like Clancy, does his military homework.

Osama and his followers are the enemy. Osama got just what he deserved: a shot in the head. Flynn couldn't have written it any better. I don't know about the American reports of efforts to treat Osama's body according to proper Muslim tradition. He certainly didn't respect the lives of the Americans he murdered. It would seem more appropriate to leave his body to be eaten by wild dogs, or whatever scavengers roam around in the Pakistani countryside. But I digress. Clancy and Flynn write great pro-American, pro-military action stories. I hope they continue to inspire more men like Mitch Rapp and Jack Ryan to serve our country and fight our country's enemies.

Life Without Limits, by Nick Vujicic

2011-04-22T22:02:00.000-07:00

Last year, a friend of mine won third place in a film competition, The Doorpost Film Project. That was cool, but I thought he should have won first place. (He did earn a job writing and directing a new feature film, Unconditional, scheduled for release later this year.) The winning film, The Butterfly Circus, starred a young man with no arms and legs. We're used to seeing Hollywood special effects remove limbs from actors, but this guy was the real deal! It's a powerful film, and made me curious about this actor.

Nick uses technology and simple ingenuity to get around and be as independent as possible.

So when I saw that the actor in The Butterfly Circus, Nick Vujicic, had written a new book, I decided I'd check it out. In Life Without Limts, I felt like I got to know Nick. The strongest parts of the book are the personal stories. Nick was born with no arms or legs, just a small, but thankfully somewhat functional left foot. He has never let that difference slow him down. I loved the stories he tells of his adventures as a limbless man. Some highlights:

The blind girl he met who wanted to "see" him. She was unfazed by the absence of limbs, but when she felt his beard, she freaked out!
Another little girl who did not speak to him all evening at a party. When she was leaving, he asked if she would like to give him a hug. She paused, put her arms behind her back, and, showing a high degree of empathy, leaned in for a "neck hug."
His first and only schoolyard fight, when he left the older, bigger bully with a bloody nose. I would love to have seen that! Too bad this predated You Tube.
His adventures surfing, skateboarding, scuba diving, playing the drums and keyboard. You can see some of this on You Tube.
The fun he has helping people get comfortable being around him with his pranks and jokes. "Can you lend me a hand?"

Nick takes every opportunity to pull pranks like this. One of his rules of life: do something ridiculous every day!

He mixes his stories in with pretty standard self-help, motivational message type of teaching. Nick makes his living as an inspirational speaker, so it makes sense that this would be his content. I usually groan at this Zig Ziglar, Robert Schuller school of writing or teaching. But coming from Nick takes what might otherwise be trite to a whole new level. Have a good attitude! Be thankful for what you have! Turn your struggles into opportunities to grow! Life has setbacks--keep pressing on! Whenever I was tempted to scoff at his "power of positive thinking" message, I stopped myself. This guy was born with no arms and legs! If I ever think I have it bad, if I think things aren't working out so hot for me, if I struggle with a positive attitude, I have no excuse! Nick inspires me to remain thankful and positive and to seek opportunities to grow.

His life really is inspirational. I have not seen him live or seen his videos, but I am sure the written word only captures a fraction of his good humor, love of life, and contagious joy. Besides just enjoying his stories and taking in his practical teaching, the thing I'm left with most of all is the witness of his life. If he can be happy in his circumstances, I can be happy in mine. If he can be thankful in his physical state, I can be thankful, too. You can't help but be inspired and challenged by this amazing man.

(I am grateful to WaterBrook/Multnomah for providing this free copy for review.)

The Black Mountain, by Alan Hillgarth

2011-04-19T09:56:00.000-07:00

In my review of Operation Mincemeat, I mentioned that several of the players in this scheme to create a fictional airman to carry fictional documents to trick a very real enemy were novelists themselves. One of those key figures, Alan Hillgarth, who, at that time, was naval attache in Spain, spent some time in South America searching for gold. Out of his experiences there, he wrote The Black Mountain.

Set in Bolivia in the early decades of the 20th century, The Black Mountain follows the exploits of an Indian boy of mixed heritage who leaves his village for good. He ends up being taken in by a wealthy landowner, and, due to his relatively fair complexion, ends up blending in with the Spanish upper class. As he matures, he comes to identify more with the Indians, and is swept up in the movement for Bolivia's independence.

At first, The Black Mountain reminded me of a Robert Louis Stevenson novel, with the young man heading off for adventure. But it probably owes more to Rudyard Kipling's Kim, which follows the adventures of an Indian orphan during British colonial rule in India. In fact, on the dust jacket, some editions of The Black Mountain call it "the story of a Bolivian 'Kim.'"

I didn't love this book, but I enjoyed it, mostly as an historical relic. I'm not sure I would sit down and read a history of Bolivia, but Hillgarth captures a slice of it, while raising the questions of native rights, national independence, and colonialism. Good luck finding a copy, though. It's out of print, and most copies for sale online are pretty pricey. I got it through inter-library loan.

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, by Laura Hillenbrand

2011-04-12T19:48:00.000-07:00

Not too long ago, I read an excerpt of Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken in a news magazine. The brief passage, describing simultaneous attacks by sharks and Japanese fighter jets on helpless Americans on a raft in the pacific, was compelling enough that I immediately requested the book from the library. (Yes, I'm usually too cheap to buy books. Book gluttons on a budget love the public library!) After I brought the book home, I opened a recent issue of Runner's World which I hadn't read yet, and there was another compelling excerpt from Unbroken, this one an account of a track meet. This broad appeal--a great war story and a great sports story in one book--combined with Hillenbrand's story-telling skill, have kept Unbroken on the NY Times bestseller list since its publication in November.

Louie Zamperini, a conniving juvenile delinquent in his hometown of Torrance, California, found his gift early: he could run--fast! He became a local hero on his way to setting the high school record for the mile, 4:21.2. The "Torrance Tornado" went on to compete in the 1936 Olympics in the 5000 meters, gaining some international notoriety for his speed. Some speculated that he would be the first the run a mile in under 4 minutes. Alas, before his running career peaked, war broke out. The 1940 Olympics were canceled, and Louie joined the Air Force.

Stationed in the South Pacific, Louie raided Japanese bases and did search and rescue operations. While searching for another plane that had disappeared, Louie's plane's engines failed, landing him in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Most perished in the crash; Louie and 2 others miraculously survived. On two life rafts lashed together, Zamperini and his 2 crew mates survived for weeks on rainwater, birds, and fish, while fighting off constant shark attacks, a typhoon, and strafing from the Japanese airplane. After surviving all of that, one crew mate died, but Louie and his friend Phil continued to drift for weeks, until they finally spotted land. Unfortunately, a Japanese navy ship spotted them before they could paddle to shore.

The "rescued" airmen soon found themselves longing for their little raft in the sea. The hardships and deprivation they suffered at sea paled in comparison to the abuse and degradation imposed by the Japanese. The dehumanizing treatment of the Allied prisoners in the Japanese POW camps almost make the Nazi's methodical, systematic murder of Jews seem compassionate by comparison. I know that soldiers going to war may view the enemy as less than human; this makes it easier to kill them. Of course, that an enemy soldier is less human is a lie, but the Japanese in the POW camps held such a view of the Americans and other Allied troops, and gave them good reason to hate the Japanese.

And hate them Louie did. Hillenbrand goes into great detail describing the many trials of the POW camp, especially the cruelty of a guard nicknamed "The Bird." In a way, Louie was lucky. His fame as an athlete marked him as a keeper. Otherwise, he might not have been kept alive. The Japanese singled him out in hopes that he would be a propaganda tool. They also had him run races for their entertainment.

A couple of heroes, Graham and Zamperini.

After his weeks of deprivation on the raft, and years of deprivation in the POW camp, Louie was not in the shape he had been at the start of the war. When the war ended, he tried to resume his running career. His workouts were promising, but an injury ended it for good. He descended into depression and alcoholism, giving up hope. Before he could totally hit the bottom, his wife dragged him against his will to a tent in LA where an unknown preacher named Billy Graham was holding meetings. Louie remembered a promise he had made to God while on that raft, that if God got him home, Louie would give his life to serving him. Radically saved and with a new purpose in life, Louie turned his life over to Jesus and began a career as a traveling evangelist.

Before he was saved, his driving purpose in life had become revenge on The Bird. He was determined to hunt him down and kill him. Jesus transformed his heart, giving him a spirit of forgiveness. In what must have been a moving event for all involved, Louie traveled to Japan and preached in a prison holding Japanese war criminals, including some who had been guards at camps where Louie was held. He never could have imagined offering forgiveness to these men and preaching the gospel to them during his time as a prisoner, but the transforming power of Jesus' grace made it possible. (The Bird wasn't there. He died before Louie was able to meet him again.)

Hillenbrand did not set out to write an evangelistic book or a spiritual biography, but I wish she would have focused more on Zamperini's miraculous conversion and the theme of forgiveness that came to define his post-war life. I would be interested to know how many people's lives were changed as a result of his testimony: his miraculous, against-all-odds survival at sea, his determination to survive the POW camp, his despair to go on living, then his transformation from a vengeful, hateful survivor to one ready to forgive his tormentors. God's hand can be seen at so many steps in Zamperini's life, protecting him, guiding him, and preparing him.

I can't recommend this book highly enough. It's a great story, about a great man, told by a great storyteller, with a great (though understated in this telling) message of transformation through Christ. As you might expect, a Hollywood treatment is in the works. (Hillenbrand also wrote the book on which the movie Seabiscuit was based.) I'm sure this will be a great movie, but, in the first place, Zamperini's story is much too big for a movie. Secondly, I fear Hollywood will miss the biggest story here, God's changing his heart from revenge to forgiveness.

The Roots of Obama's Rage, by Dinesh D'Souza

2011-03-30T11:48:00.000-07:00

I've read and enjoyed Dinesh D'Souza's books in the past, but this latest book seems to be much different in character than, for instance, his compelling The Virtue of Prosperity. D'Souza claims to have found the key to all of Obama's domestic and foreign policy: anti-colonialism. In The Roots of Obama's Rage, D'Souza analyzes Obama's books, primarily Dreams from My Father, looking for what those dreams are. Barack Obama, Sr., who deserted Barack, Jr., and his mother when Barack was a toddler, returned to his native Kenya with dreams of Kenyan independence and a socialist Kenyan utopia.

Even though Barack, Sr., the man, had very little presence in young Barack's life, Barack, Sr., the myth and legend created by young Barack's mother, loomed large. You can't fault a single mom for talking up her son's dad, but she left Barack, Jr., with a fantasy. Rather than remembering his father as a "polygamist who abandoned his wives, drank himself into stupors," lost both legs from a car accident in which he was driving drunk and ultimately died in another drunk driving incident, Obama remembers him as a heroic crusader against British colonialism in Kenya, fighting for Kenyan independence.

Using Obama's own words and arguments, primarily from his books, but also from his speeches, D'Souza demonstrates Obama's anti-colonialist leanings. It's an interesting case, but I fear D'Souza has taken a myopic approach. Convinced that Obama embraces his father's anti-colonialism, D'Souza runs everything Obama says and does through that filter. Not content simply to report on the effective anti-colonialism of Obama's policies, D'Souza frequently attributes a deep anti-colonial motivation to Obama. I'm not saying he's wrong, I'm just saying he may be overreaching by delving into the realm of "Here's what Obama's really thinking. . . ."

So what is D'Souza's concern? Simple. In the Obama, Sr., anti-colonial view, America is that last, greatest colonial power. To the extent that President Obama shares that view, his anti-colonial mission has a devastating impact on the United States. Given his anti-colonialism, it's no wonder that Obama's policies serve to weaken the power of the U.S. overseas, while increasing the power of the state in domestic affairs. As an explanation for Obama's actions and policies, D'Souza's anti-colonialism thesis is quite strong. The weakness is D'Souza's claim on Obama's motivation. I agree, Obama is doing all he can to wreck the U.S. economy and weaken our military. He is a scourge on our nation, and I wish he and his ilk would be removed from office immediately. But I think his bad policies are a product of bad, but sincere, ideas. I give him the benefit of the doubt; I assume he thinks he's doing what's best for America. D'Souza thinks Obama wakes up every morning thinking, "What can I do to bring down the American Empire today?" As a result, despite the compelling anaysis in D'Souza's insigtful book, he won't likely be heard by any but the most hard-core conservatives and Obama haters.

Down with colonialism! Down with the Western oppressors!

Three by Cory Doctorow

2011-03-22T16:31:00.000-07:00

In my Movie Glutton blog, I have started doing reviews of similar movies together, since I tend to watch movies faster than I write about them. Same thing with reading. I have a bit of a backlog, so I will occasionally review books together. In this case, I have recently read 3 books by Cory Doctorow, a contemporary science-fiction writer: Makers (2009), Little Brother (2008), and Eastern Standard Tribe (2004).

Doctorow's novels tap into the cyber culture, projecting just a few steps into the future, looking at cultural trends, especially in the realm of personal technology and communications, and fleshing out the next movement. In this sense, Doctorow's novels, at least these 3, don't have the feel of traditional sci-fi. There are no space ships, aliens, or ray guns. I know, that's stereotypical. He writes in the sci-fi sub-genre of cyber-punk or cypher-punk, in which I've read a little, and liked little, but Doctorow stands above others in the genre. In any case, I heard someone say that to be considered science fiction, there have to be at least 3 patentable ideas. Doctorow definitely meets that standard.

Eastern Standard Tribe, Little Brother, and Makers have interrelated themes but have distinctly different story lines. The first novel itself was a little disappointing, but the concepts and the framing of the story were terrific. The title of Eastern Standard Tribe hints at a cultural trend which I haven't seen, but surely is out there. People have always been drawn to affinity groups, based on common interests. The internet and social networks have enabled our social groups to become more and more specialized. So what if your specific interest group is centered in Hong Kong? Or Southern California? And you live in Texas? You can adjust your sleep schedule so that your waking hours line up with your group. The problem is the resulting sleep deprivation may effect your mental health; your circadian rhythms may never catch up. Such is the plight of Art. When his partner and girlfriend betray him and have him involuntarily committed to a mental hospital, he has a hard time proving he's not insane, since his sleep patterns have, in a way, driven him insane.

This theme of involuntary institutionalization struck a chord with me. It reminded me of the work of Thomas Szasz , who wrote The Myth of Mental Illnessand many other works, and Jeffrey Schaler, author of Addiction is a Choice. These two psychologists have written prolifically and profoundly against involuntary institutionalization. Art experiences the dilemma of involuntary institutionalization: there is no practical way to prove that one is not insane. While in the mental hospital, Art is kept drugged up and can't properly prove his sanity. Doctorow doesn't explicitly address this issue, per se, but the novel raises the question in an interesting way. The story starts with Art in the hospital, being driven crazy trying to prove that he's not crazy, then moves backwards to piece together how he got there.

Art provides the sci-fi requisite 3 patentable ideas himself. He is a user experience (UE) engineer, a phrase I was not previously familiar with. I thought it might originate with Doctorow. A Google search brings lots of hits, though. Apparently the concept, more commonly abbreviated UX or UXD (for user experience design), originated with Dr. Donald Norman, who expounded on UX in books such as User Centered System Design and Living with Complexity. Doctorow never explicitly references Norman, as best I can remember, but he fleshes out Norman's ideas through Art's work.

Little Brother, billed as young adult fiction, features high-school-aged main characters and deals with youth culture, but can be enjoyed by adult readers as well. He takes on some broader themes here, as San Francisco is hit with a large-scale terrorist attack. Marcus and his friends are swept up as suspected terrorists after the attack, and upon release become sworn enemies of the Department of Homeland Security, who has become an occupying force in their city. Using his electronic genius, fueled by his passion for justice, Marcus puts together an underground of rebels, linked together by Xboxes. Together they thwart many of DHS's surveillance and control efforts, making themselves targets in the meantime.

Set in the all-to-near future, Little Brother presents a viable picture of government security gone too far. In a sense, I objected, of course our government wouldn't behave in such a way! But Docotorow forces the reader to think about the incremental way the federal government has chiseled away at our freedoms since 9-11, and the vigor with which agencies from the FBI and DHS down to local law enforcement have embraced their expanded authority. I'm not sure how well I relate to the late-teen, early twenties gamer set who dominate Doctorow's story, but I sure hope I end up on their side when this future happens.

Finally, the most recent novel. Makers is the most ambitious of the three in every sense. In this very near future, the U.S. has suffered another economic downturn. Lester and Perry have found their niche, making custom products from scavenged material. These creative geniuses have taken advantage of the abundant technology, cheap computerization, and plenty of discarded electronics to create brilliant new inventions. With a bit of notoriety and advancements in 3-D printers, they begin mass marketing their inventions and create a whole new type of market. Imitators around the world mimick their methods, setting up shop in their basements and garages, many making lots of money in what comes to be known as the New Work.

The curve reflects the tech boom of the 1990s, with a few big successes, lots of little guys, plenty of failures, and an eventual bust. Doctorow celebrates the successes of enterpreneurship and the impact entrepreneurs can have. One character argues for the virtue of creative work,referring to the success of one of their creations: "That’s a half-million lives—a half-million households—that we changed just by thinking up something cool and making it real."

Doctorow does prefer the start-up over the corporation, and downplays the profit motive as lower than the creative drive. The acquisition of the business by Kodacell (merger of Kodak and Duracell) leads to its demise. In a conversation about business without structure, Lester tries to convince Tjan to leave Kodacell and come to work for him. Tjan defends the structured approach: "Businesses are great structures for managing big projects. It’s like trying to develop the ability to walk without developing a skeleton. Once in a blue moon, you get an octopus, but for the most part, you get skeletons. Skeletons are good sh--.” "Tjan, I want you to come on board to help me create an octopus,” Perry said. “I can try,” Tjan said, “but it won’t be easy. When you do cool stuff, you end up making money.”

Makers has a bit of a mixed message about business qua business, but his celebration of creativity and entrepreneurship is inspiring. On great ideas: “It’s so obvious now that I see it,” he said. “Yeah, all the really great ideas are like that,” Lester said. With this theme, Makers started out to be a favorite book. But in the post-New Work era, Lester and Perry end up creating a ride which takes riders on a nostalgic trip through the New Work, then it develops a cult following and is replicated around the world. The story just gets a little jumbled and I stopped caring about 1/2 way through.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, but finished it on the wave of the first half. Not that it got bad, it just didn't live up to the start. One complaint I have is the extremely explicit sex scene. It's only a short part of a long book, but it seemed way out of character with the rest of the book. It would have fit more appropriately in a porn mag than in a sci-fi book. I've read sex scenes in books before, but never anything as extended and explicit as this. Cory, save it for another forum; your novels are not a place for these fantasies!! Little Brother, by the way, was not so explicit, but the teen sex scenes in there were certainly more explicit that I would want my soon-to-be teen to be reading.

I thoroughly enjoyed each of these books. Of the three, Little Brother is my favorite for its great theme and start to finish completeness. Makers petered out due to length or lack of inspiration, but I still liked it, mostly because of the ideas. Eastern Standard Tribe was OK, it just didn't click with me as much as the other two. I know these comments sound sort of tepid, but with the three books, Doctorow has definitely become a new favorite author. My endorsement of his books as stories ranges from half-hearted to positive, but his weaving of brilliant ideas into stories saves the day.

One thing I should add: Doctorow makes all his books available for free on his website, craphound.com. Seriously, even new releases. You can download them in various formats. Check it out.

Race Rebels, by Robin D. G. Kelley

2011-03-16T06:52:00.000-07:00

Have you ever, when reading something, seen a reference to another book that makes you want to read it? Then when you get around to reading it, you realize that, with the first reference, you learned everything you wanted to know about the book? That was my experience with this book. I don't even remember where I read a reference to Robin D.G. Kelley's Race Rebels: Culture, Politics, and the Black Working Class, but I know my life would not be less rich had I not read it.

This is not to say it's a bad book. It's a book that serves a function, fills a niche. Kelley writes as an academic (professor of history and Africana studies at NYU at the time of publication, now professor of American studies and ethnicity and history at USC), so the book is heavy on documentation and light on readability. (For 227 pages of text, there are 65 pages of end notes, a 37 page bibliography, and a 15 page index. But who's counting.) With that tone and purpose in mind, the reader can still glean an interesting take on civil rights and black history in the U.S.

In a relatively small space, Kelley covers a lot of ground. I enjoyed his recounting of, in a sense, the underbelly of the civil rights movement. We all know about Martin Luther King, the march on Washington, and the high-profile civil rights leaders. Kelley reveals the under-the-radar civil rights movement. Many workers, whether domestics, dock workers, field workers, etc., performed their own small acts of workplace rebellion, including industrial sabotage, workplace theft, and simple loafing. By doing so, they claimed ownership of their own time and persons, rejecting the role of slave.

I particularly liked the description of domestic workers taking, with the implied consent of their employers, food ("pan-toting"), clothing and utensils for their own use. One worker said, "We don't steal; we just 'take' things--they are part of the oral contract, exprest [sic] or implied. We understand it, and most of the white folks understand it." I was reminded of the biblical practice of gleaning, which required farmers to leave the corners of the field unharvested, or leave some grapes or olives ungathered, so that the poor can gather some for their own use.

Another favorite part was the description of the ongoing, decentralized bus protests, specifically in Birmingham. Give Rosa Parks her due, of course, but she was by no means the first, and certainly not the only one to thwart the bus segregation policy. Many did, on a daily basis. Particularly troubling was the treatment of black servicemen, who fought against racist policies overseas, only to come home and be told to move to the back of the bus.

Later on, as the civil rights movement became tied to the Communist Party, I began to lose a sense of solidarity. I can appreciate the point, that many African Americans do not share a commitment to American values, given the way they have been treated historically and in the present day, but it seems like African Americans should look at the alternatives: Communism, which oppresses all people as a matter of course, or American democracy, which has unfairly oppressed a minority but has taken great strides towards true equality. I have little patience for those who side with Communism, black or white.

I also did not enjoy Kelley's laudatory analysis of "gansta rap." I understand, as best a white man can, that blacks suffer from unfair treatment, and that there are discriminatory practices in law enforcement (see my review of Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow), and that places like South Central L.A. have become occupied territories under police rule. But gangsta rap, when it celebrates cop killers, lauds illegal activity, and then demeans women, should be condemned, not praised, even if it is a heart-felt expression of the experiences of poor, inner-city blacks.

As a country, we are a long way from being free of contentious race discussions in our public discourse. Race Rebels reminds us that, even though church leaders and middle class and wealthy blacks may dominate discussions of race, the working class and poor blacks in our nation are the ones who really move the culture toward racial equality.

Out of My Mind, by Sharon Draper

2011-03-07T15:42:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, Kelly wasn't feeling well so I took off work to fill in for her at the kids' Valentine's Day parties at school. First I went to Chloe's second grade class. Chloe is non-verbal and has some physical limitations and development delays due to an unidentified genetic disorder. Prior to this year, she has been in special ed classes, with part of her day spent in regular ed classes. Now she is in a regular ed class all day with a full-time assistant and is the only child in her class with special needs.

As I sat and watched her interact with the other kids at her table, the other kids' interactions with her impressed me. Without fail, they were sweet, helpful, friendly, and even conversational. Chloe will nod in response, but does not speak, and does not make a lot of eye contact. Yet these kids spoke and interacted with her as if nothing was different about her. One of the little girls asked me if I was Chloe's daddy. I told her I was. She said, "Chloe and I are best friends!" I'm telling you I almost lost it there; I had to exercise lots of self-restraint not to cry in front of her. I loved seeing Chloe, who is content to play alone in her room for hours on end, in this setting, with such great support from her peers.

Then I went to help set up for Elliot's 6th grade party and was intercepted by one of his teachers. Almost breathlessly, she said, "I read a book you have to read. It's called Out of My Mind, and I thought of Chloe the whole time I was reading it!" She had told Elliot the same thing, so he read it and told Kelly about it so she read it, and since they liked it so much, I picked it up yesterday. I hardly put it down and finished it in a day.

Not only did I think of Chloe as I read, but I thought of Kelly, me, and Chloe's teachers and assistants. In Out of My Mind, Melody, the 11-year-old protagonist, has cerebral palsy. Though confined to a wheelchair and unable to speak, her mind is active, brilliant, and and capable of remembering anything she reads, sees, or hears. Much of her school years have been spent in boring, humiliating special ed classes. When she can read thousands of words, of course she gets upset when the teacher is teaching the alphabet. Finally, through her own initiative and the persistence of her assistant and her family, she gets an assistive communication device, giving her a voice for the first time in her life. Finally she can communicate verbally and participate more in school, even helping the school's quiz team qualify for the national finals.

Throughout the story, my heart broke for this precious girl, bringing me to tears on several occasions. How frustrating not to be able to makes oneself understood. How isolating not to be able to interact with people around you. I, of course, kept thinking of Chloe, my smart little girl who has such a hard time communicating. I don't know that she has a photographic memory like Melody, but I know she's always been smarter than we know. What's going on in her mind that we can't see or hear? How many inane, boring lessons has she sat through, thinking "I know all this! Stop with the baby lessons!" And when Chloe watches the other kids run and talk and laugh and play, does she long, like Melody, to be a part? Does Chloe get embarrassed by her difficulty in feeding herself, that she wears diapers at age 9, that she rides the handicapped bus?

I thought of Kelly as much as I thought of Chloe. Melody is a lucky girl in that her mom never gives up believing in her. She has to come to bat for Melody time and again, sometimes in a militant way. In the same way, Kelly has been Chloe's biggest advocate, her momma bear instincts pushing and pushing to make sure Chloe gets services she needs and is in the best placement for her growth. And the link between Melody and her mom could just as well describe Chloe and Kelly. Kelly knows what Chloe's every little gesture means, and usually knows what Chloe's thinking. She can tell by looks if Chloe feels bad, and can smell when she's thirsty. Weird. Melody's dad plays a smaller role, like me; he's not as clued in to his daughter as the mom, but does all he can do to help.

Draper is a long-time teacher--honored as National Teacher of the Year in 1997--and the parent of a child with "developmental difficulties" (her description) so it's no surprise that her classroom scenes and dispatches from the special ed classroom seem so real. And her appreciation for the special ed assistants should be noted; I agree with Draper--those folks do wonderful work for way too little money. I for one am so thankful for the faithful ladies who have fed Chloe, changed her diapers, and invested in her learning and development during her school years.

Out of My Mind gives the reader a believable window into the mind of a disabled individual. But Draper's real target audience is the rest of us. As Draper says on amazon.com, Out of My Mind is "written for people who look away, who pretend they don't see, or who don't know what to say when they encounter someone who faces life with obvious differences. Just smile and say hello!" I may be too honest in this admission, but this book has reminded me to take more time with Chloe, to remember that even when she acts like she's in her own world she is hearing and seeing and taking it all in, and that it's up to me, Kelly, and all of Chloe's support team, to work together to help Chloe take part in her world and to overcome the challenges in her life.

Judgment Day, by Wanda L. Dyson

2011-02-24T06:46:00.000-08:00

We all, whether we want to admit it or not, like to see the corrupt get their due. "Why do the wicked prosper?" we ask, with Jeremiah, wondering why the righteous suffer and the just suffer. But every now and then, we see a story in the paper or on the evening news which makes us cheer, bringing to light the deeds done in darkness by people who should know better. Suzanne Kidwell doesn't necessarily have a great moral compass, but she knows that TV viewers like to see the sins of the high and mighty exposed for all to see. With a taste for what sells, and some questionable tactics, she rakes in the ratings on her hit show, Judgement Day.

Kidwell thinks she's above the fray, one of those who moves in a different moral universe than the rest of us. She tells a good story, but her shoddy investigative techniques inevitably bring more attention to her than she wants. When her car explodes with her fiance at the wheel, was the assassination meant for her or him? When his nurse turns up murdered in Kidwell's home, with Kidwell's fingerprints all over the bloody knife, she feels trapped. Who would frame her for murder? Was it a story she had done? Was it a story she should had yet to do? With nowhere else to turn, her lawyer brings in the best investigation team around, Kidwell's ex-fiance, Marcus Crisp, and his partner, Alexandria Fisher-Hawthorne. Kidwell swallows her pride and relies on this man, whom she had betrayed in college, to uncover the truth.

Judgment Day is Dyson's fifth novel, and, just as Suzanne has learned to string her audience along, Dyson skillfully strings her audience along with page-turning action, plot twists, and suspenseful surprises. As is the case with many a suspense novel, Judgment Day packs in so many twists and turns, so many random connections between events and characters, and so many improbable events, that there is an air of the unbelievable about the story. But, forgiving the excesses of the genre, Dyson wraps a moral message around the plot.

Events toss Suzanne headlong into a forced reconsideration of her methods as a reporter. Do the ends justify the means? In some cases, she may have, through her unsavory investigative techniques, rightfully brought truly despicable public figures to justice. In many cases, though, she inaccurately or downright wrongly convicted people in her personal court of justice for the sake of TV ratings, sometimes with tragic results. Has it all been worth it?

Then, on a deeper level, the murder investigation begins to unravel the details of crimes more insidious than even she imagined. The perpetrators insist what they are doing is right. But can it be justified? What if their crimes might benefit Suzanne's own mother? Her moral reflections contrast with the faith and moral integrity of Marcus and Alex, whose faith guides their lives and their careers as investigators. Things might not have worked out the way Suzanne would have planned, but justice wins out in the end.

I know, and I suspect Dyson knows, that Judgment Day is not a literary masterpiece. This will not go down in history with Wuthering Heights and Of Mice and Men. But Dyson does craft a compelling page turner, with a thoughtful moral message to boot. Check it out.

This is the first book I have received from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group. They sent it along for free for me to review. Don't worry, they didn't force me to say nice things. I enjoyed the book!

Operation Mincemeat, by Ben Macintyre

2011-02-05T18:33:00.000-08:00

Spy novels are exciting, fun reads. Even more exciting are tales of real-life espionage. Most of the great spy novelists have spent at least some time as spies. I suspect the stories they tell may not be as intriguing as the stories they can't tell. The work of spies is similar to the work of a novelist, spinning tales, creating characters, making up believable scenarios, so the crossover between the two is not surprising.

Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory tells a remarkable story of deception, wits, and luck. The basics of the plot may be familiar to you: the British devised a plan in which they deposited a dead body, dressed as an officer, on the coast of Spain, knowing that the Spanish were in cahoots with the Nazis. They planted documents on the body which would misdirect the Germans concerning the upcoming invasion of Europe.

"Bill Martin" serving his country.

Ultimately, the scheme worked. The Nazis swallowed it hook, line, and sinker. The Allied invasion focused on Sicily, but because of the misdirection in the fake documents, Germany focused its troop strength to the eastern and western Mediterranean. Their ploy literally saved countless thousands of Allied troops' lives. The invasion did meet with resistance, but much, much less than they otherwise would have. With Germany's key forces to the east and west, uninspired Italian troops and a nominal German presence were left to defend Sicily. The success of this invasion became a turning point in the war.

As the British agents put together the plan, they approached it like writing a novel. Not surprisingly, a number of novelists and future novelists had their hands in the plan. Basil Thompson, a former spy, had written several novels, one of which involved a dead body with false papers. A certain young assistant in the Naval Intelligence Department, Ian Fleming, happened to own all of Thompson's novels, and recalled this plot device. British expatriate and mystery novelist, Alan Hillgarth, played a key role as the naval attache in Spain. Like writing a novel, the Operation Mincemeat team had to create a character, give him a back story, recreate his life and the events of his final days leading up to his (fictional) unfortunate drowning after his plane went down off the coast of Spain. All of his personal effects, letters from his dad and fiancee, incidental pocket litter, all had to match up with the information in the "top secret" documents he carried. As careful editors, they had to make sure that all parts of the story were consistent. Then they had to figure out how to get the Germans to take the bait, without the Germans knowing the British knowing the Germans took the bait! As MacIntyre says, the British had to fool the Germans into thinking the British were fooled.

As Macintyre, a journalist with the London Times, began his research for this book, he contacted the family of Ewen Montagu, one of the key players in Operation Mincemeat. To Macintyre's delight, Montagu had kept a trunk full of documents related to the operation, most of which had never been seen before, and much of which was top secret. Montagu himself had written a book about Operation Mincemeat, The Man Who Never Was, which was made into a movie and remains in print to this day, but it was limited by the British intelligence; even Montagu couldn't tell the full story. So Macintyre's book provides details that fill out and complete the story.

Woven through Operation Mincemeat are reminders of the heroism of the Allies in WW2, as well as the luck that it took to defeat Hitler. The more I learn about WW2, the more convinced I am that God's hand favored the Allies as they fought an enemy who personified evil. I don't believe any conflict since has been as morally unambiguous as this one. So give a cheer to Montagu, his colleague Charles Cholmondeley, and the countless others who worked to weave this web of deception and turn the course of the war in the Allies' favor.

The Christian Atheist, by Craig Groeschel

2011-01-25T18:40:00.000-08:00

It doesn't take much of a stretch to say that many, if not most, American Christians live like Christian atheists. Sure, we have Christian values (whatever that means in your particular Christian circle), we attend church, maybe even several days a week, maybe even in leadership, we listen to Christian music, we have Christian friends. But how much of that fully acknowledges God's role in our lives? This question has troubled me for a long time. If I have a non-existent devotional life, if I don't consult or acknowledge God in my daily decisions, and if I otherwise live without daily interaction with him, I guess I'm counted among the Christian atheists.

When I saw the title of Craig Groeschel's book, I knew I had to take a look. Groeschel is founder and pastor of LifeChurch.tv, one of those church names that makes me groan on a number of levels. Even though the church follows that multi-campus, marketing driven, seeker-friendly, ultra-hip model that makes me sick, I have to give him credit for reaching lots of people. As the domain name in the church name suggests, they are spread over several locations in several states, linked together by technological means.

Besides attending at one of LiveChurch.tv's real campuses, you can apparently attend as an avatar in the virtual worship center.

I have never heard Groeschel preach, but I am thinking that The Christian Atheist must reflect his teaching/preaching style. One the plus side, he uses lots of personal stories, both from his own life and from people in his church and who he has met. He's not one to get stories from "Sermon Illustrations Weekly"; he brings real lives of real people into his teaching. Groeschel covers many of the ways I live as a Christian atheist: not praying, doubting his total love for me, questioning his sovereignty, trusting in my efforts and money for my needs, not sharing my faith. In much of the content, he addresses the typical American pagan, who thinks he's a Christian but who has never made a decision to follow Christ, but much applies to people like me, who have been Christ followers, but who go through the motions of faith and church, and don't live in communication and relationship with God on a daily basis.

Ultimately I was disappointed in the book. It showed Groeschel's engaging style, but lacked much substance. The target audience would be the seeker, without a background in Christian teaching and theology, which probably makes sense. I get the impression that's who he preaches to every week. For someone who has been immersed in church life and Christian teaching, there's nothing new here, and what is here is pretty superficial. That's not to say it's completely without value, but I will say the value is quite limited. I guess it will take a lot more than Groeschel's book to break me out of my Christian atheism.

The Confession, by John Grisham

2011-01-12T14:28:00.000-08:00

In The Confession, Grisham has brought together his straight-forward, page-turning suspenseful style, a la The Firm with the anti-death penalty, justice system reforming crusade of The Innocent Man. The stalwart pro-death penalty advocate may not enjoy this book, but if you have any sympathy at all for the Innocence Project, which works to "free the staggering numbers of innocent people who remain incarcerated and to bring substantive reform to the system responsible for their unjust imprisonment," and for people who are wrongly convicted of crimes, you will appreciate the tone and message of The Confession.

The Confession is the page-turner Grisham fans have come to expect from him. The story alone doesn't rank as one of Grisham's best, but that's like saying one of Beethoven's symphonies isn't one of his best. The Confession is still a great story. The premise is rather simple: Travis Boyette, a convicted rapist and all around nasty guy, reads that a Donte Drumm is about to be executed for the murder of a cheerleader from Drumm's school. Boyette remembers her well: he stalked her, kidnapped her, raped her, and murdered her, and got away with it. His convictions were for other crimes. Boyette tells his story to an earnest minister, who make it his mission to stop Drumm's execution.

As is Grisham's style, the plot is straightforward, seemingly predictable, but with just enough surprises to keep the reader interested. The case against Drumm seems ludicrously flimsy, but I'm sure Grisham was inspired by actual cases, in which an outside observer would be dumbstruck to learn that someone was convicted on such flimsy evidence. With the omniscient author's perspective, Grisham builds a firm case for the wrongfulness of Drumm's conviction. On those grounds, The Confession becomes an entertaining, highly readable, anti-death-penalty argument.

Maybe I'm just more aware, having read this book, but it seems like there are more and more examples of people wrongfully convicted of crimes. One day when I was almost finished with the book, the Star-Telegram ran a front-page article about a man who has already been executed, but whose guilt has been called into question because a hair found at the scene of the crime--the sole piece of physical evidence tying him to the crime--turned out not to be his. On the same day, one of the S-T editors wrote an editorial stating that Texas could actually save money by abolishing the death penalty, because the expense of the automatic appeals process far exceeds the expense of housing a prisoner for life. Arguments for the deterrent quality of the death penalty fade in the face of evidence that it is, even in only in a small minority of cases, wrongfully implemented. From the perspective of justice, as well as economics, there's a strong argument that it simply doesn't make sense to have a death penalty.

Even with the strong-handed argument overshadowing the story, The Confession delivers. Grisham fans will enjoy it; non fans will probably enjoy it, too. For a "message" novel, it's definitely worth a read.

The Cure, by Geeta Anand

2011-01-06T18:58:00.000-08:00

A while back, I commented on John Crowley's memoir, Chasing Miracles, in which Crowley recounts some of his experiences seeking a cure for his kids, two of whom have Pompe syndrome. His efforts have been truly heroic and groundbreaking, literally saving the lives of his children and improving their health by spearheading the development of drugs to treat Pompe. Their story first came to the attention of the public through a series of articles in the Wall Street Journal by Geeta Anand.

The Crowleys

The lengthy subtitle of Anand's book, How a Father Raised $100 Million--and Bucked the Medical Establishment--in a Quest to Save His Children, tells most of the story in a nutshell, but doesn't come close to communicating the challeges Crowley, his family, and business associates challenged along the way. Chasing Miracles was heart-breaking as the father tells his story, but The Cure will break your heart, too. Much of it does read like something a WSJ business journalist would write, recounting the business deals and corporate life in meticulous detail, but Anand captures Crowley's emotion and passion as well as she describes the business angle. Besides learning about Pompe disease, the reader will gain insight into the biotech industry and Wall Street dealings.

The Cure is well-written and tells an amazing, inspring story. Anand chronicles the events meticulously and compellingly. But I think she fell prey to the common "stretch this article into a book" syndrome. I appreciated her commitment to detail and skillful crafting of the story, but I couldn't help thinking that I would have been satisfied by the articles themselves. All criticism aside (I realize this criticism only reflects my own shallowness and laziness anyway!), the bottom line is an inspiring story that will make you want to meet this terrific family and join their efforts to treat rare, formerly untreatable diseases.

Trickle Up Poverty, by Michael Savage

2010-12-19T20:54:00.000-08:00

Michael Savage hates Barack Obama. I mean, he despises him. I'm not talking about hating Obama's policies--he hates those, too--but he really hates Obama, the man, everything he is, and everything he stands for. If you've ever heard Savage's radio show, you'll already be aware of this animosity. If you haven't, read a few pages of Trickle Up Poverty: Stopping Obama's Attack on Our Borders, Economy, and Security and any doubt will be removed. Take these quotes, taken somewhat at random:

"The world Obama envisions is one in which the central government confiscates its citizens' money and transfers it to his political comrades."

"Nothing Obama does, not one single policy or legislative initiative, has anything to do with the will of the people or what might benefit the people."

"Barack Obama doesn't want you to succeed in your job or your small business. He wants to see you on your knees before him."

The problem I have with this book, and with Savage's radio show, is not that he doesn't have a basis for everything he says. To the contrary, the man has a Ph.D.! Even though his degree's in another field, he thoroughly researches his subjects and coherently defends his arguments, and does so in a frequently entertaining way. The problem is that he does so with vitriol, biting sarcasm, and a vicious sneer. Even though I almost completely agree with everything Savage says, I am frustrated by his tone.

Yes, Obama can hardly help being a socialist, given his intellectual heritage. Yes, he has long associated himself with unsavory characters who have corrupted him intellectually, spiritually, and politically. His ideas and policies are destructive to American, to freedom, and to financial prosperity. Savage describes and documents all of this, but he comes across as a blowhard because of his rhetoric. I'm reminded of a sweaty, screaming, pulpit pounding preacher. The gospel he preaches may be 100% theologically and biblically accurate, but I sure don't want to listen to him.

Even though his style and tone drove me nuts, there's plenty of good information here. Like I said, I was nodding in agreement the whole time I read. I'm with Savage: I can't wait until the cancer living in the White House is returned to private life. If you're looking for more reasons to hate Obama, or justification for reasons to hate him, you'll find it here. If you're looking for balanced, reasonable policy analysis of the Obama administration, well, you'd probably be better off looking elsewhere.

Tunnel in the Sky, by Robert Heinlein

2010-12-16T20:01:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid, I started reading Robert A. Heinlein's wonderful science fiction stories. I don't know how much the themes of the books shaped me, but I know they helped me gain and maintain an interest in science and technology. He's a great story-teller, certainly one of the best, sci-fi or otherwise. His later books became much less appealing as he turned to a more adult audience. (As I remember one relative saying, RAH became a dirty old man.) Even though many of his novels are purportedly for young readers (teens, not little kids), their appeal holds at least for this middle-aged reader. The first RAH book I read was Tunnel in the Sky, when I was probably 10 or 12. Elliot is 11, so I thought I'd read it again and see if I still like it enough to pass it on. I do!

Rod Walker will be graduating from high school soon, but first he has to pass the final exam in survival class. On test day, he and his classmates will be deposited in an isolated area and will be expected to use the course's lessons and their limited equipment to survive, whatever the climate or surroundings. They'll get to the mysterious destination via a planetary gates, a sort of portal through which on can simply walk from one place to another, whether across the continent or across the galaxy. RAH does spend some time on the physics and discovery of the gates. That's a real strength of his: even when he introduces seemingly fanciful technologies, he provides a scientific rational or foundation, making it almost believable.

The survival test starts out as expected, but when there's no gate at the appointed coordinates in the appointed time frame, Rod and his classmates realize they may be stuck for good, wherever in the universe they may be. Like the English schoolboys in The Lord of the Flies, the kids have to figure out how to create a society together. Rather than let themselves fall into chaos, the kids in The Tunnel in the Sky are determined to maintain civility--and civilization. It was refreshing to see that when these older teenagers wanted to have sex and live together, they actually had the "mayor" perform a wedding. And cursing was strictly prohibited, in order to retain decorum.

Once they got through the gate to the new planet, Tunnel became not so much sci-fi as classic teen survival literature like The Cay, Hatchet, or Lord of the Flies. I love the message of the need for an ordered society, self-reliance and cooperation. The kids' experiments in self-governance are instructive and present the question, how would we structure society if the slate was wiped clean and we were starting fresh on a new planet?

I was a bit surprised at the level of vocabulary and depth of the concepts in Tunnel in the Sky. Either I was a smart kid or I understood it a lot less than I thought I did. I'm going to pass this one along to Elliot and see what he thinks. I hope he likes it as much as I did and do!

Why We Love the Church: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion, by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck

2010-11-29T12:44:00.000-08:00

If you're like me, you get tired of hearing about new churches, or sometimes old churches trying to make themselves new, who say things like, "We're the church for people who don't like church," "We're a different kind of church," "This is not your grandmother's church," and such things, the implication being that churches are somehow bad, full of failed traditions and dead faith. Even worse are those who "love Jesus but not the church," who are "spiritual but not religious," who "worship by enjoying nature" and consider fellowship at Starbucks to be a legitimate substitute for corporate worship. Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck have heard some of those same things. DeYoung, a pastor in Michigan, and Kluck, a writer who attends DeYoung's church, take on some of these attitudes in a refreshing affirmation of church for people who like church, of church like your grandmother's church.

DeYoung and Kluck survey some of the recent literature that dimishes the role of church in the Christian life, discuss the demographic characteristics of "leavers," and provide some encouragement and inspiration in defense of churchgoing. I have seen some of these books, many of which are written by leaders of the "emergent church." (DeYoung and Kluck have also written a book called Why We're Not Emergent (By Two Guys who Should Be).) Some titles are pretty self-explanatory, like They Like Jesus but Not the Church or When Christians Get it Wrong. There are plenty of these, often written as a memoir of a 20-something or 30-something who has gone through some sort of crisis of faith.

But I was surprised, as DeYoung was, by the anti-church writings of George Gallup and Leonard Sweet. Both of these writers have been influential with their cultural, sociological analyses of church life and the role of religion in society. But both have in recent years taken a turn for the worse. According to DeYoung and Kluck, Gallup and Sweet are purveyors of the "Jesus on the golf course" and "Jesus at Starbucks" movement. In their view, a good time enjoying creation and companionship on the golf course, or enjoying conversation and coffee at Starbucks, are legitimate expressions of church. It's not that I, or DeYoung and Kluck, are against those things. Of course relationships are crucial to the Christian life, and of course we can experience God in the beauty of nature (even the thoroughly manicured beauty of a golf course), but those experiences are not church.

One of the criticisms that church leavers hold against the contemporary American church is a disengagement from culture and the needs of the world. Many churches have embraced social action in a positive way, but DeYoung and Kluck warn that churches often champion interests that are non-controversial rather than those with a biblical, evangelical mandate. When churches oppose sex trafficking, work against world hunger, or build houses for the homeless, who would object to it? "Let's make sure as Christians that our mission concerns go farther than those shared by Brangelina and the United Way." The church isn't a social service agency, but the body of Christ on earth, with a very specific and unique gospel to proclaim. Some miss the gospel; they want social action without atonement.

The younger generation, DeYoung and Kluck argue, is "prone to radicalism without follow through." They see Bono and his ilk, setting that kind of activism up as the model. The authors ask, "What's harder: to be an idolized rock star who travels around the world touting good causes and chiding governments for their lack of foreign aid, or to be a line worker at GM with four kids and a mortgage, who tithes to his church, sings in the praise team every week, serves on the school board, and supports a Christian relief agency and a few missionaries from his disposable income? Even if one is not harder than the other, certainly one is more common. And sadly, that is the one that is more despised." It may be that the latter is more boring. Punching a clock and paying a mortgage may not be too glamorous, even dull. But boredom can also be an expression of and side effect of faithfulness, a "long obedience in the same direction."

DeYoung and Kluck are to be commended for defending the oft maligned institutional church. The bottom line, for those who want the church to "do more" is to remember this truth: "The gospel is not about what we do for God. It's a message about what God has done for us."

The Common Lawyer, by Mark Gimenez

2010-11-18T15:47:00.000-08:00

The Common Lawyer is another great legal thriller from D/FW's own Mark Gimenez. I reviewed his The Perk back in June. (I noted then that his books aren't too easy to find here; you can order from The Book Depository in the U.K., which ships to the U.S. for FREE!) Gimenez scores another page turner with The Common Lawyer.

Gimenez has been compared to John Grisham by reviewers. The Common Lawyer, perhaps the most Grisham-like Gimenez offering yet, features a young, struggling lawyer getting an offer he can't refuse. (Grisham lovers would say that sounds familiar.) Andy Prescott is pretty content with his career. Sure, he has a cramped office over a tattoo parlor, doesn't own a car, and makes barely enough money defending traffic tickets to support his mountain biking habit. When a local billionaire drops by seeking Andy's services, his life takes a crazy turn.

Andy's first job for the billionaire, acting as his representative for some real estate development on Austin's south side, where Andy lives, sets up one of the interesting subplots of the novel. A trendy neighborhood with easy access to downtown, south Austin has seen dramatic increases in property values, so that some of the long-time, low-income residents are priced out of the neighborhood. Andy's client wants to build affordable housing in the neighborhood, to the chagrin of some residents. Andy uses his contacts and good reputation in the community to attempt to convince the neighborhood to embrace the housing development.

This part of the story highlights a feature of Gimenez's novels: an intimate knowledge of not only the geography but the culture and ethos of his settings. I have little doubt that he spent a great deal of time in this neighborhood, getting to know the people and places and creating a believable, realisitic setting. I'm not from Austin, but have been there a few times. I could picture Andy riding around downtown, on the University of Texas campus, and the trails of the greenbelt on his mountain bike. (I also got a kick out of Andy's shopping. When looking for a gift for his mother, he browses the cool shops in his neighborhood. He runs across a purse made from an armadillo, which he deems "weird, but cool." When I was in college I had the audacity to buy one of those for my girlfriend, and, even better, she had the audacity to carry it!) He then addresses social and cultural issues relevant to the people there, weaving an interesting social message through the story (without distracting from the plot). I wouldn't be a bit surprised to visit Austin and see the very housing development Gimenez describes, or reading about a controversy over such a project in the Austin papers.

The overall plot also has a message, posing a difficult medical ethics question. However, Gimenez brilliantly keeps the reader guessing as to the nature of the issue. I hesitate to reveal too much, but Gimenez forces us to wonder, if I had a child with a terminal disease, and I were a billionaire, would I not do everything I could to cure him? Would I do the unethical or illegal to treat him? Again, without beating up an issue or forcing a position down the readers' throats, Gimenez uses the issue to drive a great story, while giving us a context to consider the ethical questions.

The Common Lawyer displays Gimenez's great pacing, multiple plots levels, and engaging characters. Even with some dark elements, Gimenez keeps it light, with bumbling bad guys who could have stepped out of a Carl Hiaasen book, and Andy's free-wheeling approach to life and law that makes you want to hang out with him in his hip south Austin neighborhood. I think you'll want to, too. The Common Lawyer is a terrific read, keeping you guessing and accelerating like one of Andy's mountain bike rides toward an unexpetedly wild, thoroughly satisfying ending. Highly recommended!

Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson

2010-11-12T12:32:00.000-08:00

Several years ago, my sister was reading Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea, and said I must read it. Well, I finally got around to it, and she couldn't have been more right on her recommendation! Mortenson's story inspires and challenges me, yet frustrates me at the same time. He has become well-known for his work building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, even earning a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. Three Cups of Tea tells the story of his start and the obstacles he had to overcome.

Mortenson was a self-proclaimed climbing bum. He worked as a nurse, but mostly worked to climb. A friend asked him to come along as the medic on an expedition to K2, the worlds second tallest peak. Due to a rescue of another climber, he did not get to summit, and then got lost on the way down the mountain. He ended up in the village of Korphe, where he recovered, enjoyed the hospitality of the northern Pakistani villagers, and changed the course of his life. As he got to know the people of Korphe, he observed the children sitting in a make-shift, open-air classroom, working on their lessons with no books, no paper, and no teacher. He promised to return to the village to build a school for the kids.

For the next year, Mortenson lived in his car, worked extra hours at his nursing job, and saved everything he could for the school in Korphe. He typed letters (Yes, typed! He didn't know anything about computers at this point.) to every wealthy person he could think of. He ended up returning to Korphe a year later in a truck loaded with materials to build the school. They built a bridge, instead, which is a cool story in itself, but by doing so he gained credibility and momentum to come back and build the school and many more in the area. To date, Mortenson has built dozens of schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan, educating thousands of children, focusing especially on girls, who previously couldn't go to school at all.

Much of Three Cups of Tea reads like an adventure story, and what adventures he had! Besides the sheer audacity of his mission, Mortenson was kidnapped and held captive by Taliban, caught in the crossfire between rival warlords, and was the subject of at least one fatwah. But his reputation grew with every school. The Taliban captured him, but only wanted him to build schools for their people! Warlords rode for days to meet him and invite him to their villages. He was loved and respected virtually everywhere he went (except by the CIA, who wanted him to reveal Osama bin Laden's hiding place. He didn't know. . . .)

I said Three Cups of Tea inspired and frustrated me. You can't help but be inspired by someone who does so much with so little. Mortenson is not independently wealthy, was not well-connected, and did not have rich parents to get money from. He had nothing when he committed to build a school for Korphe. His single-minded, relentless commitment to education for these poor, rural people is impressive, especially when you realize he started not only with no money, but with no organizational or political support. My frustration lies in the realization of how little I've done with my life, and how little passion and commitment I've brought to my endeavors. Oftentimes when we read about people who do great things, their greatness springs from privilege or circumstance, and we can think, "Oh, of course he was great, or did great things! Look what he had to start with." But Mortenson (no slight to him is meant here) was an average guy with no resources, yet has accomplished much. What a challenge to the rest of us regular folks!

The school at Korphe

One thing I would like to have seen explored in Three Cups of Tea is Mortenson's faith. The child of missionaries, he was raised as a devout Christian. Although he never states that he has rejected Christianity, he gives no indication that, as an adult, he is a follower of Jesus. He does talk about taking on some religious affectations of the Muslims, such as joining them in daily prayer, but he seems to distance himself from the Muslim faith. In a way, this works in his favor: there is no ulterior motive for his work. He does not found schools as a means to gain a foothold in the culture from which he can proselytize. His mission is to promote education solely for the sake of education. I would just be interested to hear more about how his personal faith has shaped that mission through the years.

As a non-sectarian worker with the mission of educating children, he has been a force for peace in the region. He started his work before 9/11, and, in the face of virulent anti-Americanism, has continued to be the face of America for Muslims in areas where he works. How can they be anti-American? They know and love "Dr. Greg," a fine American! His presence there has done more for peace than treaties or troops or aid could ever do.

What a great story! And it goes on. He is actually promoting his new book, Stones into Schools, and will be in Dallas this weekend at an event for a fundraising dinner. (details) If you haven't heard his story before, pick up Three Cups of Tea. You won't be disappointed.

The Real Stars: In Today's America, Who are the True Heroes?, by Ben Stein

2010-11-01T14:51:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't love Ben Stein. He is, of course best known for his acting roles, like the unforgettable teacher in Ferris Beuler's Day off, Visine commercials, or his game show, "Win Ben Stein's Money." Many don't know that he also holds a Yale law degree, worked as an economist in the department of commerce, and worked as a speech writer for Presidents Nixon and Ford. For years I subscribed to The American Spectator, in which his regular column, "Ben Stein's Diary," was always the highlight.

The Real Stars: In Today's America, Who are the True Heroes?, a collection of essays which remind me of the tone of his TAS columns, capture his optimism, his humor, his good nature, and his political and economic insights. The title essay comes from a column he wrote for E! Online, in which he says our heroes should not be the "stars" who make 8 figure incomes reciting lines on film, but those men and women of the armed forces who leave the comforts of home, sacrifice families and careers, and lay down their lives in service to our country. (Ironic, of course, that he writes this for a web site presumable dedicated to the rich and shallow of Hollywood.)

Many of these essays will make you laugh. All will make you smile. Some will make you cry. I especially liked "My Father's Estate," in which he chronicles the legacy his father has left behind, very little of which can be stolen, I mean taxed, by the IRS. His conversations with and anecdotes about famous and not-so-famous people are quite enjoyable to read. One quibble I have with him, though, is his frequent harping about not being rich. Granted, he's frequently hobnobbing with Hollywood moguls and other mega-rich folks, so maybe compared to them, he is a pauper. But I would imagine that compared with most of America, he is quite wealthy. That's a minor point, though. He's so good-natured that he sees the very best in everyone. Even though he says a $100,000,000 Hollywood starlet is not his hero, he doesn't take the step, which would be tempting to me, of pointing out her many character flaws.

This collection is a fun read. If you've never read Stein's columns, you're in for a treat. In fact, most of these are available, in one form or another, at his web site. (But since he's broke, you should buy the book from him!)

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

2010-10-25T12:17:00.000-07:00

If you're under the age of, say, 40 or 50, you have no first-hand memory of Jim Crow. I know I don't. Most of my life has been in what Michelle Alexander calls "the age of colorblindness." There's plenty of racism in the world; I guess there always will be. But our society is now officially colorblind. We have seen black corporate leaders, sports and entertainment figures, professionals, teachers, police and fire personnel, elected officials, and, now, a U.S. president. Who can say our society has elements of racial control likened to Jim Crow? Alexander makes a convincing case.

The bottom line is that the absurdly high percentage of African-American males who are in jail or have been convicted of felonies is not a result of that group's propensity for criminal activity but is a result of racist policies. Just as slavery and Jim Crow excluded blacks from mainstream life, now mass incarceration, primarily as a result of the War on Drugs, has excluded them. Even after they leave prison, ex-convicts try to reenter mainstream culture but are faced with restrictions on voting and running for office, exclusion by many trade associations and professional licensing, exclusion from public housing and other government benefits, rejection from many employers, and, of course, life-long social stigma.

The biggest culprit here is the War on Drugs. Starting in the Reagan administration, law enforcement has vastly increased its focus on the enforcement of drug laws. Ironically, at the time Reagan initiated the WoD, drug use was actually on the decline. But, hey, we had to learn how to "Just say no." The WoD introduced more and more incentives for law enforcement to arrest and prosecute drug users. Besides federal monetary grants, local police were given access to military weaponry and tactics to use against their citizens. SWAT raids against grandmas? Check. In addition, seizure rules gave police the ability to seize money, cars, houses, land, and anything else they deemed connected in any way to a drug crime. Here's an idea: lets tie police department budgets and officers' salary bonuses to seized assets to give them an incentive to seize even more. Done!

What does the WoD have to do with race? Tons. Where is it easier to find drug activity? In a neighborhood where people live in crowded apartments and spend a lot of time outside, or in a neighborhood where people have large homes and fenced yards? Who is more likely to have connections and money to get out of drug convictions, teenage children of suburban white professionals, or black high school kids in the inner city? The fact is, white people use drugs at higher rates than black people, but arrests and convictions of black for drug crimes far outweigh those for whites.

Well, the drug laws themselves aren't racist--they're colorblind, like our enlightened society! Wrong. First, the easy one: sentencing for crack cocaine is 100 times harsher than for powder cocaine. Even though whites use crack too, thanks to the Reagan-era anti-drug hysteria, crack is associated with blacks. And laws are enforced and prosecuted with the discretion of police and prosecutors. Alexander looks at data on traffic stops, pedestrian stops, and other "pretense" stops; blacks are stopped much more frequently for things like a burned out taillight as a pretense for a search, thus are found with drugs on random searches more frequently. And to top it off, the courts have excluded the overwhelming evidence of racism from consideration. So what if the vast majority of drug arrests are of black men; unless you have an officer on video screaming "I'm going to through your nigga a-- in jail" or some other blatantly racist rant, you have no case for racism.

Alexander presents a convincing case demonstrating the racism of our law enforcement system which has put the black man in a subservient position in society. As a white man, it makes me furious to see the way society, which I tend to think of as pretty fair, treats blacks. As the father of a black son, it makes me fear for his future. There are times when Alexander seems to oversell the case, but she presents so much data that even her occasional emotional foray does not seem off the mark. I will say that if I had heard Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton give a speech making these points, I would have written them off. I can't stand those guys, con men and manipulators that they are. But I can no longer ignore what they say as easily.

So what about those successful African-Americans? Alexander says that's great to have these examples, but we should not forget the mass of black men, the millions stigmatized and excluded by the criminal justice system. She acknowledges the difficulty in defending the civil rights of the criminal class, but we have to face the racism of the system. She chastises the civil rights establishment for basically ignoring this issue.

I am with Alexander on the hypocrisy of the WoD. Our past 3 presidents have acknowledged their experimentation with drugs. If they had been held to the same standard as an inner-city black teenager, they each could probably have been convicted at some point, making them ineligible for public office. But do any of them speak out in favor of easing drug criminalization? Of course not. (There's a time machine fantasy for you: I wish I could travel back in time to Obama's youth, arrest him during one of his drug trips, make sure he is convicted, maybe have him serve a little time, then our nation would never have to be afflicted with his poisonous policies!)

The New Jim Crow is a difficult book to read. My blood was boiling at points. If I were a younger man, I would be sending off applications to law school and applying for internships at some advocacy groups. If you've ever been skeptical of claims regarding racism in the criminal justice system, I challenge you to read this book. If you ever thought the WoD was a good idea, read this book. If you think it's a great idea to lock up such a large percentage of our population, read this book. Alexander's right, a civil rights campaign calling for the defense of convicted drug users may not play as well as defending the rights of poor kids to have an equal education, but it is no less important.

Star Island, by Carl Hiaasen

2010-10-22T19:52:00.000-07:00

There are a few authors whose new books I look forward to with great anticipation; Carl Hiaasen is one of them. If you have never read his novels, you are missing a real treat. A Miami Herald columnist, Hiassen revels in stories of the crazy side of life in South Florida. Star Island is one of the crazier stories he's crafted, bringing in some of the characters we know and love, like Chemo, the bodyguard with the weed whacker attachment on his prosthetic arm, and Skink, the ex-governor with the missing eye, who lives off the land among the mangroves, and introduces us to the culture of celebrity surrounding the stars of Star Island. (Star Island is a man-made island in Miami where the likes of P Diddy, Shaq, A-Rod, Gloria Estefan, and other stars live or have lived.)

Cherry Pye, a spoiled, talentless, yet wildly successful pop star, has taken a walk on the wild side. Picture Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton, club hopping, bed hopping, drinking and drugging, and loving the attention from the paparazzi and the tabloids. Cherry's life is like that; her parents and handlers struggle to keep her happy while keeping her alive and hoping to keep her on her feet for her upcoming tour. Without Cherry's knowledge, they've hired an actress as a body double for Cherry. If Cherry's in rehab, passed out, or sick, they bring out Ann to fill in for quick appearances. When Ann disappears, Team Cherry goes into a frenzy and madness ensues.

Ann, rescued after a car accident by Skink, the crazy hermit and ex-governor, wants out of this crazy life, but on her terms. After she's kidnapped by a tabloid photographer, she's wondering if Skink will come to her rescue. Cherry's agent hires Chemo as body guard. For a while, he replaces his weed whacker prosthesis with a cattle prod, which he uses on Cherry when she uses the word "like" as other than a verb. He wonders if Cherry is worth protecting.

Hiaasen crafts his usual improbable, twisted plot with crazily interconnecting story lines, while developing characters who caricature real life. The situational humor is laugh out loud funny, the characters are hilarious and unforgettable, and the cultural commentary will make you smile. I don't know that I would say Star Island is as terrific as Skinny Dip or Sick Puppy, two of my favorites, but it's a good one.

The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work, by Alain de Botton

2010-10-10T19:34:00.000-07:00

At first, I loved this book. The first couple of chapters brought to mind Leonard Read's classic essay, "I, Pencil." If you haven't read this before, click here and read it now! That great little story tells of the incredible complexity of the common pencil, created by the efforts of millions of people all over the world, not one of whom knows how to make a pencil. In a similar way, Alain de Botton looks at some of the ordinary, everyday transactions of our daily economic lives and reveals the complex mechanisms behind them.

De Botton, a Swiss-born, London-based writer, starts at the port of London, where he catalogues some of the activity there. Raw materials come from all over the world to be made into finished products. Finished products come from all over the world to be distributed to consumers. The ships arrive from exotic ports of call, but to the shipping agents, "their vessels' journeys have all the mundanity of a ride between stations on a Underground line." The consumer is typically indifferent to the origins and travels of the goods he buys, but "a slight dampness at the bottom of a carton, or an obscure code printed along a computer cable, may hint at processes of manufacture and transport noble and more mysterious, more worthy of wonder and study, than the goods themselves."

De Botton describes the intricate workings at a logistics park, where much of the work takes place at night. "We lie in bed, . . . our mouths defencelessly agape, while a fleet of lorries is loaded up with the lion's share of the morning's semi-skimmed milk for northern England." Other warehouses are full of produce, where "at any given moment, half the contents of the warehouse are seventy-two hours away from being inedible, a prospect which prompts continuous struggles against the challenges of mould and geography." So tomatoes from Palermo end up on a table in northern Scotland in mere days, and strawberries from California are flown across the Arctic Circle to European grocery stores. Because of the short lives of strawberries, "An improbable number of grown-ups have been forced to subordinate their sloth, to move pallets across sheds and wait in rumbling diesel lorries in traffic to bow to the exacting demands of soft plump fruit."

For me, a favorite feature is the photo essay which follows some tuna from the Maldives to a dinner table. The author goes along with a commercial fishing crew, watches as they bring in their catch, to the processing plant, rides the plane with it to London, stalks the shoppers in the store, and follows the purchaser home to dinner. (The photo essay is available at the photographer's web site, richardbaker.photoshelter.com.) In another chapter, he visits a biscuit (cookie) factory, examining the marketing research and recipe experimentation that goes into producing a package of cookies. The massive research and production effort for one little cookie is astounding. Next time you have dinner, eat an Oreo, or buy some random product at the store, these chapters will make you stop and think about all that went into getting those items into your shopping cart.

Those chapters, which constitute about 1/3 of the book, fell into the "I love this book!" category. De Botton's style makes what may seem mundane into fascinating reading. The rest of the book is not bad, but didn't grab me the way the first part did. While looking into various trades and professions, he brings them alive and provides some interesting insights for the outsider. The Japanese team who travels to French Guiana to launch a satellite for their TV network, the painter who paints the same tree over and over again, the entrepreneurs who go to a conference to learn "How to Turn That Gem of an Idea Into Shed-Loads of Money," all point to the many ways people contribute to the life of work. The sorrows? Every now and then I sensed from de Bottom a bit of futility and meaninglessness in the working life, but overall, at least in my interpretation, he dwells more on the satisfaction and joy of a job done well.

Uneven though the latter part of The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work may be, I thoroughly enjoyed de Botton's style. He has helped shine a light on the world of consumer goods and of production and labor as a whole. As I look around the room now, and as I think about the variety, complexity, and technology of the goods and services to available to me, our world seems smaller and more interconnected.