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erinware's review against another edition
4.0
I give the story 5 stars, and the writing 3 (a few too many metaphors for me). I highly recommend it.
jtisreading's review against another edition
1.0
I was a bit disappointed. All this hype for the book and it really just wasn't that edible in my opinion. I thought it was interesting but not very well written and almost lacking in purpose and structure to the point of losing me... and I'm the type that can't get enough stream of conscious JOYCE.
birdy1luv's review against another edition
4.0
This is a beautiful book. I loved it! Really poignant and profound. So full of grace in difficult circumstances.
philippelazaro's review against another edition
4.0
"Love always stoops."
–Ian Morgan Cron
This book has been sitting on my to-read list for years. I remember when I first heard about Ian Morgan Cron– people had largely good things to say about his spiritual memoir, and since that’s the genre I write, I went in expecting big things.
At first, I thought the book was missing something… maybe direction. I couldn’t see a central story or pursuit that strung together its different memories and recollections. I guess I have this weakness when I write, so it stood out to me.
Then I realized I was looking at the book wrong. It was a portrait of a long life and a spiritual formation, and when I started reading some of the middle chapters, where some of the roughest points of Ian’s life began to enter something resembling redemption, it took a turn for the beautiful. I began to appreciate the beauty of staring at life with a big picture lens.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
–Ian Morgan Cron
This book has been sitting on my to-read list for years. I remember when I first heard about Ian Morgan Cron– people had largely good things to say about his spiritual memoir, and since that’s the genre I write, I went in expecting big things.
At first, I thought the book was missing something… maybe direction. I couldn’t see a central story or pursuit that strung together its different memories and recollections. I guess I have this weakness when I write, so it stood out to me.
Then I realized I was looking at the book wrong. It was a portrait of a long life and a spiritual formation, and when I started reading some of the middle chapters, where some of the roughest points of Ian’s life began to enter something resembling redemption, it took a turn for the beautiful. I began to appreciate the beauty of staring at life with a big picture lens.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
thesydda's review against another edition
4.0
This is Ian Cron's second book, and it's an autobiography, of sorts. In it he tells stories from his life and how he came to know and believe in Jesus. He's a fantastic storyteller, so you race through the pages. The chapters are also short, so it's a quick read. I suggest you go back, once you've finished it, and read it again, to make sure you can really savor it.
hyattsarah's review against another edition
1.0
I've read the reviews for this book - they were what made me want to read it in the first place. I seriously don't see how I am reading the same book as all of these people, because the very things that everyone praises are the things that I think are worst about this book.
Nothing about this book is unique. It's an overgrown blog entry, another hipster Christian book trying to be edgy with pop culture references that will quickly become obsolete and disjointed childhood memories without an overarching theme. The writing doesn't flow well or draw the reader into the story - there have been a few moments that felt they could have really shone with some more editing and polishing, but they were scattered between hodge podge and disconnected anecdotes, written in such a jaded and "trying to be funny" tone that it was hard to appreciate them. Instead of describing events or feelings the author refers to movie titles in italics, and sets them out in very clear simile ("It was LIKE Raiders of the Lost Ark. It was LIKE Pineapple Express. It was LIKE Lord of the Flies.") After a while, it becomes jarring and repetitive. The stories are also interspersed with stream-of-consciousness rambling that adds nothing to the book. It isn't cute or quirky or ~random~, it's extremely distracting.
I would complain about this book being like a rip off of Donald Miller's endless literary catalog of daddy issues, except I really haven't felt so far that this book was even about the author's father. So far I've barely seen him - or, for that matter, seen Jesus or the CIA. I hear some things about the father, but he is one-dimensional and removed, not painfully removed as an absent father but just irrelevant and peripheral. The book centers more on a random assortment of the author's experiences, which may or may not be true, and uses other people as the backdrop for the author's mundane and cliche thoughts and experiences. The treatment of other characters is disheartening as well as the author seems to take on a really unflattering jaded tone at times.
I think my strong aversion to this book is born out of the fact that I really wanted to like it. I wanted it to be a memoir that charmed me, that drew me in and made my own life and experiences seem bigger as a result. [b:Girl Meets God: A Memoir|49188|Girl Meets God A Memoir|Lauren F. Winner|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320399979s/49188.jpg|48118] did this beautifully, and I was entranced by [b:A Girl Named Zippy|15171|A Girl Named Zippy|Haven Kimmel|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166671570s/15171.jpg|17077] and [b:She Got Up Off the Couch: And Other Heroic Acts from Mooreland, Indiana|15167|She Got Up Off the Couch And Other Heroic Acts from Mooreland, Indiana|Haven Kimmel|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255882129s/15167.jpg|137846]. This book has none of their charm or light, but neither does it have any of the dark interest of truly horrific childhood memoirs ([b:A Stolen Life|11330361|A Stolen Life|Jaycee Dugard|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41--ziwwP4L._SL75_.jpg|16258764], anyone?) Very disappointing.
Nothing about this book is unique. It's an overgrown blog entry, another hipster Christian book trying to be edgy with pop culture references that will quickly become obsolete and disjointed childhood memories without an overarching theme. The writing doesn't flow well or draw the reader into the story - there have been a few moments that felt they could have really shone with some more editing and polishing, but they were scattered between hodge podge and disconnected anecdotes, written in such a jaded and "trying to be funny" tone that it was hard to appreciate them. Instead of describing events or feelings the author refers to movie titles in italics, and sets them out in very clear simile ("It was LIKE Raiders of the Lost Ark. It was LIKE Pineapple Express. It was LIKE Lord of the Flies.") After a while, it becomes jarring and repetitive. The stories are also interspersed with stream-of-consciousness rambling that adds nothing to the book. It isn't cute or quirky or ~random~, it's extremely distracting.
I would complain about this book being like a rip off of Donald Miller's endless literary catalog of daddy issues, except I really haven't felt so far that this book was even about the author's father. So far I've barely seen him - or, for that matter, seen Jesus or the CIA. I hear some things about the father, but he is one-dimensional and removed, not painfully removed as an absent father but just irrelevant and peripheral. The book centers more on a random assortment of the author's experiences, which may or may not be true, and uses other people as the backdrop for the author's mundane and cliche thoughts and experiences. The treatment of other characters is disheartening as well as the author seems to take on a really unflattering jaded tone at times.
I think my strong aversion to this book is born out of the fact that I really wanted to like it. I wanted it to be a memoir that charmed me, that drew me in and made my own life and experiences seem bigger as a result. [b:Girl Meets God: A Memoir|49188|Girl Meets God A Memoir|Lauren F. Winner|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320399979s/49188.jpg|48118] did this beautifully, and I was entranced by [b:A Girl Named Zippy|15171|A Girl Named Zippy|Haven Kimmel|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166671570s/15171.jpg|17077] and [b:She Got Up Off the Couch: And Other Heroic Acts from Mooreland, Indiana|15167|She Got Up Off the Couch And Other Heroic Acts from Mooreland, Indiana|Haven Kimmel|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255882129s/15167.jpg|137846]. This book has none of their charm or light, but neither does it have any of the dark interest of truly horrific childhood memoirs ([b:A Stolen Life|11330361|A Stolen Life|Jaycee Dugard|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41--ziwwP4L._SL75_.jpg|16258764], anyone?) Very disappointing.
lmbartelt's review against another edition
5.0
I'm a new fan of Ian Cron's writing. Brilliant is all I can say. His latest novel was a page turner I couldn't get enough of which led me to his first book, a memoir (of sorts, as he calls it), Jesus, My Father, the CIA and Me. (Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the book from Thomas Nelson through the Booksneeze program in exchange for my review.)
First of all, how do you resist a title like that? It sounds like the setup to a great joke when in fact, it's major components of Cron's life as the son of an alcoholic who seemingly couldn't hold a job but was really working for the CIA. Cron chronicles his journey of faith from childhood through his own bout with alcoholism and beyond. Though he offers the disclaimer that he might not remember things exactly as they happened, the story still comes across as honest. Cron pulls no punches when he talks about his drinking or his spiritual life or what it's like to reconcile the father you thought you knew with the man others knew him to be, and to do it after he died.
Though painful to read at times, Cron's humor comes through, making the book a journey with ups and downs, just like real life.
I wouldn't call it a "feel good" book but you don't come away discouraged, either. Cron's story offers hope for those who struggle with absent or abusive fathers, addictions and doubt, among other things. His is an "I've been there, too" kind of story--the kind we need to hear more often from our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Add this one to your "to-read" pile. You won't be sorry you did.
First of all, how do you resist a title like that? It sounds like the setup to a great joke when in fact, it's major components of Cron's life as the son of an alcoholic who seemingly couldn't hold a job but was really working for the CIA. Cron chronicles his journey of faith from childhood through his own bout with alcoholism and beyond. Though he offers the disclaimer that he might not remember things exactly as they happened, the story still comes across as honest. Cron pulls no punches when he talks about his drinking or his spiritual life or what it's like to reconcile the father you thought you knew with the man others knew him to be, and to do it after he died.
Though painful to read at times, Cron's humor comes through, making the book a journey with ups and downs, just like real life.
I wouldn't call it a "feel good" book but you don't come away discouraged, either. Cron's story offers hope for those who struggle with absent or abusive fathers, addictions and doubt, among other things. His is an "I've been there, too" kind of story--the kind we need to hear more often from our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Add this one to your "to-read" pile. You won't be sorry you did.
patty_kansascity's review against another edition
3.0
Even though I rated this book with 3 out of 5 stars, I think it is a book worth reading. While chapters 1-8 were a little drawn out to me (I would rate those chapters with 2 stars), chapters 9-18 were great! If I was only rating chapters 9-18, I would have given this book 4 stars.
This book is a memoir, and is filled with stories about his upbringing -- some hilarious, some tragic. Other than being a little drawn out for my liking, my lower rating for the first half of the book is because I was expecting something entirely different than what it actually was. This book came recommended by a co-worker, and since we both work in law enforcement, I anticipated it to be a lot about spies and the author's life as a son of a CIA operative. It really wasn't so much about that. Still, I must say that the reasons chapters 9-18 were so great was because I was able to come to know the author through the more boring chapters of 1-8.
I don't emote often when reading a book, but in this one (in the latter chapters), boy howdy, I did -- and even in public places. There were times that I thought I would bawl, and other times that I would literally crack up out loud.
This book is a memoir, and is filled with stories about his upbringing -- some hilarious, some tragic. Other than being a little drawn out for my liking, my lower rating for the first half of the book is because I was expecting something entirely different than what it actually was. This book came recommended by a co-worker, and since we both work in law enforcement, I anticipated it to be a lot about spies and the author's life as a son of a CIA operative. It really wasn't so much about that. Still, I must say that the reasons chapters 9-18 were so great was because I was able to come to know the author through the more boring chapters of 1-8.
I don't emote often when reading a book, but in this one (in the latter chapters), boy howdy, I did -- and even in public places. There were times that I thought I would bawl, and other times that I would literally crack up out loud.