Author: Jason Boyett
Book Name: O me of little faith
I’m Glad it Wasn’t Called: Shirtless, Constipated Boys
Book Synopsis in Twitteresque 140 characters or less: Jason Boyett admits, “I’m a Christian but I’m a big fat doubter.” And as it turns out, he likes it that way.
Where I Bought It: Jason sent me a free review copy, probably because he feels bad for heckling me so often about the fact that I used to work at McDonald’s and stuff chicken fajita meat into my pockets.
Paid for With: This blog post. I told Jason I’d review the book on the blog. He wanted the review to go up in early May. It is now early July. I stink.
How Long it Took Me to Read: Well, I read half of the book during a week-long vacation in Myrtle Beach. Then we came home and I didn’t read anything for over a month. Then I picked up the book again and finished it over a 2 week period. I didn’t find it riveting enough that I just HAD to read it, but I always got sucked backed in when I did pick it up.
the OTHER jason boyett
Who I WOULD NOT recommend this book to: people who think doubt is a dirty heathen word, people who hate footnotes in books, and people who hate having a book recommended to them. I would also not recommend this book to the OTHER Jason Boyett. Ya know, the one who set the Oklahoma state record for the largest typical whitetail buck. He’s too busy killing deer to read.
Who I WOULD recommend this book to: Christians who struggle with doubt and non-Christians who think they need to be “all in” on this faith thing before checking it out.
What I used for a bookmark: in the beginning I was dog-earing pages, which goes against everything I stand for. I like to keep my books pristine while reading them. I HATE HATE HATE creases in the binding of a book from opening it too far. Anyone else with me? Near the end I stopped dog-earing and used a “One year of WIRED magazine for $10” Business Reply Card. I’m thinking of subscribing.
What did I like about the book: I liked Jason’s honesty. I admit that I would have had a difficult time writing this book. “What will my family think…what will my pastor and my church family think…what will my kids think when they read this in 10 years?” I’m sure Jason struggled with similar questions, but he wrote it anyway. I also liked Jason’s analogies and stories (he’s great at making those work) and I liked his knowledge and research (he’s a nerd like me).
What did I like that was not in the book: I liked watching The Princess Bride with my kids for the first time a couple weeks ago (there was no mention of this in the book).
What did I not like about the book: During the whole first half of the book I kept thinking, “Man, Jason is presenting a lot of great reasons why he doubts aspects of his faith. This could really be detrimental to some people. I wonder if he’s ready to accept responsibility for that?” It’s a question Jason has talked about in interviews, including this good one he did with my friend Shawn Smucker. I didn’t dislike this about the book, but I admit it did make me uncomfortable.
Expectations Going In: I’ll be honest, I did not have high expectations for this book. I consider Jason one of my favorite online friends, respect Jason’s writing immensely, and always enjoy his blog…but I figured this would be a typical treatment to a subject I’ve read about too many times. Even though Jason’s a funny dude, I figured the book would be boring.
Cannarf Rating: My assumptions going into this book turned out to be wrong. I was not bored at all. It was engaging, challenging, and even encouraging. At first I wondered if it would be a good book to give to someone struggling with doubt, but by the end I was convinced that it might be just what they need to read. The Rating: +2.5 cannarfs. (what’s a cannarf?)
Have any of you read O me of little faith? What did you think?