At the beginning of Summer, I mentioned a blog title of the week, and how it made you want to pick up the book (book editor's dream!), and here's the review for that book!
Synopsis:
"When I first discovered the grainy picture in my mother's desk-me as a towheaded two year old sitting in what I remember was a salmon-orange-stained lifeboat-I was overwhelmed by the feeling that the boy in the boat was not waving and laughing at the person snapping the photo as much as he was frantically trying to get the attention of the man I am today. The boy was beckoning me to join him on a voyage through the harrowing straits of memory. He was gambling that if we survived the passage, we might discover an ocean where the past would become the wind at our back rather than a driving gale to the nose of our boat. This book is the record of that voyage."
At the age of sixteen, Ian Morgan Cron was told by his mother that his father, a motion picture executive, also worked for the CIA in Europe. This astonishing revelation, coupled with his father's dark struggles with alcoholism, upended the world of a boy struggling to become a man. Decades later, as he faces his own personal demons, Ian realizes the only way to find peace is to voyage back through a childhood marked by extremes--privilege and hardship, violence and tenderness, truth and deceit--that he's spent years trying to forget. In this surprisingly funny and forgiving memoir, Ian reminds us that no matter how different the pieces may be, in the end we are all cut from the same cloth, stitched by faith into an exquisite quilt of grace.
Ian adores the Rolling Stone’s record Exile on Main Street, and the melody to Lulu’s 1967 hit song “To Sir, With Love” has been stuck in his head for more than thirty years ( I can SO relate to that). He can explain the former, but not the latter (me either!)
Ian divides his time between homes in Tennessee and Vermont with his wife, three children, and his Portuguese Water Dog, Hobbes. http://www.iancron.com/
Review: Ok, so we knew by the title that this book had a pretty good chance of being pretty interesting, right? How about I could NOT put it down and read it straight through in 3 hours? I'm NOT kidding!
There are SO many aspects to this book, that I really don't know where to start telling you about it! The ups and downs (Cron refers to it as the "J" of his upbring) of his young life have such a profound effect on Cron as an adult. Child and grandchild of alcoholics will nod their heads and know exactly what Cron is talking about when he speaks of the adapt and survive methodology that family members learn.
Cron tinges this memoir with humor, and nuances that anyone with 'family issues' can relate to, it is his patch to becoming an Episcopal minister that is more surprising. As he wrestles with the family and internal demons, he realizes the one person who has continually been there without fail (besides his Nanny) is God. He more than personalizes the leadership of our church, he helps us to understand that many of our leaders share our experiences, and know form where they advise us.
Cron's writing style is effortless and I am looking forward to reading his other book, Chasing Francis, a Pilgrim's Tale about St. Francis of Assisi!
Check out the book- no matter what your religion you will find it very interesting!
Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this book, free of charge, from Thomas Nelson Publishing, through their Book Sneeze Program, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it.
"When I first discovered the grainy picture in my mother's desk-me as a towheaded two year old sitting in what I remember was a salmon-orange-stained lifeboat-I was overwhelmed by the feeling that the boy in the boat was not waving and laughing at the person snapping the photo as much as he was frantically trying to get the attention of the man I am today. The boy was beckoning me to join him on a voyage through the harrowing straits of memory. He was gambling that if we survived the passage, we might discover an ocean where the past would become the wind at our back rather than a driving gale to the nose of our boat. This book is the record of that voyage."
At the age of sixteen, Ian Morgan Cron was told by his mother that his father, a motion picture executive, also worked for the CIA in Europe. This astonishing revelation, coupled with his father's dark struggles with alcoholism, upended the world of a boy struggling to become a man. Decades later, as he faces his own personal demons, Ian realizes the only way to find peace is to voyage back through a childhood marked by extremes--privilege and hardship, violence and tenderness, truth and deceit--that he's spent years trying to forget. In this surprisingly funny and forgiving memoir, Ian reminds us that no matter how different the pieces may be, in the end we are all cut from the same cloth, stitched by faith into an exquisite quilt of grace.
About the Author: Ian Morgan Cron is an author, speaker, Episcopal priest, and retreat guide. He is the author of Chasing Francis: A Pilgrim's Tale, which received accolades from The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, among others.
In addition to writing and speaking, Ian is an adjunct priest at Christ Church in Greenwich, Connecticut and a doctoral student at Fordham University (The Jesuit University in New York) where he is studying Christian spirituality.Ian adores the Rolling Stone’s record Exile on Main Street, and the melody to Lulu’s 1967 hit song “To Sir, With Love” has been stuck in his head for more than thirty years ( I can SO relate to that). He can explain the former, but not the latter (me either!)
Ian divides his time between homes in Tennessee and Vermont with his wife, three children, and his Portuguese Water Dog, Hobbes. http://www.iancron.com/
Review: Ok, so we knew by the title that this book had a pretty good chance of being pretty interesting, right? How about I could NOT put it down and read it straight through in 3 hours? I'm NOT kidding!
There are SO many aspects to this book, that I really don't know where to start telling you about it! The ups and downs (Cron refers to it as the "J" of his upbring) of his young life have such a profound effect on Cron as an adult. Child and grandchild of alcoholics will nod their heads and know exactly what Cron is talking about when he speaks of the adapt and survive methodology that family members learn.
Cron tinges this memoir with humor, and nuances that anyone with 'family issues' can relate to, it is his patch to becoming an Episcopal minister that is more surprising. As he wrestles with the family and internal demons, he realizes the one person who has continually been there without fail (besides his Nanny) is God. He more than personalizes the leadership of our church, he helps us to understand that many of our leaders share our experiences, and know form where they advise us.
Cron's writing style is effortless and I am looking forward to reading his other book, Chasing Francis, a Pilgrim's Tale about St. Francis of Assisi!
Check out the book- no matter what your religion you will find it very interesting!
Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this book, free of charge, from Thomas Nelson Publishing, through their Book Sneeze Program, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it.
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