Faith And the City: A Memoir: A Girl's Search For Post-College Meaning

by Jennifer Ruisch

Faith and the City is personal narrative of being a directionless college grad trying to make it in the big city. The story chronicles the author's struggle to re-enter the land of the living and figure out how she fit into the picture with people from every religion and background imaginable. A question that keeps popping up is, "Are all the small interactions and events in our lives arbitrary, or is it actually all a part of a divine plan?" Readers who have ever moved to a big city, or just moved to a different city--in search of a job, a mate or an identity will strongly identify with this story. College students meeting people with all different philosophies and faiths will enjoy this book. Anyone who has faced spiritual doubts, depression, frustration and angst will want to read this book, all levels of spiritual maturity included.

186 pages, Paperback

First published March 7, 2006

Reviews

[Jeanette]

the title ruins a great book honestly. i nearly didn't read it because of the title. i'm glad now that i overlooked that. also, i read it after having read "under the overpass" and i think this changed my opinion of the book. it wasn't amazing. it was good. but because of the thought processes started by "under the overpass," it flowed.
her writing style is relaxed. it's very easy to read. it does not require over-analysis. however, if you stop to think about or discuss the concepts she broaches... you'll be amazed at just how much she covers. she's obviously well-read, but manages to explain ideologies without over-intellectualizing them.

[Veela Divina]

Just great.

[Jessica Colund]

Ruisch's tone is conversational and, at times, hilarious. I identified with her throughout much of the book, since she's a slightly outside-the-box Christian living in a city and trying to come to grips with how she ought to live out her faith in such a setting. I also flew through the book because it's quite an easy read. I don't want to say "fluffy" because it attempted to deal with real issues, but it's definitely a typical memoir in that you may come away from it thinking, "Yeah, cool. And...?" Additionally, I really could have done without a couple of her paragraphs on homosexuality that majorly contrasted with some of her open-mindedness from other chapters. But other than that, it's probably worth a quick read if you recently graduated from college and you're trying to figure out what to do with your life and you're interested in Christianity.

[Ela]

My good friend lent this book to me and what I like about this one aside being a relatable biography is Hunter's expressive view on Religion, and somewhat, Philosophy. I love that damn subject so much. Cussing means no harm, ladies and gents.

For me Faith and the City is a very well-written book. I read it at the right time in my life being a wanderer in the present myself. I may not be where I should be but I am making myself a makeshift road going there.

This should be enough post-college meaning for me now. :)