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Behind the Stage
What happens when Pastor Josh Allen is transplanted from Seattle to the Deep South and discovers his daughter is involved with a sexual addict At the same time, one of his congregants deals with age discrimination, and he and his wife, Leah, discover a problem that will change their lives forever. As his world falls apart around him, Josh must build a new life in a town far from his Boston roots. Allen's Christian faith upholds him while he endures attacks on his simple life of helping others. Each week on the church's stage, he leads his flock, while behind the stage he fights the good fight for his family and his church.
214 pages, Paperback
First published January 3, 2014
4 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 14, 2016
[Note: This book was provided free of charge by BookLook/Thomas Nelson Publishers in exchange for an honest review.]
I generally dislike ranting at the beginning of book reviews, but for me the proper slotting of books into genres is of the utmost importance in setting my expectations of the book. This particular book was slotted into the genre of Spiritual Growth & Christian Thought, when what it was instead was a mediocre novel with its main story as a somewhat bungling minister with too much personal drama in his family life and a person who isn't the most observant when it comes to anything other than the headcount of his congregation, which dips a bit as he gets involved in a set of self-inflicted crises that conveniently pit him as a "Christian" voice against his intolerant new Floridian parishioners just outside of Tallahassee. Again, this is not a bad novel--rather it is mediocre, not strikingly good enough to be worth reading again or warmly recommending, but not bad enough to be one of the best worst novels ever [1], but I was not looking for a novel at all, but rather a nonfiction book about the life of a pastor. My expectations were not met, and that is what is most disappointing about this book, that its author simply could not get its genre right.
Having spent sufficient time, I hope, dealing with the problem of genre analysis on this book, it is worthwhile to examine the content of this uninspired novel. At the hart of this novel is Josh, a minister sent by his church from his home in Seattle to a small church just outside of Florida's state capital, where the pastor immediately sticks his foot in his mouth by opposing the removal of an openly homosexual political leader because he does not consider it Christian. From there the novel examines the life behind the stage of the minister as his wife gets pregnant and deals with postpartum depression and is then diagnosed with bipolar disorder, as one of his parish families struggles with the death of their daughter in an accident, as a couple in his congregation struggles with marriage counseling after the husband is found having an affair with the minister's daughter. The details of the plot are incredibly melodramatic but unlike some similarly overly convenient novels [2] that I read from time to time, the prose is stale and nearly lifeless, giving no adornment or sense of enjoyment or emotional turmoil to the text.
In many ways, this novel is like a Michael Bublè cover of a good novel, in that the material provided is full of drama, perhaps even too much so, but the performance is so monochromatic that any life or verve in the proceedings is flattened to the emotional level of the Flight of the Conchords discussion of foreplay. The premise of the book is reasonably sound, in that it is worthwhile to examine the private lives of ministers and reflect upon their personal and family struggles, but the author simply does not have the talent as a writer to make this novel emotionally gripping or give it more excitement than reading out of the phone book or listening to muzak on the elevator or in the grocery store. Material this potentially interesting deserves suitable treatment. In many ways, though, the inability of the author to write a compelling novel and the inability of the author to place the book in the proper genre where it might be appreciated on its own exceedingly modest level are similar errors, and that is not knowing what one is doing, or who one is aiming the book at. The author thought she was writing a novel merely as a cover for her own liberal version of love and acceptance of others and avoiding judgmental attitudes, and placed the novel based on her agenda not on the form she used to convey that agenda in print, an error that demonstrates to the reader that this novel fails both as a novel and as a good example of Christian thought.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
[2] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
I generally dislike ranting at the beginning of book reviews, but for me the proper slotting of books into genres is of the utmost importance in setting my expectations of the book. This particular book was slotted into the genre of Spiritual Growth & Christian Thought, when what it was instead was a mediocre novel with its main story as a somewhat bungling minister with too much personal drama in his family life and a person who isn't the most observant when it comes to anything other than the headcount of his congregation, which dips a bit as he gets involved in a set of self-inflicted crises that conveniently pit him as a "Christian" voice against his intolerant new Floridian parishioners just outside of Tallahassee. Again, this is not a bad novel--rather it is mediocre, not strikingly good enough to be worth reading again or warmly recommending, but not bad enough to be one of the best worst novels ever [1], but I was not looking for a novel at all, but rather a nonfiction book about the life of a pastor. My expectations were not met, and that is what is most disappointing about this book, that its author simply could not get its genre right.
Having spent sufficient time, I hope, dealing with the problem of genre analysis on this book, it is worthwhile to examine the content of this uninspired novel. At the hart of this novel is Josh, a minister sent by his church from his home in Seattle to a small church just outside of Florida's state capital, where the pastor immediately sticks his foot in his mouth by opposing the removal of an openly homosexual political leader because he does not consider it Christian. From there the novel examines the life behind the stage of the minister as his wife gets pregnant and deals with postpartum depression and is then diagnosed with bipolar disorder, as one of his parish families struggles with the death of their daughter in an accident, as a couple in his congregation struggles with marriage counseling after the husband is found having an affair with the minister's daughter. The details of the plot are incredibly melodramatic but unlike some similarly overly convenient novels [2] that I read from time to time, the prose is stale and nearly lifeless, giving no adornment or sense of enjoyment or emotional turmoil to the text.
In many ways, this novel is like a Michael Bublè cover of a good novel, in that the material provided is full of drama, perhaps even too much so, but the performance is so monochromatic that any life or verve in the proceedings is flattened to the emotional level of the Flight of the Conchords discussion of foreplay. The premise of the book is reasonably sound, in that it is worthwhile to examine the private lives of ministers and reflect upon their personal and family struggles, but the author simply does not have the talent as a writer to make this novel emotionally gripping or give it more excitement than reading out of the phone book or listening to muzak on the elevator or in the grocery store. Material this potentially interesting deserves suitable treatment. In many ways, though, the inability of the author to write a compelling novel and the inability of the author to place the book in the proper genre where it might be appreciated on its own exceedingly modest level are similar errors, and that is not knowing what one is doing, or who one is aiming the book at. The author thought she was writing a novel merely as a cover for her own liberal version of love and acceptance of others and avoiding judgmental attitudes, and placed the novel based on her agenda not on the form she used to convey that agenda in print, an error that demonstrates to the reader that this novel fails both as a novel and as a good example of Christian thought.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
[2] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
July 21, 2014
My Thoughts On The Book: I am a pastor and pastor's wife and loved this book. I understand the moving concept and it is difficult to pick up your life and move somewhere new every few years. This book is about a year in the life of Pastor Josh. The former pastor had been at the church for over fifteen years and when Josh comes in there are many congregants who are not happy with his views and his method of doing things. Most pastor's know that when you are moved to a church it takes a year to learn how things run. On top of learning the new church in a small town....he finds his own family is falling apart. This is an easy and good read. It was raining here and I sat and read the book. Loved it! Good job Anne Sanders on this debut book.
Disclaimer: This book was given to me to review as part of Thomas Nelson Publishing Company's BookLook Blogging Program in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts are entirely my own.
Disclaimer: This book was given to me to review as part of Thomas Nelson Publishing Company's BookLook Blogging Program in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts are entirely my own.
January 29, 2014
This is a pretty good debut novel. Pastor Josh is a nice guy, called to the ministry, and tries to do his job the best he can. He is very supporting of people in need yet firm with people who need correction. It was interesting to read how he dealt with parishioners who complain. And all is not well in his own family. He discovers his college age daughter is having an affair and his wife is suffering from postpartum depression. While short, the novel is a rewarding read. See my full review at http://bit.ly/1fwsK9U.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews