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Star Map: A Journey of Faith, Doubt, and Meaning
Star Map is a touching and deeply personal philosophical memoir about a young man's wrestling match with fanatical faith and his frantic search for truth and meaning. Lewis Vaughn's journey transforms him from a young Christian fundamentalist to a disillusioned agnostic to an atheist seeker of meaning in a godless world. Along the way he stumbles on the strongest empirical argument against the reliability of faith as a source of knowledge, and sees that life does indeed have meaning without religion. In the end, he never regains the faith he lost, but finds something better.
266 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 2, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 23, 2017
I read Star Map as an advance reader's copy, and it was exactly what I thought it would be, which means it was perfect. The story narrates the conversion and then deconversion of Lewis Vaughn, who was what we would call a teenage preacher.
So much of the book was relatable - even to a 25 year old woman who lived nothing close to the author's experience. Though the book is about faith and meaning in life, I think what will draw people in the most is the narrator's family and how they navigate their relationships. For example, the narrator really wants to be there for his mom and his sister, Brenda, and he wants to protect them from his stepfather, but his family life was so toxic that he had to step away.
Don't worry about the book being too dark though! I spent a great deal of time laughing, like when the narrator talks about nearly burning down all of South Carolina and when he tells the reader about his preacher friend who used to LITERALLY kick people in the butt. Plus, the narrator's voice is genuine. It felt as though the author was speaking directly to me, and the writing was something to compare myself against and aspire to.
Most importantly, the book asks us: If there is no God, where do we turn to find value in our lives? What's the point of living? A worthy question if there ever was one.
So much of the book was relatable - even to a 25 year old woman who lived nothing close to the author's experience. Though the book is about faith and meaning in life, I think what will draw people in the most is the narrator's family and how they navigate their relationships. For example, the narrator really wants to be there for his mom and his sister, Brenda, and he wants to protect them from his stepfather, but his family life was so toxic that he had to step away.
Don't worry about the book being too dark though! I spent a great deal of time laughing, like when the narrator talks about nearly burning down all of South Carolina and when he tells the reader about his preacher friend who used to LITERALLY kick people in the butt. Plus, the narrator's voice is genuine. It felt as though the author was speaking directly to me, and the writing was something to compare myself against and aspire to.
Most importantly, the book asks us: If there is no God, where do we turn to find value in our lives? What's the point of living? A worthy question if there ever was one.
February 26, 2021
I enjoyed this book very much because it tells a story of transition from unquestioning faith to reasonable doubt that I and many others have also experienced. The author is well known for his readable texts on critical thinking, ethics, and general philosophy. I have started reading one of those works (Concise Guide to Critical Thinking), and am struck by how Star Map lends additional interest to the author’s exposition, especially the examples he has chosen to illustrate the need for good reasoning.
April 9, 2017
Vaughn does an excellent job of exploring the meaning of morality in this very well-written and fascinating memoir.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews