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Fish Out of Water: A Search for the Meaning of Life
What Happens When One of America’s Most Admired Biographers Writes His Own Biography?
For Eric Metaxas, the answer is Fish Out of A Search for the Meaning of Life —a poetic and sometimes hilarious memoir of his early years, in which the Queens-born son of Greek and German immigrants struggles to make sense of a world in which he never quite seems to fit.
Renowned for his biographies of William Wilberforce, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Martin Luther, Metaxas is the author of five New York Times bestsellers, the witty host of the acclaimed Socrates in the City conversation series, and a nationally syndicated radio personality. But here he reveals a personal story few have heard, taking us from his mostly happy childhood—and riotous triumphs at Yale—to the nightmare of drifting toward a dark abyss of meaninglessness from which he barely escapes.
Along the way he introduces us to an unforgettable troupe of picaresque characters who join this quintessentially first-generation American boy in what is both bildungsroman and odyssey—and which underscores just how funny, serious, happy, sad, and ultimately meaningful life can be.
For Eric Metaxas, the answer is Fish Out of A Search for the Meaning of Life —a poetic and sometimes hilarious memoir of his early years, in which the Queens-born son of Greek and German immigrants struggles to make sense of a world in which he never quite seems to fit.
Renowned for his biographies of William Wilberforce, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Martin Luther, Metaxas is the author of five New York Times bestsellers, the witty host of the acclaimed Socrates in the City conversation series, and a nationally syndicated radio personality. But here he reveals a personal story few have heard, taking us from his mostly happy childhood—and riotous triumphs at Yale—to the nightmare of drifting toward a dark abyss of meaninglessness from which he barely escapes.
Along the way he introduces us to an unforgettable troupe of picaresque characters who join this quintessentially first-generation American boy in what is both bildungsroman and odyssey—and which underscores just how funny, serious, happy, sad, and ultimately meaningful life can be.
416 pages, Hardcover
Published February 2, 2021
244 people are currently reading
941 people want to read
About the author
Eric Metaxas
131 books2,254 followersIn a decidedly eclectic career, Eric Metaxas has written for VeggieTales, Chuck Colson, Rabbit Ears Productions and the New York Times, four things not ordinarily in the same sentence. He is a best-selling author whose biographies, children’s books, and works of popular apologetics have been translated into more than 25 languages.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews
May 11, 2022
“We had touched Beauty itself, and Goodness itself, and Truth itself.” (3.5 stars)
I have two biographies Mr. Metaxas has written on my “to read” pile, but I have not gotten to them yet. I can’t remember who recommended I read his memoir, but I did. FISH OUT OF WATER A SEARCH FOR THE MEANING OF LIFE is an interesting introduction to the work of Metaxas, and I am glad I read it, as I think it may inform my reading of the biographies of others he has written.
First off, be warned Metaxas uses elevated prose. At times it feels forced and pretentious, but the feeling comes and goes. The text feels like a read from another time. Most of the time the dated stylistic flourishes come across as authentic to the author’s patterns of speech, albeit at times it was irritating. Another quibble is that the first part of the text has a jarring lack of the use of transitions.
Eric Metaxas is a first generation American, the son of immigrants, a father from Greece, and a mother from Germany. The text explains how his family came to the US, and Metaxas’ birth, and then follows his growing up, through college, and into his lost early years, culminating in a born again experience for the author.
Some items from the text that I enjoyed include:
The most succinct, and damning description of modern American Christianity as I have come across recently, “…like most “Christians” we had a loopy amalgam of half-beliefs, many of which contradicted the actual tenets of our claimed faith, and resulted in what is a typical American-style “tolerance”, in which one treads lightly on issues of faith and truth…”
There is a short section called, “Because He’s Your Father” where Metaxas recalls a lesson his uncle taught him about respect for one’s parent. It is touching, and a lesson sorely needed today.
Metaxas is often self-deprecating and his examination of the condescending (unintentional) views of liberal undergraduates about the world around them is spot on. The section that focuses on his college years makes an interesting observation about how societies mores change, and books like LOLITA that were adored once, fall out of fashion in a different age. The less arrogant among us realize that this pattern will always be repeated, and that you should not walk through life thinking your views and time of existence is the end of history or the pinnacle of human taste and achievement. What is in fashion or culturally acceptable will always change, mainly because culture is not Truth. Count on it! It is the art that matters, not what it depicts. I’ll stop there, I could go on for days…
Metaxas is a big proponent of the idea of truth, and he has a nice section inspired by Solzhenitsyn’s Nobel Prize speech in which he said “One word of truth outweighs the world.” Thinking about the idea of truth, and that it does exists, and it can’t be stamped out may not be the current flavor, but it is true none the less.
I enjoyed the author’s take on MFA degrees and how many of them are good for nothing other than becoming a teacher in an MFA program. Hey, I have an undergraduate degree in the humanities, I love them, but practical…they are not. I appreciate his bucking the brutal dictates of higher ed. Numerous times Metaxas brilliantly takes on the lack of diversity and opinion in what passes for higher education these days. Mixed in with all of this was his nostalgic look at his undergraduate years, his college graduation, and an examination of memory. It made me think of things I had not considered in a while.
There is a section where he talks about personal will, versus God’s. Consider this thought, “But as C.S. Lewis said, there comes a time when if we don’t say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ He says to us, in effect, ‘Okay, thy will be done. Have it your way.’ He turns us over to our own desires, whatever they are…” Metaxas then goes into how this played out in his life. It was the kind of honest thought that I appreciated.
The author and I share the experience of having to humble ourselves and realize that despite all we knew, our intelligence, etc. we were missing something that people we looked down on had. They had a focus on something much more important, than he (or I) did. I loved this paragraph, which I found to be true on a personal level. “I came to see that a kind of secular filter has developed over the last fifty years or so, and the mass media have largely- sometimes scandalously- ignored some of the most amazing stories of our time, principally because they tend to be uncomfortable talking about anything touching on faith-sometimes because of an embarrassing ignorance of theological matters, and other times for fear of how it will be perceived by their preponderantly secular colleagues. But as a result, most Americans have missed some tremendously important things about the reality and role of faith in history and culture.” All I can say to that is yes!
Some quotes I pulled out-
• “…my mother is German, and if she cannot get something clean, it’s likely God’s way of saying you should throw it out.”
• “…which like all things, if we look at them rightly and clearly, open up onto an impossibly deep truth, onto a vista that would lead us all the way to Heaven itself, if only we had the infinite courage required to look.”
• “…under the blue sky of what we didn’t know was our youth…”
• “So I understood I was not merely studying books, but was through them trying to touch the ideas in them-truth and goodness and beauty.”
• “It was exciting to be making these connections, to see that there seemed to be a deeper order to things, ancient and invisible, but discoverable, like the laws of physics.”
• “But how had we gotten to the point where truth was so malleable?”
• “It is hard to want to share something with people we love and be unable to do so.”
• “Is that what memory is, a kind of explosion inward unto eternity and transcendence?”
• “Nothing can hold us, because our minds were created to yearn toward the borders of our world, to yearn to return to that place where they were created, outside of time and space.”
• “It made me sad, but it was a weirdly satisfying sadness, as though that sadness were somehow getting me closer to the real happiness and truth of the universe.”
• “It was easy to see where our forebears had gone wrong, but would we do better?”
• “The journey with God is meant in some sense to be a communal one…”
I freely admit that a large part of why I enjoyed this text is because I identified with so much of it. At one point, I winced, as what Metaxas was saying about himself could easily have applied to me at one time as well. “I had somehow forgotten whatever Christian faith I once had or thought I had, had drifted away from it by degrees, never noticing how far.” Ouch!
FISH OUT OF WATER is not for everyone. But it was for me. I enjoyed the manner in which it was written, I enjoyed the story it told. I find comfort in knowing that there are people out there who have had similar experiences. It makes one feel less special, in a good way.
One last thing. Metaxas is a sometime poet and the Appendix contains some poems he wrote. “Swimming to My Father” is an astonishingly good one.
I have two biographies Mr. Metaxas has written on my “to read” pile, but I have not gotten to them yet. I can’t remember who recommended I read his memoir, but I did. FISH OUT OF WATER A SEARCH FOR THE MEANING OF LIFE is an interesting introduction to the work of Metaxas, and I am glad I read it, as I think it may inform my reading of the biographies of others he has written.
First off, be warned Metaxas uses elevated prose. At times it feels forced and pretentious, but the feeling comes and goes. The text feels like a read from another time. Most of the time the dated stylistic flourishes come across as authentic to the author’s patterns of speech, albeit at times it was irritating. Another quibble is that the first part of the text has a jarring lack of the use of transitions.
Eric Metaxas is a first generation American, the son of immigrants, a father from Greece, and a mother from Germany. The text explains how his family came to the US, and Metaxas’ birth, and then follows his growing up, through college, and into his lost early years, culminating in a born again experience for the author.
Some items from the text that I enjoyed include:
The most succinct, and damning description of modern American Christianity as I have come across recently, “…like most “Christians” we had a loopy amalgam of half-beliefs, many of which contradicted the actual tenets of our claimed faith, and resulted in what is a typical American-style “tolerance”, in which one treads lightly on issues of faith and truth…”
There is a short section called, “Because He’s Your Father” where Metaxas recalls a lesson his uncle taught him about respect for one’s parent. It is touching, and a lesson sorely needed today.
Metaxas is often self-deprecating and his examination of the condescending (unintentional) views of liberal undergraduates about the world around them is spot on. The section that focuses on his college years makes an interesting observation about how societies mores change, and books like LOLITA that were adored once, fall out of fashion in a different age. The less arrogant among us realize that this pattern will always be repeated, and that you should not walk through life thinking your views and time of existence is the end of history or the pinnacle of human taste and achievement. What is in fashion or culturally acceptable will always change, mainly because culture is not Truth. Count on it! It is the art that matters, not what it depicts. I’ll stop there, I could go on for days…
Metaxas is a big proponent of the idea of truth, and he has a nice section inspired by Solzhenitsyn’s Nobel Prize speech in which he said “One word of truth outweighs the world.” Thinking about the idea of truth, and that it does exists, and it can’t be stamped out may not be the current flavor, but it is true none the less.
I enjoyed the author’s take on MFA degrees and how many of them are good for nothing other than becoming a teacher in an MFA program. Hey, I have an undergraduate degree in the humanities, I love them, but practical…they are not. I appreciate his bucking the brutal dictates of higher ed. Numerous times Metaxas brilliantly takes on the lack of diversity and opinion in what passes for higher education these days. Mixed in with all of this was his nostalgic look at his undergraduate years, his college graduation, and an examination of memory. It made me think of things I had not considered in a while.
There is a section where he talks about personal will, versus God’s. Consider this thought, “But as C.S. Lewis said, there comes a time when if we don’t say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ He says to us, in effect, ‘Okay, thy will be done. Have it your way.’ He turns us over to our own desires, whatever they are…” Metaxas then goes into how this played out in his life. It was the kind of honest thought that I appreciated.
The author and I share the experience of having to humble ourselves and realize that despite all we knew, our intelligence, etc. we were missing something that people we looked down on had. They had a focus on something much more important, than he (or I) did. I loved this paragraph, which I found to be true on a personal level. “I came to see that a kind of secular filter has developed over the last fifty years or so, and the mass media have largely- sometimes scandalously- ignored some of the most amazing stories of our time, principally because they tend to be uncomfortable talking about anything touching on faith-sometimes because of an embarrassing ignorance of theological matters, and other times for fear of how it will be perceived by their preponderantly secular colleagues. But as a result, most Americans have missed some tremendously important things about the reality and role of faith in history and culture.” All I can say to that is yes!
Some quotes I pulled out-
• “…my mother is German, and if she cannot get something clean, it’s likely God’s way of saying you should throw it out.”
• “…which like all things, if we look at them rightly and clearly, open up onto an impossibly deep truth, onto a vista that would lead us all the way to Heaven itself, if only we had the infinite courage required to look.”
• “…under the blue sky of what we didn’t know was our youth…”
• “So I understood I was not merely studying books, but was through them trying to touch the ideas in them-truth and goodness and beauty.”
• “It was exciting to be making these connections, to see that there seemed to be a deeper order to things, ancient and invisible, but discoverable, like the laws of physics.”
• “But how had we gotten to the point where truth was so malleable?”
• “It is hard to want to share something with people we love and be unable to do so.”
• “Is that what memory is, a kind of explosion inward unto eternity and transcendence?”
• “Nothing can hold us, because our minds were created to yearn toward the borders of our world, to yearn to return to that place where they were created, outside of time and space.”
• “It made me sad, but it was a weirdly satisfying sadness, as though that sadness were somehow getting me closer to the real happiness and truth of the universe.”
• “It was easy to see where our forebears had gone wrong, but would we do better?”
• “The journey with God is meant in some sense to be a communal one…”
I freely admit that a large part of why I enjoyed this text is because I identified with so much of it. At one point, I winced, as what Metaxas was saying about himself could easily have applied to me at one time as well. “I had somehow forgotten whatever Christian faith I once had or thought I had, had drifted away from it by degrees, never noticing how far.” Ouch!
FISH OUT OF WATER is not for everyone. But it was for me. I enjoyed the manner in which it was written, I enjoyed the story it told. I find comfort in knowing that there are people out there who have had similar experiences. It makes one feel less special, in a good way.
One last thing. Metaxas is a sometime poet and the Appendix contains some poems he wrote. “Swimming to My Father” is an astonishingly good one.
February 16, 2021
How liberals think
I've been a Christian all my life and, for the life of me, could never figure out how highly intellectual individuals could accept and embrace the untenable and ungodly positions they take. Now, after reading this I understand. I thank God for the author's continued search for the meaning of life until that big, beautiful golden fish appeared to so beautifully resolve the mystery.
I've been a Christian all my life and, for the life of me, could never figure out how highly intellectual individuals could accept and embrace the untenable and ungodly positions they take. Now, after reading this I understand. I thank God for the author's continued search for the meaning of life until that big, beautiful golden fish appeared to so beautifully resolve the mystery.
February 27, 2021
Disclaimer: Metaxas has interviewed me on his show twice.
I've been waiting for this book because I wanted to read Metaxas'conversion story--I'd heard it but wanted a few more details.
They're here.
This memoir is full of details--some that are humorous and familiar to those of us first-generation Americans. I loved my years living in Connecticut, so those scenes were lovely.
I'm not sure I needed so much detail and so many stories. The memoir could have been strengthened by a little more judicious paring of memories. That said, I'll be reading the sequel when his faith changes everything.
I've been waiting for this book because I wanted to read Metaxas'conversion story--I'd heard it but wanted a few more details.
They're here.
This memoir is full of details--some that are humorous and familiar to those of us first-generation Americans. I loved my years living in Connecticut, so those scenes were lovely.
I'm not sure I needed so much detail and so many stories. The memoir could have been strengthened by a little more judicious paring of memories. That said, I'll be reading the sequel when his faith changes everything.
February 9, 2025
Though my late-90’s birthdate precludes me from understanding the references to the prodigious number of names dropped in this book, I nevertheless give five stars for the four-page footnote and of course the wonderful moment of peace and joy at the end.
February 28, 2021
During most of this book I was a trifle bored. The author's revelations about his early years all the way through graduation from Yale University were "ho hum" Then I came to the last two chapters; wow! did they have an effect on me. Eric Metaxas had become a born again Christian, loving every book, pamphlet or article he could find about Jesus giving His life for us. The last chapter made me feel especially thoughtful about my own Christian faith. Sitting outside in the sunshine while reading this specific chapter will become one of the special book reading times of my life.
March 4, 2021
Incredible! I wonder if anyone in our current culture has the ability to use words and tell stories as brilliantly as Eric Metaxas. He’s like an intellectual Seinfeld! There are certainly plenty of stories with meaning and depth that will make you laugh and cry, but sprinkled throughout are these hilarious anecdotes essentially about nothing (taffy, for instance) that are crafted in such a way that you never thought possible for the subject! He’s brilliant. And his faith is beautiful. Excellent read.
April 22, 2021
Mark Halpern wrote, "I read it in the sunshine which is entirely appropriate." I could not agree more although I needed my phone to look up words and literature references.
I've read everything Eric M has written and loved each book. He is one talented writer. I found myself reading with a smile on my face (hence the sunshine reference). He is really funny on his podcasts as well. Quirky funny. I always figured he was brilliant. I love how he continually makes reference to how "genius I thought I was" in a perfect self-depreciating way. I really, REALLY enjoy memoirs. Some that I've read in the last year were, well, ghastly. The authors were so full of themselves and so degenerate and seemed to blame everyone else for their issues. Eric M. is just so funny about his upbringing, his antics, his time at Yale. I think I liked the time at Yale the best because he so clearly was showing how elitist he was as was all the others. "Waitresses, construction workers are great," although none of his group would ever want to be in their shoes.
The book builds right up to the climax at the very end and I was like, "Wait! What happens next?" He wrote one of his apostle Paul sentences on the second to last page that gives a hint of the rest of the story. So I hope he is working on the sequel.
I will never forget the dream. This showed me in a funny way how God somehow in a way my puny mind cannot understand can speak to people in a way that they will understand. With Eric Metaxas, it had to be as unusual and eccentric as EM is--and I say that as a compliment.
Now about the vocabulary. As I just wrote, I needed my phone handy to look up words. He was not using the words to prove he is just so smart but he wrote like he talks and thinks, I guess. He studied English Lit so he knows those words and the references. I learned quite a bit while I was smiling as I read.
Kind of sad that it ended when it did but I could see why. The book is about how he was trying to figure out about life and ends up finding Jesus. And that was quirky too.
I've read everything Eric M has written and loved each book. He is one talented writer. I found myself reading with a smile on my face (hence the sunshine reference). He is really funny on his podcasts as well. Quirky funny. I always figured he was brilliant. I love how he continually makes reference to how "genius I thought I was" in a perfect self-depreciating way. I really, REALLY enjoy memoirs. Some that I've read in the last year were, well, ghastly. The authors were so full of themselves and so degenerate and seemed to blame everyone else for their issues. Eric M. is just so funny about his upbringing, his antics, his time at Yale. I think I liked the time at Yale the best because he so clearly was showing how elitist he was as was all the others. "Waitresses, construction workers are great," although none of his group would ever want to be in their shoes.
The book builds right up to the climax at the very end and I was like, "Wait! What happens next?" He wrote one of his apostle Paul sentences on the second to last page that gives a hint of the rest of the story. So I hope he is working on the sequel.
I will never forget the dream. This showed me in a funny way how God somehow in a way my puny mind cannot understand can speak to people in a way that they will understand. With Eric Metaxas, it had to be as unusual and eccentric as EM is--and I say that as a compliment.
Now about the vocabulary. As I just wrote, I needed my phone handy to look up words. He was not using the words to prove he is just so smart but he wrote like he talks and thinks, I guess. He studied English Lit so he knows those words and the references. I learned quite a bit while I was smiling as I read.
Kind of sad that it ended when it did but I could see why. The book is about how he was trying to figure out about life and ends up finding Jesus. And that was quirky too.
June 23, 2022
So funny, just like the author full of great history, stories, be vulnerable spiritual and philosophical experiences.
February 8, 2022
I have read a couple of Eric Metaxas’ other books and enjoyed them, so was interested to read about the author himself in his memoir ‘Fish Out Of Water: A Search for the Meaning of Life’.
I found the stories of his Greek and German families, childhood in Queens and his student days at Yale at times amusing, interesting and enlightening. Metaxas writes with the honesty of a good storyteller. At times there was a bit too much thoughtfulness in the details of his anecdotes, but generally I enjoyed his musings.
Some of the American literary references were lost on me, being an Australian, but they have also encouraged me to read further.
I listened to parts of the audio book, read by Metaxas himself, as I thought it would be good to hear the author reading his own story. However, I found his voice so laborious and stilted, even when I increased the speed of the reading, that I didn’t continue with this for more than a few chapters.
Overall an interesting memoir of a man with ambitions of being a writer, culminating in his conversion to Christianity. I’d be interested to read the continuation of his life’s story in any subsequent books.
I found the stories of his Greek and German families, childhood in Queens and his student days at Yale at times amusing, interesting and enlightening. Metaxas writes with the honesty of a good storyteller. At times there was a bit too much thoughtfulness in the details of his anecdotes, but generally I enjoyed his musings.
Some of the American literary references were lost on me, being an Australian, but they have also encouraged me to read further.
I listened to parts of the audio book, read by Metaxas himself, as I thought it would be good to hear the author reading his own story. However, I found his voice so laborious and stilted, even when I increased the speed of the reading, that I didn’t continue with this for more than a few chapters.
Overall an interesting memoir of a man with ambitions of being a writer, culminating in his conversion to Christianity. I’d be interested to read the continuation of his life’s story in any subsequent books.
June 24, 2023
Meh. I did laugh out loud a number of times. The childhood stories were great and telling of traveling to his mother and fathers homeland were enjoyable. Once he enters college, it’s all downhill…which is the point, w/o Christ, we have nothing. I found it incredibly too wordy and tedious. I finished out of determination not so much from enjoyment.
January 4, 2025
This was mostly a fluff read for me because I enjoy reading biographies on just about anyone, including Metaxas. That being said, it was enjoyable and interesting. Metaxas writes well and keeps you engaged throughout the work that begins essentially at his birth and moves to modern day. The majority of the time spent on this book is during Metaxas’ early childhood and college years. While there isn’t much in the way of Metaxas’ personal belief system, the book is full of anecdotes, stories, and impactful moments in his life.
February 9, 2021
A great book
I loved this book. Erick Metaxas is very forthright in detailing his life history and commentaries about his family and friends.
I loved this book. Erick Metaxas is very forthright in detailing his life history and commentaries about his family and friends.
March 25, 2021
I didn’t make it even halfway through this book. I am a fan of Eric Metaxas but he goes into every minute detail of the stories he tells from his childhood until the present. How he can remember all those things, I have no idea. But I don’t really care about them. I just want to know a simplified version. This book is very long and very detailed. If you like that, this is for you. He is a good writer.
February 10, 2023
I have read several of Eric Metaxas' books and have enjoyed them. Eric Metaxas uses a very extensive vocabulary so I recommend reading this book as an ebook for the ease of using a dictionary. I found his memoir interesting. He has a good sense of humor which brought out a few chuckles from me, a stoic reader. I hope he writes more about his life. He certainly has had many interesting experiences. He also recommends books and authors he has read that influenced him and I look forward to checking those out for possible reading.
April 28, 2021
The first half about growing up in an Greek/German immigrant family was compelling. I grew impatient with the college pranks/jokes during the Yale years. I was relieved that he found salvation in the end. Some of the literary references and authors he mentions were lost on me.
March 6, 2025
In this memoir "Fish Out of Water," I've encountered a narrative that transcends conventional autobiography, offering instead a multidimensional exploration of identity formation and spiritual awakening. The work presents a dual trajectory—chronicling both the author's coming-of-age experiences and his evolving relationship with faith—that resonates with remarkable depth.
Metaxas navigates his journey from a Connecticut upbringing in a Greek immigrant family through the rarefied intellectual environment of Yale University with a narrative voice that balances candor and introspection. His status as an outsider in multiple contexts—cultural, intellectual, and spiritual—provides him with a unique vantage point from which to examine questions of belonging and authenticity.
Among the collection of memoirs I've recently engaged with, Metaxas' account of middle-class upbringing represents the narrative framework to which I found myself least personally connected. The socioeconomic landscape he depicts, while rendered with nuance, occupies a different relational space than the profound cultural and racial identity explorations found in works like "Real American," "Disillusioned," or "My Vanishing Country." This distance, however, does not diminish the memoir's intellectual contribution but rather highlights the diverse pathways through which individuals navigate questions of belonging.
What distinguishes this memoir—and where Metaxas' contribution proves most valuable—is his commitment to rigorous self-reflection. The author's willingness to interrogate his own assumptions, privileges, and intellectual evolution creates a textured narrative landscape that invites readers into a similar process of introspection. His examination of how institutional structures both shape and challenge one's developing sense of self offers insights that transcend his particular socioeconomic positioning.
The memoir achieves its most compelling moments when examining the intersection of educational privilege, cultural inheritance, and spiritual inquiry. Metaxas' reflections on how institutions shape identity while simultaneously challenging one's sense of self-understanding offer insights that extend beyond his particular experiences.
For readers engaged with questions of meaning, faith, and authentic selfhood, "Fish Out of Water" offers a thoughtful companion—not providing definitive answers but modeling instead a reflective approach to life's fundamental questions. The memoir's enduring value lies in its demonstration that the search for meaning often requires a willingness to remain, at least temporarily, outside established paradigms—to be the proverbial fish out of water—before discovering one's genuine place in the world.
August 28, 2022
Well, that was disappointing. I am a huge fan of Eric Metaxes. I’ve read all his books, starting with Miracles. I know him to be a deeply religious man from his books; a staunch political conservative from his appearances on Fox News; and a generally admirable and likable guy from his podcasts. I found none of that in this book. This has none of the charm and intelligence of his biographies. I didn’t laugh and I didn’t cry. I did have to decide to keep going more than once. I was expecting to hear his faith journey, along the lines of C. S. Lewis’ Surprised By Joy. Instead I got a blow by blow retelling of his childhood. Halfway through the book he is still in elementary school. I was so bored I listened to it at double speed. (If you decide to read it I recommend the audiobook, both because you can increase the speed and get through it faster and also to handle the unmanageable Greek and German names.) If I didn’t know him I would leave this book disliking him. He’s a pretentious, self absorbed name dropper, not sure if he wants to be the next John Updike or the next Larry David, two men I consider blights on traditional American culture. He has a way of attracting creeps, freaks, Socialists and single gays. He seems to think these encounters are funny. I was disgusted. I identify with some of his story which parallels my own upbringing in the 70s and also reflects our experience of our youngest son attending an Ivy League school 30 years after Eric did with the same results. Our son went in as the adored child of a working class small town Christian family and came out as a New York liberal who rejects his family and our values so deeply he no longer calls home on Mother’s Day. It’s really awful to realize how long the Post Modern ideology of higher education has been ruining our children. EM came out of Yale unemployable and moved back in with his parents in 1984, the same way the Covid generation is doing half a century later. It’s nuts. I relate to the path from cultural Christianity to a relationship with Christ precipitated by a life changing crisis (in our case a car accident, in EMs case his girlfriend’s abortion) which my husband and I experienced in our 20s. I enjoyed reliving my cultural childhood of the 70s and 80s through what he calls the “cultural wallpaper “. I just wish it wasn’t in such excruciating detail. He finally comes to Christ on almost the last page of the book and promises the rest of the story in the next book. I don’t know if I can take much more. I guess I’ll read it out of respect, and because it’s the part of the story I wanted in the first place, but not because I enjoyed the first installment.
July 4, 2025
FISH OUT OF WATER
By Eric Metaxas
⭐️⭐️
I love Eric Metaxas so much that I went to hear him speak when he came to Parkside Church a number of years ago. Podcaster, award winning author, Christian commentator, journalist, and Yale graduate, Metaxas, the son of German and Greek immigrants, wrote this memoir about his search for meaning in the first half of life. As a commentator and host of The Eric Metaxas Show, Metaxas has a genius for making sense of how to live a “with God” life in this secular post-Christian world, yet in this coming of age memoir covering the first 25 years of his life, he goes into such detail about mundane particulars of his day-to-day life growing up in Queens and Danforth, attending college at Yale, and his two years as a drifting, unemployed Yale graduate trying to find himself. B O R I N G! He should have capped it at 150 pages instead of dragging readers through the muck and mire of every conversation, each encounter with a pervert, every overly spiced meal.
I have admired and followed Metaxas for years since he was a commentator on Chuck Colson’s Breakpoint. I have read his biographies on Bonhoeffer as well as Luther and loved them…and admired the author for his ability to pair his research skills with his penchant for telling a good story.
This book, however, left me deeply disappointed in all but the Epilogue (in my opinion, the only part worth reading).
Eric, I am still a fan, but I hope your next memoir is a little less self-absorbed and tedious.
By Eric Metaxas
⭐️⭐️
I love Eric Metaxas so much that I went to hear him speak when he came to Parkside Church a number of years ago. Podcaster, award winning author, Christian commentator, journalist, and Yale graduate, Metaxas, the son of German and Greek immigrants, wrote this memoir about his search for meaning in the first half of life. As a commentator and host of The Eric Metaxas Show, Metaxas has a genius for making sense of how to live a “with God” life in this secular post-Christian world, yet in this coming of age memoir covering the first 25 years of his life, he goes into such detail about mundane particulars of his day-to-day life growing up in Queens and Danforth, attending college at Yale, and his two years as a drifting, unemployed Yale graduate trying to find himself. B O R I N G! He should have capped it at 150 pages instead of dragging readers through the muck and mire of every conversation, each encounter with a pervert, every overly spiced meal.
I have admired and followed Metaxas for years since he was a commentator on Chuck Colson’s Breakpoint. I have read his biographies on Bonhoeffer as well as Luther and loved them…and admired the author for his ability to pair his research skills with his penchant for telling a good story.
This book, however, left me deeply disappointed in all but the Epilogue (in my opinion, the only part worth reading).
Eric, I am still a fan, but I hope your next memoir is a little less self-absorbed and tedious.
May 12, 2022
I loved this book. I love Eric Metaxas as a personality and this book gave me a love for him as an author. I've read a few of his other books, but this is the first one that felt like it was crafted with artistry. His other books are great, don't get me wrong, but this one has an extra layer of literary embellishment that is just what I love. There are even some sentences that are obviously crafted to seem extra pretentious for comedic effect, and I just loved that.
The only thing that disappointed me was that this is not a full memoir. It only covers the author's life up to his recommitment to Christianity at around 25. It starts with some family history and then goes through his childhood and young adult life. I really wanted to know more about his adult life. I'm most interested in how his career came to be and his late twenties (the stage of life I am currently in).
This memoir was really fascinating because it had this narrative cycle to it. It almost seemed like a novel at points. The revelation in the author's big dream tied in so many elements from earlier in the book that the reader will not realize are important. As I said, this memoir is brilliantly crafted and expertly written. It's charming and funny and moving and poignant.
I am so glad I had the chance to read this story, and I will hold it close to my heart. I sincerely hope the author writes a further volume on the next stage of his life. Bravo.
The only thing that disappointed me was that this is not a full memoir. It only covers the author's life up to his recommitment to Christianity at around 25. It starts with some family history and then goes through his childhood and young adult life. I really wanted to know more about his adult life. I'm most interested in how his career came to be and his late twenties (the stage of life I am currently in).
This memoir was really fascinating because it had this narrative cycle to it. It almost seemed like a novel at points. The revelation in the author's big dream tied in so many elements from earlier in the book that the reader will not realize are important. As I said, this memoir is brilliantly crafted and expertly written. It's charming and funny and moving and poignant.
I am so glad I had the chance to read this story, and I will hold it close to my heart. I sincerely hope the author writes a further volume on the next stage of his life. Bravo.
July 30, 2021
This is Eric Metaxas’ Autobiography, I waited a long time to buy it as it is expensive, as it is hardcover as all of his books are. But I bought it and couldn’t wait to start on it. This is a long book and it took me about 3 weeks to read, I’m not sure why I hung in there and read it all but I did. I loved the first half or so where he talked about his parents, his extended family and all that. I have read most of his other books, biographies of famous or semi-famous people and loved them. Let’s just say he was kinder to them than he was to himself. It’s as if he had to describe every thing and every thought he had after he sort came of age. Particularly during high school and college at Yale. I kept waiting for him to become a Christian and change, and after all the waiting, the last few short chapters finally get there, but now you have to wait for the next book to hear the good stuff that God has done in his life. Why spend all the time on the negative? I’m not sure I could recommend this book to my friends, I will put on my shelf and wait for the second half of his story with the hope that it will be more uplifting not such a downer.
October 21, 2021
This is a memoir of Metaxas’ struggles with the meaning of life. He comes from a Greek father and a German mother - grew up in the Greek Orthodox faith but at some point, which he describes very clearly religious expression became important to him.
When he got to college he started at Trinity and transferred to Yale. Although he went to college almost 20 years after I did I identified with his descriptions.
Don’t be fooled - there are many nits in his descriptions which are challenging and humorous - they are worth savoring. His description of his encounter in his early 20s with an Italian on a train going to drop him to go to his Greek home is worth the entire price of the book.
But there is something much more profound in this book. He really has struggled with his faith. And his quest is instructive for those who are still seeking.
Metaxas has done a series of books (including the recently published Is Atheism Dead) like his biographies of Bonhoeffer and William Wilberforce. But this book is no less compelling.
When he got to college he started at Trinity and transferred to Yale. Although he went to college almost 20 years after I did I identified with his descriptions.
Don’t be fooled - there are many nits in his descriptions which are challenging and humorous - they are worth savoring. His description of his encounter in his early 20s with an Italian on a train going to drop him to go to his Greek home is worth the entire price of the book.
But there is something much more profound in this book. He really has struggled with his faith. And his quest is instructive for those who are still seeking.
Metaxas has done a series of books (including the recently published Is Atheism Dead) like his biographies of Bonhoeffer and William Wilberforce. But this book is no less compelling.
May 28, 2022
The most exciting thing about this book is that I got to have it autographed by Eric Metaxas, himself, when he came to my church! (I'd post a photo of us if I knew how to do that.)
The second most exciting thing is that I was glad to read his biography. Having long read his books, it takes knowing the author to know what makes their books tick.
Metaxas, in fact, goes into a great amount of detail (seemingly too much detail, at times).
This book only tells the story leading to his becoming a Christian.
He starts with his parents (because heritage is so important to him). As we learn about his parents, we end up also learning a bit of the history of their countries that caused them to immigrate to America. (His father is from Greece and his mother is from Germany.)
Then we journey into his life growing up in Connecticut and graduating from Yale, and everything in between.
Metaxas shares the story of the Patriotic ideal his parents held for him, only to lose all that at Yale.
Looking forward to his next book, which tells more of his story.
The second most exciting thing is that I was glad to read his biography. Having long read his books, it takes knowing the author to know what makes their books tick.
Metaxas, in fact, goes into a great amount of detail (seemingly too much detail, at times).
This book only tells the story leading to his becoming a Christian.
He starts with his parents (because heritage is so important to him). As we learn about his parents, we end up also learning a bit of the history of their countries that caused them to immigrate to America. (His father is from Greece and his mother is from Germany.)
Then we journey into his life growing up in Connecticut and graduating from Yale, and everything in between.
Metaxas shares the story of the Patriotic ideal his parents held for him, only to lose all that at Yale.
Looking forward to his next book, which tells more of his story.
August 7, 2021
Eric Metaxas is persuasive and loquacious. He is an attractive, compelling presence when you hear him in person.
He also possesses a phenomenal memory of his early life.
His life is interesting but if you are an impatient reader--aren't we all?--read some of the early chapters to learn his family history then skip to chapter twenty-four to continue your journey with Eric after his graduation from Yale through the rest of the book.
Here's a substantive taste from page 131: [Eric just recounted a memory from his teenaged years.] “But as time passed since then I have known more and more that time makes as much sense as death does, which is to say none, that both are self-negating conundrums inside which we live uncomfortably, in all we do twisting and groping to find an exit, which we somehow know or hope must exist, and mustn’t it?”
I'm eager to read his the second half of his memoir in this two-book series.
He also possesses a phenomenal memory of his early life.
His life is interesting but if you are an impatient reader--aren't we all?--read some of the early chapters to learn his family history then skip to chapter twenty-four to continue your journey with Eric after his graduation from Yale through the rest of the book.
Here's a substantive taste from page 131: [Eric just recounted a memory from his teenaged years.] “But as time passed since then I have known more and more that time makes as much sense as death does, which is to say none, that both are self-negating conundrums inside which we live uncomfortably, in all we do twisting and groping to find an exit, which we somehow know or hope must exist, and mustn’t it?”
I'm eager to read his the second half of his memoir in this two-book series.
June 18, 2022
I’ve read a couple biographies written by Eric Metaxas and enjoyed them. I wanted to enjoy his own autobiography/memoir just as much, but it was weighted down with too much detail about his growing up years. A third of the way through this 400-page tome, he was just getting out of high school. He had an interesting life and interesting relatives and friends, but the level of detail was sometimes just mind-numbing and excessive. And there were times when the way he told his stories distracted from the stories themselves with self-consciously clever writing. He was prone to overthinking and overanalyzing, also frustrating for the reader. So those things were on the negative side.
On the positive side, I applaud Eric Metaxas for being willing to share his story of coming to faith in Christ. This is always a story worth telling, and as a somewhat wordy person myself, I can totally relate to his wanting to share more detail than strictly necessary along the way. Sometimes, it’s as we think back and tell the tale of God’s great wooing of us that we realize anew just what kind of person we were before He swept in and changed us with His love and mercy in Christ. I loved the story of the dream Metaxas had, even though he made us wait until nearly the very end of the book to tell it (having alluded to it at the beginning). And I loved the little paragraph in his epilogue in which he tells in short form of the things that God has done in his life since his conversion. The word “miraculously” is used over and over, and “not lightly,” he says. And couldn’t we all use that word when telling what God does in our lives? Shouldn’t we? If he ever publishes that book, I’ll read it.
On the positive side, I applaud Eric Metaxas for being willing to share his story of coming to faith in Christ. This is always a story worth telling, and as a somewhat wordy person myself, I can totally relate to his wanting to share more detail than strictly necessary along the way. Sometimes, it’s as we think back and tell the tale of God’s great wooing of us that we realize anew just what kind of person we were before He swept in and changed us with His love and mercy in Christ. I loved the story of the dream Metaxas had, even though he made us wait until nearly the very end of the book to tell it (having alluded to it at the beginning). And I loved the little paragraph in his epilogue in which he tells in short form of the things that God has done in his life since his conversion. The word “miraculously” is used over and over, and “not lightly,” he says. And couldn’t we all use that word when telling what God does in our lives? Shouldn’t we? If he ever publishes that book, I’ll read it.
January 24, 2024
I listened to the audiobook of which Eric is the narrator. I loved this book on so many levels.
He is a brilliant writer and I am honestly not certain how he could have remembered so many details of the stories he told with such incredible wit and humor.
I could relate to so many parts of his journey- being a child of a Greek immigrant, his first bible verse he hung up at work to his conversion...
The hilarity of his impersonating the cast of characters in his life from his parents and relatives to the crazy co-workers at every single job was so entertaining with laugh out loud moments.
I gained hope from his story in that I clearly understand the double entendre of the title and how God had him marked for such a time as this today. He is a voice that needs to be heard in this Wild West
world we now occupy.
I adored the poem “Swimming to My Father” at the end of the book.
P.S. You will need a dictionary for this read!
He is a brilliant writer and I am honestly not certain how he could have remembered so many details of the stories he told with such incredible wit and humor.
I could relate to so many parts of his journey- being a child of a Greek immigrant, his first bible verse he hung up at work to his conversion...
The hilarity of his impersonating the cast of characters in his life from his parents and relatives to the crazy co-workers at every single job was so entertaining with laugh out loud moments.
I gained hope from his story in that I clearly understand the double entendre of the title and how God had him marked for such a time as this today. He is a voice that needs to be heard in this Wild West
world we now occupy.
I adored the poem “Swimming to My Father” at the end of the book.
P.S. You will need a dictionary for this read!
February 6, 2022
I stumbled upon this book as it was included for free with my audible subscription. Having read a couple of Metaxas books (Bonhoeffer & Luther) I figured what the heck.
A rather detailed biography of a future author raised by his immigrant parents in a Greek/German household. This journey from growing up involves being surrounded by church but not putting together the pieces until after college. Then having his coming to faith experience that is well worth the listen. Eric is clearly a highly educated and highly intelligent person and his coming to faith story can be helpful for others like him.
I really enjoyed that the author was the narrator of this audiobook.
Seeing where Metaxas has gone politically seemingly putting his Trump politics and the stolen election in front of his faith is a tough pill to swallow.
A rather detailed biography of a future author raised by his immigrant parents in a Greek/German household. This journey from growing up involves being surrounded by church but not putting together the pieces until after college. Then having his coming to faith experience that is well worth the listen. Eric is clearly a highly educated and highly intelligent person and his coming to faith story can be helpful for others like him.
I really enjoyed that the author was the narrator of this audiobook.
Seeing where Metaxas has gone politically seemingly putting his Trump politics and the stolen election in front of his faith is a tough pill to swallow.
January 15, 2022
A book that sneaks up on you.
You have to have found or have an indication that you are on the verge of finding what Eric found to take advantage of the book.
I was induced to read it by an interview on Tucker Carlson Today. I wanted to know the dream.
I had to persist to the end to learn the dream.
Young Eric and I were in different circles; he went to Yale and The New Yorker was his Bible. I never read any books by the authors that most enchanted him. I am an avid reader and do cherish Tolstoy.
When I look back, I find the book masterful. I was not his audience, his early peers were, the movers and shakers of a lost America.
All these experiences are woven together masterfully and tells a needed story.
You have to have found or have an indication that you are on the verge of finding what Eric found to take advantage of the book.
I was induced to read it by an interview on Tucker Carlson Today. I wanted to know the dream.
I had to persist to the end to learn the dream.
Young Eric and I were in different circles; he went to Yale and The New Yorker was his Bible. I never read any books by the authors that most enchanted him. I am an avid reader and do cherish Tolstoy.
When I look back, I find the book masterful. I was not his audience, his early peers were, the movers and shakers of a lost America.
All these experiences are woven together masterfully and tells a needed story.
July 18, 2023
FISH OUT OF WATER is so entertaining--I love that he is the one narrating the Audible Audio. Metaxas's word choices and diction is so deadpan and funny, that during the chapter on Robert the Painter, I literally started laughing hard enough to wet my pants while I was trying to brush my teeth. I'm a chronic reader, and while Audible is new to me. I've never laughed so hard at any book that I've wet my pants. Despite requiring a wardrobe change, you can't go wrong with this writer. What a great memoir from a man and writer I deeply admire. I can't wait for his follow-up one to learn about the miracles that have happened in the next half of his life that he references near the end of this one. Hurry up and write it, Mr. Metaxas!
January 5, 2024
As one friend stated, this book is stream of consciousness with punctuation. He is a very gifted writer and used words I'd not read in a great while.
His life growing up was very different from mine and I enjoyed learning about life as the child of immigrants and the mixture of German and Greek. It was pleasing to see how God pursued the author throughout his life.
His high school and following years were a more difficult read for me, but again, it was educational to read about life in the 80s as a young person in a lifestyle so very different from mine.
My favorite portions of his writing is when he using hyperbole in run-on sentences. He could bring a smile to my face as I followed along with his thoughts.
His life growing up was very different from mine and I enjoyed learning about life as the child of immigrants and the mixture of German and Greek. It was pleasing to see how God pursued the author throughout his life.
His high school and following years were a more difficult read for me, but again, it was educational to read about life in the 80s as a young person in a lifestyle so very different from mine.
My favorite portions of his writing is when he using hyperbole in run-on sentences. He could bring a smile to my face as I followed along with his thoughts.
December 13, 2025
I just finished this memoir and am biased due to also being half Greek but on my mom's side, whereas the author's maternal origins are German. Nevertheless, I related to it in that way and also that I was raised Greek Orthodox, had a conversion experience, lived at home after college then became a proofreader, as did Eric on all those counts as well. Eric uses some obscure words but he WAS an English major at Yale, so would expect some esoterica. He also has read many authors I hadn't, or even had heard about, but so be it. He name-drops but, honestly, if I came across anyone well-known, I'd certainly put that in my memoir as well. Overall, it was a delightful read.
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