Book Review - My Beautiful Idol
So I recently joined the group of Ooze Select bloggers which basically means I get to read cool books and review them here. Works for me. The first selection I was sent was Peter Gall’s My Beautiful Idol. Before I go any further though I do have a confession to make. While the book was just recently released by Zondervan, an earlier version titled Gall came out a few years ago. My confession is that I was sent that version to review then and I never read the book. So my apologies. But I must say that my failure to read then was completely my loss since I greatly enjoyed My Beautiful Idol.
My Beautiful Idol falls into the genre of spiritual memoir and is being compared to the styles of Anne Lamott and Don Miller. I love Lamott and refuse to read Miller, so my response to those comparisons is “kinda.” What I can say is that this is a very different sort of memoir - it goes places one really doesn’t expect in these sorts of books. Namely Peter has no qualms about being brutally honest and blunt as he recounts the period of spiritual searching and awakening he went through during the 1990’s. He is not afraid to tear down the cliches and idols of the Christian culture nor to just outright question the conventional wisdom one finds in the church. This is a culture I am familiar with and so I resonated with much of what he was describing. I was also amused to recognize so many of the artifacts of the 90’s “contemporary Christian subculture” in his descriptions - from the bad music and “bible studies” to the ubiquitous presence of Mountain Dew.
I had two main issues with the book though. The first is entirely personal and situational, but I have come to the conclusion that books or movies that include scenes of mothers or babies dying in childbirth should come with a warning label. This is like the third time I’ve been blindsided by such a book this pregnancy, and while I am not usually an overly emotional person, those sorts of things really really get to hormonal pregnant women. So a little warning would have been nice. (and no this isn’t a huge part of the book, just one event in a spiritual journey…)
My other issue is more spiritual/theological. The book endeavors to expose the idols we create of our own spirituality and ability to serve God. It explores how we can trust too much or take too much pride in our good works. Often we elevate such things above the realities they entail and spiritualized them into pithy nothingness. I loved the way Peter revealed those ideas through his story, but I was left with too much bitter pessimism. Because so much in Christianity is fake and idolized, he seemed to go too far in rejecting the value of any pursuit of good works. There was very little balance or acceptance of the paradoxes of Christian life. The sarcasm, wit, and gritty reality sometimes overpowered any whisper of hearing where God actually was working. I know the memoir just represents a period of his life, and I’m not looking for a sugary happy ending or anything, just more of a “where do we go from here” wrap-up.
My issues aside, My Beautiful Idol is a good read. Engaging and challenging if one is willing to be pushed outside the box of typical Christian spiritual assumptions.
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Julie Clawson
Topics: Church, Book Reviews |
April 30th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
I read the first version.
I’d be interested in seeing what is different this time around…..
May 1st, 2008 at 9:19 am
Julie, why do you refuse to read Miller?
Have you read any of Madeleine L’Engle’s nonfiction? Anne Lamott reminds me of her at times, though more rough around the edges. L’Engle’s Crosswicks Journals series and Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art are well worth the time.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:48 pm
I’ve read some of L’Engle’s nonfiction, I’ve enjoyed what I’ve read.
The Miller thing at first was because it was so trendy. Silly reason, but… Then after hearing his connections to Acts 29 and Mark Driscoll and not liking the couple of times I heard him speak, I had no desire to read his stuff. I know a lot of people love him, I’m just not interested.
May 1st, 2008 at 2:05 pm
I felt similarly overall about this book. Including your two issues. However, you really felt left with “bitter pessimism”? I completely agree that the ending was unsatisfying - I was definitely looking for more of a “where do we go from here.” But I didn’t come away feeling the bitter pessimism.
Anyways, just my two cents.
It’s a book worth reading. I’ll be recommending it. I particularly liked the concept of the idol throughout. It actually made me reflect further on Peter Rollins distinction between idol and icon.
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:31 am
While I think it is necessary to reveal how often we make idols of our good works and elevate them to statuses they should never hold, I think Peter fell too far into the old philosophical debate of “can we ever do anything completely altruistically.” He assumes that we can’t and because we can’t seems to just reject it all. I don’t think the answer to getting over our self-centeredness is to just embrace it because we can’t escape it. Even if we can never be completely selfless, that doesn’t negate continuing to do good works in my book.
May 18th, 2008 at 9:22 am
I refused to read Donald Miller for a long time for the same reason. Eventually I broke down and read “Searching For God Knows What,” which was all about how Christianity is not a religion but a relationship. Boring. So many people recommended “Blue Like Jazz” to me but, not really liking SFGKW, I refused. Several months ago I finally read it, and subsequently loved it. Now I understand why everyone was telling me to read it. It actually is good.
Thanks to your review of “My Beautiful Idol,” I’m going to have to add this one to my list as well.
May 19th, 2008 at 8:53 am
I can understand the “guilt by association” thing with Donald Miller and people who don’t like Driscoll. But I was actually shocked to hear Driscoll after reading Miller’s Blue Like Jazz, and think “Miller goes to THIS guy’s church?”
Emerging folks probably have been on the receiving end of similar guilt-by-association rejection from conservative evangelicals who read something they didn’t like from Brian McLaren, Doug Pagitt or Tony Jones and then branded anyone who associated themselves with those names with the same label, and refused to read them. (”Rob Bell let HIM speak at his church?!?!? And I was just about to read one of Bell’s books - no way I’m going to read it now!”)
I agree with longtheway, that most emergers who don’t like Driscoll would still really like Blue Like Jazz.
May 19th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Miller doesn’t go to Driscoll’s church, but he goes to one that is in Driscoll’s church plant network, Acts29, and that, one presumes, must necessarily share Driscoll’s attitudes on women. I’ve never heard whether Miller also shares those attitudes.
I like Blue Like Jazz, and I agree that SFGKW was boring. I’ve also heard Miller speak at Rob Bell’s church (on the podcast) and his talk wasn’t that great and even mildly offensive at points. But whatever. Miller’s sort of like the Max Lucado of the emerging church - nice, light, fluffy, devotional stuff. Nothing real deep or earth shattering, but not much to complain about either.