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Average Rating:  out of 40 Reviews
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Price: $14.00
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Sale: $7.49
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Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
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EAN (European Article Number): 9780812970807
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Number of Items: 1
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Binding: Paperback
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Author: Lauren F. Winner
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Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
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Dewey Decimal Number: 248.246092
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Publication Date: 2003-12-30
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Reading Level: 320
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Description: The child of a Jewish father and a lapsed Southern Baptist mother, Lauren F. Winner chose to become an Orthodox Jew. But even as she was observing Sabbath rituals and studying Jewish law, Lauren was increasingly drawn to Christianity. Courageously leaving what she loved, she eventually converted. In Girl Meets God, this appealing woman takes us through a year in her Christian life as she attempts to reconcile both sides of her religious identity.
Here readers will find a new literary voice: a spiritual seeker who is both an unconventional thinker and a devoted Christian. The twists and turns of Winner’s journey make her the perfect guide to exploring true faith in today’s complicated world.
Lauren F. Winner, the former book editor for Beliefnet, has appeared on PBS’s Religion & Ethics Newsweekly and has written for The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post Book World, Publishers Weekly, and Christianity Today. Her essays have been included in The Best Christian Writing 2000 and The Best Christian Writing 2002. Winner has degrees from Columbia and Cambridge universities and is currently at work on her doc-torate in the history of American religion. She lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.
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Customer Reviews
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Review Summary: Irritating, yet strangely compelling |
Date: 2008-11-25 |
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Details: I felt moved to read this book because, like the author, I grew up with a Jewish father and a Southern Baptist mother. Her quirky writing style, while a bit immature (this is, after all, a first book by a young author) make for a quick and interesting read, but the author herself comes across as self-absorbed and somewhat judgmental. She has a very all-or-nothing attitude towards orthodoxy (both Christian and Jewish) that I found irritating. The only Judaism that counts is orthodox Judaism. The only Christianity worth practicing is evangelical Episcopalian. The book does have some wonderfully evocative descriptions of Jewish holidays and practices, but I never felt satisfied with her reasons for turning her back on Judaism or her Jewish friends and adopted "family". She writes compellingly about Christian liturgy and practice, but insists that worship service without the Eucharist is pointless, while admitting to never having "felt anything" while taking communion herself. It all gets to be a bit much.
I'm giving this book four stars because it is a good read, but I must admit I don't find Winner herself, as the central figure of the book, to be as likable as so many other reviewers seem to. |
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Review Summary: horrendously bad theology |
Date: 2008-08-15 |
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Details: I really really wanted to like this book, because I am a jew-turned-christian... but the theology in this book was so bad I just had to keep stopping to scream into my pillow... and I'm only half kidding.
I had to put it down for good when she wrote that she felt that infant baptism was cool because it didn't matter that they had no comprehension of what baptism means, because neither do adults... I think smoke came out of my ears.
Actually wait a second, I think my final moment reading the book was when she described how she would pray to a statue of Jesus.. in the Bible we call that idolotry, but hey, I guess truly anything goes in her theology
I never finished the book, for all I know she renounces her horrific episcopalian theology at the end of the book, and if she does I will come back and delete this review. |
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Review Summary: Great Nightstand Read |
Date: 2008-02-12 |
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Details: I had never read a memoir until Girl Meets God and what a great way to start! This was like dessert every night and was easy to pick up right where I left off. I loved how she felt that she was being pursued/wooed by Christ - what a wonderful, loving picture and yet she recorded the crazy things most of us think but never say! I felt comforted by her writing and found myself repeating chapters to really capture that feeling. |
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Review Summary: I couldn't put it down for one minute |
Date: 2007-05-17 |
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Details: It was wintertime and I was speaking at a woman's conference in Charlottesville, VA. At my booktable aside from books I'd written, the church also had a few books they loved including this brand new, first book written by one of their church members who happened to be at this retreat. I bought GIRL MEETS GOD and took it to my hotel room and started reading it that night. I got hungry so I walked in the snow to a cool restaurant/pub and read the book at dinner under the little lamp at my table. I stayed at that table until the restaurant closed at 11pm because I couldn't stop reading, I was so absorbed in the story. I went back to my hotel room and finished the book by 3 in the morning. It was THAT good. I had the privilege of meeting Lauren Winner the next day at the conference. Needless to say I was a bit intimidated because I was such a fan. This was written better than any favorite fiction book I've read. If you want to cuddle up and enjoy a story, read GIRL MEETS GOD. |
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Review Summary: Honest and impressive |
Date: 2007-05-06 |
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Details: GIRL MEETS GOD tells of Lauren Winner's Jewish upbringing, the Orthodox Judaism of her college years, and then her conversion to Christianity as a young adult. The sections and chapters of this book are organized by and named after both Jewish and Christian holidays. This memoir is partly a love story, with Jesus as the hero. It is partly a story of traditions, both Christian and Judaism. It is partly a story of community, and Lauren's love and respect for the people, both within in Judaism and Christianity, who shaped her spiritually.
I loved reading this. Lauren Winner is a very passionate woman, and when she writes about spirituality, family, friends, love, and books, her enthusiasm is all over the pages. She really brings the reader into her life, showing how her spirituality affects everything from her academic development to her thoughts on sexuality. I felt like she was my new friend, although a friend who is greatly more intelligent and academic than I am. I highly recommend this.
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