The Great Good Thing
Books | Self-Help / Spiritual
4.7
Andrew Klavan
No one was more surprised than Andrew Klavan when, at the age of fifty, he found himself about to be baptized. The Great Good Thing tells the soul-searching story of a man born into an age of disbelief who had to abandon everything he thought he knew in order to find his way to the truth.Best known for his hard-boiled, white-knuckle thrillers and for the movies made from them--among them True Crime and Don’t Say a Word--bestselling author and Edgar Award-winner Klavan was born in a suburban Jewish enclave outside New York City.He left the faith of his childhood behind to live most of his life as an agnostic until he found himself mulling over the hard questions that so many other believers have asked:How can I be certain in my faith?What's the truth, and how can I know it's the truth?How can you think, live, and make choices and judgments day by day if you don't know for sure?In The Great Good Thing, Klavan shares that his troubled childhood caused him to live inside the stories in his head and grow up to become an alienated young writer whose disconnection and rage devolved into depression and suicidal breakdown.In those years, Klavan fought to ignore the insistent call of God, a call glimpsed in a childhood Christmas at the home of a beloved babysitter, in a transcendent moment at his daughter's birth, and in a snippet of a baseball game broadcast that moved him from the brink of suicide. But more than anything, the call of God existed in stories--the stories Klavan loved to read and the stories he loved to write.Join Klavan as he discovers the meaning of belief, the importance of asking tough questions, and the power of sharing your story.
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Author
Andrew Klavan
Pages
304
Publisher
Zondervan
Published Date
2016-09-20
ISBN
0718017366 9780718017361
Community ReviewsSee all
"What a great book to start the new year! Klavan’s writing is superb. I came to know him through his political posts on Daily Wire alongside Ben Shapiro. I may have seen him on TV several years ago, but all I knew was I liked the guy’s voice and his political views aligned with mine. But now...now I feel like I just had one of the most engrossing conversations with a good friend. I’m always interested to hear how skeptics and former atheists come to find faith in Christ. Klavan’s story is particularly intriguing because he is Jewish. I’m from small-town Mississippi. I know as many Jews as I know Buddhists. There just aren’t many here, the same way there aren’t many Southern Baptists in New York City (I don’t think). Sadly, I cannot recall ever having met a Jewish person. But I was raised in the Christian faith and taught the significance of the Jewish people as “God’s Chosen.” Klavan explains the lingering presence of anti-semitism in Western culture. I rarely think of that being an issue in America because I don’t experience it, and I certainly wasn’t raised to have any hatred toward the Jewish people—or any people, for that matter. I was taught that my Lord & Savior was a Jew. How could I possibly have any ill will toward them? Admittedly, I don’t know much about the Jewish faith, their holidays, or their traditions. I certainly didn’t know anything about their perspective. This book was an education. Klavan has a true gift for expressing ideas and emotions with words in a way that I envy. There are so many great lines, that I often found myself pausing in awe, only to reread the passage. This is a great book for Christians as well as agnostics teetering on the edge of faith. I’m glad I’ve discovered Klavan and plan to read more of his work this year."
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Addison Wills