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Jesus, My Father, The CIA, and Me: A Memoir. . . of Sorts: A Memoir...of Sorts
 
 

Jesus, My Father, The CIA, and Me: A Memoir. . . of Sorts: A Memoir...of Sorts [Kindle Edition]

Ian Morgan Cron
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)

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Product Description

Product Description

"When I firstdiscovered the grainy picture in my mother's desk-me as a towheaded two yearold sitting in what I remember was a salmon-orange-stained lifeboat-I wasoverwhelmed by the feeling that the boy in the boat was not waving and laughingat the person snapping the photo as much as he was frantically trying to getthe attention of the man I am today. The boy was beckoning me to join him on avoyage through the harrowing straits of memory. He was gambling that if wesurvived the passage, we might discover an ocean where the past would becomethe wind at our back rather than a driving gale to the nose of our boat. Thisbook is the record of that voyage." 

Whenhe was sixteen years old, Ian Morgan Cron was told about his father'sclandestine work with the CIA.  Thisastonishing revelation, coupled with his father's dark struggles with chronicalcoholism and depression, upended the world of a boy struggling to become aman.  Decades later, as he faces his ownpersonal demons, Ian realizes the only way to find peace is to voyage backthrough a painful childhood marked by extremes-privilege and poverty, violenceand tenderness, truth and deceit-that he's spent years trying to escape.  

Inthis surprisingly funny and forgiving memoir, Ian reminds us that no matter howdifferent the pieces may be, in the end we are all cut from the same cloth,stitched by faith into an exquisite quilt of grace. 

 "Simultaneously redemptive and consoling with bright moments of humor . . . this story is chock-full of sacredness and hope. Cron is one of only a few spirituality authors who could articulate these themes as poignantly."

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

"Ian Cron writes with astonishing energy and freshness; his metaphors stick fast in the imagination. This is neither a simple memoir of hurt endured, nor a tidy story of reconciliation and resolution. It is-rather like Augustine's Confessions-a testimony to the unfinished business of grace."

DR. ROWAN WILLIAMS, Archbishop of Canterbury

"Ian Cron has the gift of making his human journey a parable for all of our journeys. Read this profound book and be well fed, and freed."

FR. RICHARD ROHR, O.F.M., author of Everything Belongs

"Ian Morgan Cron is a brilliant writer. This is the kind of book that you don't just read. It reads you."

MARK BATTERSON, author of In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day


Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 446 KB
  • Print Length: 274 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0849946107
  • Publisher: Thomas Nelson (7 Jun 2011)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.ą r.l.
  • Language English
  • ASIN: B0052FT38I
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #79,176 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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Ian Morgan Cron
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By J. DOUGLAS TOP 1000 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
Many books are written; many books are read. It is much rarer that a book is written that profoundly impacts its readers. A biography and testimony of man who desperately sought the love of his narcissistic, alcoholic father throughout his childhood, Ian's story offers broad appeal to those who were raised through the 1960s and 1970s. It is really the story of two men: Ian's father, a larger than life man who gained entry to the quality edge of American society through various and intriguing work roles; and Ian, his son, who stumbled his way through adolescence without the paternal guidance young men often need to successfully navigate through life.

Each chapter in the book begins with an intriguing quote that encourages the reader to discover the meaning within its pages. The author employs an engaging, almost self-deprecating wit to convey to the reader the disappointments and exploits of his unusual childhood. There is poignancy in this author's storytelling that draws the reader into his life, circumstances, rare joy, and many sorrows. Excellent, moving and a right-ripping-read!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In this book, Ian Cron writes a powerful and engaging memoir of growing up with an alcoholic father who worked for the CIA, and his own journey of faith.

Cron writes with wonderful wit and humour, describing his entirely dysfunctional and unconventional family and childhood without getting sentimental or melodramatic. He weaves together his journey of faith, from his first communion as a schoolboy, to his rejection of faith as he grew up, through to his unlikely regaining of it in college and his own struggle with alcoholism during his college years and beyond. It is a very moving, and at times, tragic, account of someone trying to gain the love of a father constrained by his own demons, but which sees the thread of God's providence and plan throughout some truly horrific situations. There were times when Cron echoed the sentiments we hear so often of why people abandon faith.

At its heart, it is a painfully honest story of redemption, and of a son and his father which brought me to tears and to laughter. A most thoroughly enjoyable, challenging and uplifting book; a story that should be honoured, and deserves to be read.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Ian Morgan Cron's 'memoir of sorts' was given to me free by the Booksneeze programme in exchange for a review.

Cron, an Episcopal priest, has penned a thoroughly enjoyable and thought provoking memoir. The title is slightly deceptive, it is less about the CIA, and more about his life with his alcoholic father. But no matter, because the book deals well with the messiness of such an upbringing.

He readily admits that his memoir is filled with stories that are not always his own, and details that are filled in by mother, siblings and friends. It is written fluidly, though for an British reader, there are plenty of Americanisms that can get in the way at times, and his turn of phrase is solidly American-English. But these are mere quibbles.

The subject he deals with is prickly, to say the least. And he has written with an honesty that is disarming, and provides reason as to the need to write and read real-life stories such as this one from Cron: it reminds us of the redemption, forgiveness and reconciliation that Jesus Christ not only offers, but brings to bear on our lives through many unsuspected ways. Never will I lead children in communion without realising the unending depths of God's riches exhibited and given freely by Christ again.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Brilliant
This book arrived in the post a few months ago from Booksneeze (for which I do not have to write a nice review) and I haven't got around to reading it until now. Read more
Published 1 month ago by M G
A great book for men to read ...
It was with some interest that I read Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me: A Memoir of Sorts, as titles go this was very intriguing. Read more
Published 2 months ago by C. Kidd
We are not enslaved to our past: Ian Cron's inspiring memoir
It is a rare gift indeed to be able to evoke the confusions, perceptions and wonder of childhood from the perspectives of adulthood. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Mark Meynell
A book that defies expectations
The first thing to say is that this book is much, much better than its title. I'm guessing the publishers had a bit of trouble deciding what to call something that refuses to be... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Joanna Dobson
Not the memoir of a comic...
This was a bit of a surprise package for me, I was sent this book to review on my blog, and my first thoughts were 1/ This is American, 2/ Is it just going to be a guilt trip. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Mr. P. Savage
Great story, told well
If you are looking for a book that gives an exposé of the CIA, this isn't it. If you are looking for an honestly written autobiography that'll have you chuckling from one... Read more
Published 9 months ago by T.C.
Jesus, My Father, The CIA, And Me
Jesus, My Father, The CIA, And Me, is a book about Ian Morgan Cron's family life - in particular about his father, who is a very "troubled, talented, smart" alcoholic, and works... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Benjamin Howe
Jesus, My Father & the CIA
I found Ian Morgan Cron's biography `Jesus, My Father and the CIA' to be a fascinating read (I received a complimentary e-book version from Booksneeze.com to review). Read more
Published 11 months ago by Miss Tracey Lamont
a wonderful book
I took my time over this book: a skim-read wouldn't do. I know Ian is a good writer (it was my privilege to be one of his first reviewers when Chasing Francis was published), but... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Dr. Maggi Dawn
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Popular Highlights

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&quote;
A boy needs a father to show him how to be in the world. He needs to be given swagger, taught how to read a map so that he can recognize the roads that lead to life and the paths that lead to death, how to know what love requires, and where to find steel in the heart when life makes demands on us that are greater than we think we can endure. &quote;
Highlighted by 105 Kindle users
&quote;
Frederick Buechner once wrote, The grace of God means something like: Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldnt have been complete without you. &quote;
Highlighted by 86 Kindle users
&quote;
Son, she said, rubbing my knuckles with her thumb, love always stoops. &quote;
Highlighted by 84 Kindle users

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