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The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University |  | Author: Kevin Roose
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: $24.99
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Rating:  130 reviews
Sales Rank: 82170
Media: Hardcover
Edition: First Edition
Pages: 336
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.2 x 1.2
ISBN: 044617842X
Dewey Decimal Number: 378.755671
EAN: 9780446178426
ASIN: 044617842X
Publication Date: March 26, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
No drinking.
No smoking.
No cursing.
No dancing.
No R-rated movies.
Kevin Roose wasn't used to rules like these. As a sophomore at Brown University, he spent his days drinking fair-trade coffee, singing in an a cappella group, and fitting right in with Brown's free-spirited, ultra-liberal student body. But when Roose leaves his Ivy League confines to spend a semester at Liberty University, a conservative Baptist school in Lynchburg, Virginia, obedience is no longer optional.
Liberty is the late Reverend Jerry Falwell's "Bible Boot Camp" for young evangelicals, his training ground for the next generation of America's Religious Right. Liberty's ten thousand undergraduates take courses like Evangelism 101, hear from guest speakers like Sean Hannity and Karl Rove, and follow a forty-six-page code of conduct that regulates every aspect of their social lives. Hoping to connect with his evangelical peers, Roose decides to enroll at Liberty as a new transfer student, leaping across the God Divide and chronicling his adventures in this daring report from the front lines of America's culture war.
His journey takes him from an evangelical hip-hop concert to choir practice at Falwell's legendary Thomas Road Baptist Church. He experiments with prayer, participates in a spring break mission trip to Daytona Beach (where he learns to preach the gospel to partying coeds), and pays a visit to Every Man's Battle, an on-campus support group for chronic masturbators. He meets pastors' kids, closet doubters, Christian rebels, and conducts what would be the last print interview of Rev. Falwell's life.
Hilarious and heartwarming, respectful and thought-provoking, THE UNLIKELY DISCIPLE will inspire and entertain believers and nonbelievers alike.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 130
 An Unlikely, but Necessary Perspective March 24, 2009
Chad Estes (Boise, Idaho, USA)
164 out of 172 found this review helpful
I know a church pastor who sometimes encourages his staff to pretend they are visitors during a Sunday morning service. "Walk into this place like it is the very first time. Don't take anything for granted. Look for proper signage, décor and whether or not the bathrooms are clean, consider how the greeters treat you, and observe how difficult it is to find your children's Sunday School Class." The goal is to discover the issues that the church is ignoring because of familiarity, to take care of family dysfunctions obvious to outsiders that perhaps the church has grown tolerant, if not strangely comfortable with.
Sometimes it is very helpful to have a new pair of unbiased eyes catch what you may be missing. Organizations and businesses hire people to critique their services or their products. But when a company knows that a consultant is showing up they put their best foot forward. When a restaurant is expecting a food critique for dinner the chef and wait staff perform to a different standard than normal. The best case for unbiased feedback is when you don't know that it is coming. That is why Liberty University should be so appreciative of Kevin Roose's book, "The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University."
Kevin, on his own (crazy) initiative, took a semester off from college at (liberal) Brown University to experience an extremely different lifestyle than he'd ever known-right at the heart of fundamentalism- Jerry's Falwell's flagship megachurch, Thomas Road Baptist, and its accompanying university. Instead of viewing evangelical Christianity from the outside the glass, Kevin decided to jump into the fish bowl himself. He actually found that swimming with the fishes didn't kill him. He even discovered, with the discipline the Christians called prayer, that he could breathe.
This isn't to say that Kevin went to Liberty without an agenda. From the beginning this was a writing project- a daring, potentially life altering writing project. Yet I didn't experience the story as one that had a pre-scripted concept like a Michael Moore documentary. Kevin knew that he would have to act the part of a born-again believer in order to blend into life on campus, yet he didn't go about this as a cold war spy. He went to Liberty "to learn with an open mind, not to mock Liberty students or the evangelical world." And learn he did- pouring himself into his classes, clubs, dorm life, church attendance, and real, meaningful relationships with both staff and peers. He even faced his own concepts about God, Jesus, scripture and sin, realizing that he was on a personal quest as well. He is honest with his own journey, and the book is worth reading just with that in mind.
What did he find? It would spoil it to share here in a review. This is a story that is best read cover to cover, from the day that he pulls up to Liberty with a new, silver, Jesus fish on his bumper, to the day that he leaves, right after Reverend Falwell's funeral. I found myself cheering and hoping, grimacing and pondering throughout.
Who should read, The Unlikely Disciple?
* Any Christian who wonders how the un-indoctrinated view believers and their practices
* Anyone preparing to be an pastor, evangelist, missionary, or Christian educator - especially in a post-modern society
* Anyone planning to go to a Christian university (you'll understand the pros and cons of these institutions better after reading Kevin's book)
* Anyone on staff at Liberty University
* Liberals who have made sweeping generalizations about fundamentalist Christianity without honestly investigating it themselves.
* Anyone who wants to read a tremendously thought provoking and highly entertaining story.
Will you agree with it all? Of course not. Will you find many answers? Kevin doesn't even try to figure them all himself. But if you read his journey with an open heart you will undoubtedly wince a few times, have your feelings rattled, and come to better, more compassionate understanding of other people, especially those on the other side of the fish bowl from you.
P.S. I can't wait for the sequel when Kevin becomes part of the Focus on the Family staff in Colorado Springs.
Excellent Book March 25, 2009
Nicole Robinson (Ohio)
55 out of 57 found this review helpful
I opened this book out of simple curiosity. What /did/ a liberal college student from Brown think when confronted full-on with some of the most fundamentally conservative and literal evangelists around? I was desperate to know whether this book would be judgmental or soft-hearted, whether he would be won over or disgusted.
The happy truth is that it's a little bit of both. Kevin Roose writes with amazing maturity and insight (particularly given that he was 19 when he began this book), and his account of his semester at Liberty University is filled with both heart and nuance. He doesn't shy away from having his assumptions shattered, and he doesn't hesitate to see a very different world with eyes that are fairly close to understanding.
But he also doesn't pull back from delivering the hard truths - where the great divides are, where the unmoveable differences seem to be between his position and that of evangelical Christians.
At the same time, his change throughout the book is clear and moving - he presents the students and faculty at Liberty as complex, diverse, and largely caring people, and he finds some unexpected benefits to their joy in their faith and what it brings them. The good of this book is that it gives you both the good and the bad, and it's not afraid to give you a messy reality.
Roose's thoughtfulness does him credit when it comes to internal evaluation, too. He spends a lot of time wondering about what faith makes those around him, and what faith, or lack of it, makes /him/. His introspection is open, honest, fascinating, and will ring true for many who've brushed along the edges of Christianity, or even dove full-in.
This book is an excellent read for anyone wanting to understand the true passion that drives so many evangelicals to actions that may seem incomprehensible to the outside world (a chapter on a mission trip to Daytona Beach stands out) - but it's also an excellent read for anyone who /is/ a born-again Christian who wants to understand what baffles the outside world about the faith, both good and bad, and what parts drive some of the world away for good.
I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did. I picked it up out of curiousity. It's 10 hours later and I'm putting it down and writing a review. So here's to happy surprises.
A thoughtful, enjoyable read March 16, 2009
B Cobbs (Seattle, WA)
86 out of 94 found this review helpful
This is one of the most enjoyable books I have ever read.
The concept of a secular Ivy Leaguer immersing himself in fundamentalist Evangelical culture is only sort-of interesting, and I assumed this would be a condescending book, written by a wanna-be Bill Maher. However, Roose is self-depreciating, humorous, and skilled enough to make this a fascinating read. I finished it in one sitting.
Jerry Falwell's college, Liberty University, is an intriguing place, as the reader will learn in the first few pages of the book. There are serious punishments for offenses like drinking, swearing, watching R-rated movies, and hugging for more than 3 seconds. Yet what interests Roose, and causes him to write this book is that 10,000 of his peers choose to go there. His sincerity stands out as he tries to understand the "God Divide" with humility, fairness, and an open-mind.
The characters that Roose meets make this book a great read. Contrary to popular opinion, there is a startling amount of diversity at Liberty. Jersey Joey, one of the main-characters, is a foul-mouthed wise-cracking student who is hilarious and, despite his obsession with calling Roose "gay", quite lovable. There are the awkward pastor's kids, the jocks who don't follow the rules, and a few stereotypes: a racist southerner, and more than a few students who make truly offensive homophobic remarks.
Roose never "goes native". At the end of the book, he is still a secular liberal Democrat who never gets comfortable with some of the comments he hears at Liberty or with young-earth Creationism. But, nonetheless, he discovers nuance in his experience, and does a valuable service by humanizing a sub-culture that is otherwise caricatured.
Anyone who has interest in this aspect of American culture, whatever side of the God-Divide they might find themselves on, will find this to be a book worth reading. I can't emphasize enough how hilarious of a writer Kevin Roose is.
Crossing the Divide March 29, 2009
J. Rose
14 out of 15 found this review helpful
When I first heard the premise of Kevin Roose's new memoir The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University, I was immediately intrigued: an Ivy League student from a secular, liberal background plunges himself into the conservative "Bible Boot Camp" world of Liberty University where Evangelism 101 is a core class and a forty-six page code of conduct called "The Liberty Way" governs students' social lives. I wasn't sure to expect, honestly, but I was curious and excited to read his take on the strange world of evangelical America... and very pleasantly surprised by what I found.
The concept is compelling, and on top of that, Kevin is a very talented writer. One minute, he's a perceptive journalist, recording observations with a critical eye and sharp wit. The next, he's a storyteller, weaving the narrative with moments of insight and heartfelt reflections on his own spirituality. The ability to strike this balance between intellect and heart is the beauty of The Unlikely Disciple and what makes it such an engaging read.
Of course, there are criticisms levied at the atmosphere of Liberty, but at the same time, he describes his hallmates in Dorm 22, the students and faculty, and even Dr. Falwell himself with warmth and humanity. There's a reverent sense of love throughout the book that is refreshing, because it would be all too easy to take the "Christians are weird" route. I loved the stories of the incredibly diverse students, and possibly my favorite story from the book has to be the interview with Dr. Falwell. I never was a Jerry Falwell fan myself, but to read this other side of him - a friendly "religious Willy Wonka" that owned 40 red ties and chugged a Diet Snapple Peach Tea every afternoon - I couldn't help but, well, almost like the guy. This different perspective added to the sadness of the final chapter about the week after Dr. Falwell's death (and incidentally, Kevin's final week at Liberty).
I can't recommend this book enough, no matter which side of the "God Divide" you find yourself on. From my Christian side, it was thought-provoking and challenging to my ideas and faith, and, oddly enough, melted a bit of the cynicism I catch myself falling into when I think of all we get wrong. In the closing words of the acknowledgements, he writes to the students, faculty, and administrators of Liberty, "experiencing your warmth, your vigorous generosity of spirit, and your deep complexity, I was ultimately convinced - not that you were right, necessarily, but that I had been wrong." Nice to know that maybe we do get something right.
Most Fascinating Book I've Read in Years March 25, 2009
Holly E. Beton (Bay Area, CA, USA)
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
If you've ever wondered how conservative college students deal with temptation, this book is a good choice. I couldn't put this book down despite the fact I have two small children. Unlikely Disciple is an easy read, but is thought-provoking at the same time. I like the fact that the author comes from a positive, open-minded angle and not from a mean-spirited and judgmental place. Roose has a wonderful sense of humor - I even laughed out loud at times, which is rare for me when reading a book. It's also a good book to read if you've ever wondered whether God exists because Roose enters the bible-thumping culture wondering the same thing and shares his thoughts while along that personal journey. If you are a parent considering sending your child to Liberty or a student considering going, you will learn in-depth answers about what your experience will be like. This book is a well written, riveting account of Roose's secret stay at Liberty college and I highly recommend it to anyone of any faith.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 130
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