A Day with a Perfect Stranger [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

David Gregory (Author), Ellen Reilly (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 18, 2006

What if a fascinating stranger knew you better than you know yourself?

When her husband comes home with a farfetched story about eating dinner with someone he believes to be Jesus, Mattie Cominsky thinks this may signal the end of her shaky marriage. Convinced that Nick is, at best, turning into a religious nut, the self-described agnostic hopes that a quick business trip will give her time to think things through.

On board the plane, Mattie strikes up a conversation with a fellow passenger. When she discovers their shared scorn for religion, she confides her frustration over her husband’s recent conversion. The stranger suggests that perhaps her husband isn’t seeking religion but true spiritual connection, an idea that prompts her to reflect on her own search for fulfillment.

As their conversation turns to issues of spiritual longing and deeper questions about the nature of God, Mattie finds herself increasingly drawn to this insightful stranger. But when the discussion unexpectedly turns personal, touching on things she’s never told anyone, Mattie is startled and disturbed. Who is this man who seems to peer straight into her soul?

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for A Day with a Perfect Stranger

“Don’t let David Gregory’s simple writing style fool you: the message shared throughout A Day with a Perfect Stranger is profound and the questions he raises are life changing.”
–Liz Curtis Higgs, best-selling author of Bad Girls of the Bible

“Fasten your seatbelt for another marvelously divine encounter with the Perfect Stranger! Once again, Gregory masterfully demonstrates just how passionately and intimately our God loves each one of us. If you are looking for an encouraging faith encounter, the Perfect Stranger books are the most palatable and powerful tools of our day.”
–Shannon Ethridge, best-selling author of Every Woman’s Battle and Every Woman’s Marriage

“While I liked Dinner with a Perfect Stranger very much, I loved A Day with a Perfect Stranger. This book has the potential to make people think about what drives them, what keeps them from God, and what will ultimately fulfill them. In a feelings-based and satisfaction-driven society, this is an invaluable tool. People are hungering for the answers to questions Mattie gets to ask. I can't wait to hand it out to friends who do not yet know the Stranger in their midst.”
–Lisa Tawn Bergren, best-selling author of The Begotten

“Sometimes the simplest books can have the most profound influence, and David Gregory has done such a wonderful job capturing my imagination. Over and over as I read A Day with a Perfect Stranger I kept asking myself, what would I say if I ever sipped lattes with Jesus? And at the end of the book, I realized I have that opportunity every day. He’s not only listening, but He’s speaking, too. Anyone who enjoyed Dinner with a Perfect Stranger will love the sequel.”
–Rene Gutteridge, best-selling author of BOO and The Splitting Storm


From the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

David Gregory is the author of the best-selling books Dinner with a Perfect Stranger and A Day with a Perfect Stranger, the upcoming The Next Level, and coauthor of two nonfiction books. After a ten-year business career, he returned to school to study religion and communications, earning graduate degrees from The University of North Texas and Dallas Theological Seminary. A native Texan, David now devotes himself to writing full time.


From the Boxed Set edition.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Random House Audio; Unabridged edition (July 18, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0739333313
• ISBN-13: 978-0739333310
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.7 x 5.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,302,402 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Gregory is the author of Dinner with a Perfect Stranger and The Last Christian, among other fiction books. He has masters degress from Dallas Theological Seminary and the University of North Texas. He served as a writer and editor for Insight for Living and Exchanged Life Ministries Texas before writing on his own full-time. David lives in the Pacific Northwest.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Story, July 5, 2006

By 

Steven R. McEvoy "MCWPP" (Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Day with a Perfect Stranger (Paperback)

This follow-up to the immensely popular Dinner with a Perfect Stranger continues shortly after the first book. In `Dinner', Nick, a workaholic husband, receives an invitation to dinner with Jesus. At first he believes it is a prank from his co-workers, yet decides to see what their plan is. He goes for the dinner, and actually meets Jesus, or J-man. He learns that Jesus hates religion and loves relationship. So Nick has started reading his bible and going to bible study.

Yet all these changes in Nick are not well received. His wife Mattie did not want to be married to a religious nut; she could handle his not being around if he was at work, but now he is over the top. She is even thinking of divorce. She has to travel with work and is looking forward to a few days away from Nick and his bible.

While on the plane, she meets two men, one who bible thumps her and another one, Jay, who is in business with his father and is a counselor. She and Jay end up talking most of the fight. Then they have coffee in the airport during a layover. They then end up on a second flight together.

Through her conversations with Jay she begins to question her perceptions of reality, god, religion and life in general.

The book aims to show you what a day with Jesus would be like if he were to appear and spend time with you one-on-one. Gregory challenges us to view faith not as religion, but as a relationship with a person. It is a great little book either for yourself, or as a gift for others.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 4 1/2 Stars...Leftovers? Or Something Fresh?, July 20, 2006

By 

Eric Wilson "novelist" (Nashville, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: A Day with a Perfect Stranger (Hardcover)

Small books with big promises just don't do it for me. I'm usually left disappointed and wanting more.

In the case of "Dinner With a Perfect Stranger," I was caught off guard, pleasantly so, by the writer's easy wit and clear--if somewhat simplistic--views of Christianity compared to other worldviews. The story was wrapped up in a single idea, worked to its fullest, in the form of a fictional tale. It was one "Dinner..." I enjoyed. So here comes a follow-up, and I wasn't sure whether to expect leftovers, or something fresh.

"A Day With a Perfect Stranger" can be read independently of the first book, yet gives some continued satisfaction to those of us who enjoyed the debut. Whereas the first book followed a man and his chance to ask theological questions of Jesus, this book takes us into a day with that man's wife. She's wrestling with her husband's new "religious" fanaticism. Her frustrations seem real, and her questions are less theological, but important ones nonetheless. When she encounters two strangers on an airplane, they work as a foil for the story's overall theme: a relationship with Jesus versus a stale form of religion.

Like its predecessor, this is a light read, somewhat fluffy with an emotional twist, yet it seems to grapple with real life along the way. You can read it in an hour or two, but it's worth much more than "A Day..." of your time.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Continued Perfection in this second encounter..., August 22, 2006

By 

Alison Sweeney "AS" (Arcadia, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Day with a Perfect Stranger (Hardcover)

Just as in the first book (Dinner with a Perfect Stranger), "A Day With a Perfect Stranger" is a very easy and quick read.

However the depth of the content will satisfy those who read it. I would say that anyone who has a friend, a mate, a family member, or a whatever who has had a major life changing experience that others cannot comprehend or relate to will be grabbed by this book.

The lead character is the wife of Nick (who was the central character in the first book besides Jesus Christ). The wife is now struggling with the new found passion for the Lord that Nick has found after the alarming news that he had dinner with Jesus Christ. The Lord? Thoughts of craziness and questions raced thru her mind. Is this true? Why has her husband made such a drastic change? And why did he do so without explaining it to me so I may have input in the drastic transformation?

Her means of coping was to instead hop a plane to head out for a business trip - which was more to the liking of a means to get away and prepare for a divorce. However, who should sit beside her in her escapism? Jesus Christ, of course.

Feel good book and one that I highly recommend. To fully grasp the depth, reading the first book lends itself to a more complete picture.