Customer Reviews

Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven, But Nobody Wants to Die

5 star:		(60)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

death needed to be discussed in this way. to be invited into their greiving like this helped. most people don't understand, and that can stand in the way. it is a book for people who love to learn, who love music and it's history, and who don't mind unconventional ways of thinking. it is for people who are grieving, who will grieve and need to know what that looks like. i found it's idiosyncrasies more in line with my natural thought life, and so that was comforting too. it is good. thanks to the authors for this book, and lots of grins and giggles too! you guys are crazy. (good crazy) i thoroughly enjoyed all of the footnotes.

I cried. I cried for Hogan when he couldn't. I cried for David when he was golfing and stupified. I cried for myself. Then I thanked God for giving me the understanding that came through this book. My jars of tears are finally flooding out. Give this book a chance; you never know how you could change.

This book is absolutely amazing.
I got it for Christmas, and sat down and read the first half out loud with my brother. That's how awesome it is, we read that much in one sitting. :D
I took the book to a party with me 2 days later and we finished it.
People at the party were looking at me funny for sitting and reading a book about death and bluegrass instead of, say, eating cake.
But the eschatology of bluegrass, as depicted by David Crowder and Mike Hogan, is a lot better than cake.

I absolutely loved every part of it. Hilarious footnotes, IM conversations between Crowder and Hogan, and even a lawyer joke. My brother and I were laughing out loud (which caused people to look at us strangely also, oh well). Then suddenly there would be a story of the death of one of their close friends, or relatives, and we'd be trying not to cry.

Crowder and Hogan have an excellent way of writing; the entire book was captivating and beautiful. I think I'll be quoting from it until long after the cows come home.

Death can be a painful topic, one most people try to avoid, but everybody will encounter it at some point. This book, along with their AMAZING cd, A Collision, discusses death honestly and openly, which is quite necesary.
Good job, guys. :)

I'm a huge fan of David's previous book, Praise Habit; so I was very much looking forward to this one. Now, if you are looking for another Praise Habit, this isn't it. Don't get me wrong, I loved it. It was great in it's own write; but its just not a sequel. Now, on the other hand, if your looking for a good book that takes the emotional struggles of coping with loss and grieving and mixes it into a great big bowl, along with moments of intense inspiration, tongue in cheek humor and sarcasm, heart-rending sadness, ending in an awe-inspiring crescendo of hope (with intermitten appearances of parabolistic stories and im's); then you've come to the right place. It definitely has its place among those works that infuse us with the imagery that rages in the mind of the authors in times of trouble. I definitely recommend it. It does take effort sometimes to pull together the seperate threads that compose the whole of the idea that's being communicated sometimes, though...

David Crowder and his friends, whether in music or in writing, have a tendency to express the deep recesses of my soul which I thought to be inexpressible. This latest book is no different. With a little bit of something for everybody, it tackles the subjects of death and suffering head-on, and demonstrates the incredible community we as humans have as sufferers together here on the earth. By the end of the book, the authors' statement is clear: Death, you will not win. You may tear at our hearts and momentarily cripple our spirits, but the victory will not be yours.

In short, this book is a work of art, and it is beautiful.

And so is his book. That makes it a perfect read for me. It kept me on my toes, filled me with all sorts of new information, made me laugh, let me feel like I go to know David and Mike a little more intimately, made me think and challenged my ideas on how books are written and read.

Definitely 5 stars.

This book was written by the the eponymous member of a certain rock band and his fiddler compatriot in same said band. It is largely about grief, dealing with loss, and a smattering of Bluegrass music history interspersed. The premise behind including the music history portion is that Bluegrass has an implicit understanding of grief. Crowder and
Hogan have personally experienced tremendous loss in their lives with multiple family members and close friends passing into the sweet by and by. The book is partially an account of them working through their grief over the loss of their friend Kyle Lake, former pastor of University Baptist Church in Waco, Texas.

In typical Crowder fashion, elements of humor are strewn through out the book making a serious subject more readable.

As only God could orchestrate, their music album "A Collision" contained many elements within it dealing with death, the Christian response to it, and ultimate victory over it. This album was recorded and released several months prior to Kyle's electrocution in the baptistery. It ended up ministering as much to them as it did to their audiences.

The format of the book takes a bit of getting used to. It incorporates traditional prose but also a short story listed in 3 parallel parts as well as IM conversations and various illustrated examples. At times, the flow of the book can feel disjointed but the end result seems to be an effective presentation of how we deal with grief and the application of Bluegrass.

I remember first picking up the book "Praise Habit" some time ago and thinking that a song writer could not write a book that would hold my attention for more than a few sittings, but the book ended up being one of my favorites, it sits on the shelf to my left as I type.
When I heard that Mr. Crowder was releasing another book (with the help of Hogan, whose name is not listed above, which makes me sad) I could not wait to get my hands on it. I was not let down.
Crowder and Hogan take an issue that most people to not want to acnowledge and discuss it in a very creative, informative, and touching way. They pour their hearts into it, and it will make you cry (unless you don't have a soul). All kidding aside, it was a great read, and there were some really interesting things in it that I had never seen in a book before:
columns (there were some really neat things here)
IM conversations (also interesting)
Buy it, read it, and then give it to a friend.

It is beyond me how someone could tactfully make a book about death and the emotions that go along with it, interesting and humorous. I loved how the authors personalities really came out in this book. It was creatively put together! I've never read anything like it... couldn't put it down!

What an incredible experience this reading is. Calling it merely a book is a grand understatement. I am not one of the 'reading community.' I do not read books upon books for mere enjoyment. But this reading was one I haven't been able to stop talking about. It's written for people like me. People who enjoy chapters that make you turn the whole thing on it's side, chapters of IMs and inner monologues written out, chapters on music, and chapters on the soul. What a beautiful thing! And besides the quirky special 'tricks' the authors use to catch people like me, they bestow this raw emotional truth that bonds to your bones as you read of sorrow, grief, death, and Earl Scruggs and bluegrass.

There are times you hold back tears remembering the loss of a loved one, times you scratch your head wondering what in the world you're reading, and times of sheer enjoyment. Thank you Crowder. Thank you Hogan. Thank you Relevant Books. This experience has given me knowledge, humor, a deeper understanding of how I handle death personally, and a conversation topic with my friends. Thank you for this!