Front Porch Tales [Hardcover]

Philip Gulley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1997

Filled with warm, inspirational stories that illustrate the kind of values Christians want to pass to future generations, Front Porch Tales is the perfect book for family reading times. Family members of all ages will be deeply touched by these stories designed to lift their spirits and help them gain perspective on what is really important in life. Stories can be slowly savored one at a time, or the entire book can be read in one sitting. Either way, readers will be encouraged as each tale wraps its way around their hearts.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Philip Gulley has been a Quaker pastor for more than twenty-five years. He is the bestselling author of more than fifteen books including Front Porch Tales, If the Church Were Christian, the acclaimed Harmony series, and If Grace Is True and If God Is Love, which he coauthored with James Mulholland. He lives in Indiana with his wife and two children and is a frequent speaker at churches, colleges, and retreats across the country.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Multnomah Books (January 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0641698461
• ISBN-13: 978-1576731239
• ASIN: 1576731235
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,238,501 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Philip Gulley has become the voice of small-town American life. Along with writing Front Porch Tales, Hometown Tales, and For Everything a Season, Gulley is the author of the Harmony series of novels, as well as If Grace Is True and If God Is Love, which are coauthored with James Mulholland.

He hosts "Porch Talk with Phil Gulley" on the Indiana PBS affiliate WFYI television's flagship show Across Indiana.

Gulley lives in Indiana with his wife, Joan, and their sons, Spencer and Sam--in a rambling old house with Gulley's eclectic chair collection (64 at last count) and a welcoming back porch.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully Warm Tales With Real Substance & Wisdom, January 4, 2005

By 

Jason E. Smith "Impatient Reader" (Maryland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Front Porch Tales: Warm-Hearted Stories of Family, Faith, Laughter and Love (Hardcover)

If you find the whole genre of 'Chicken Soup for the Soul' type books to be annoyingly sappy and over-the-top then this book is your antidote.

It features real stories from real life whereby the author (a Quaker pastor) draws real substantive wisdom. Where Chicken Soup and the like were "cute" or "charming", Gulley is challenging. There's plenty laugh out loud comedy here too, and enough sweetness to aggravate a toothache, but those elements are the icing instead of the cake.

Gulley talks about raising children to be tough, the capacity people have for mid-life change, prayer, loss, flexibility, the home, the dignity of work, the debilitating effect of television, why we need more listening and less psychology, love between a husband & wife, and many other subjects. Nearly all of these short essays are punctuated with surprisingly relevant scriptural anecdotes from the Good Book.

On the first page, Gulley wrote, "I thank God I was born before Nintendo video games and all the other things that keep kids from getting out and exploring their environs. My parents turned off the television set and sent me outdoors, where I met all kinds of interesting people, like Mrs. Harvey and Doctor Gibbs and Mr. Welty."

And he isn't kidding. This is a superb read that--through the window of the author's life--manages to search out so much of what's wrong with the world, offers beautiful alternatives, and does it all with the charity, humor, modesty, and self-depreciation proper to a Christian.

Highly recommended!

57 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You'll read it over and over again!, July 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Front Porch Tales (Hardcover)

I'm 13 and I'll admit I only bought this book because I had a gift certificate to a local Christian bookstore and I couldn't find anything to buy in the young adult section. But after being bored one day I picked it and it's dusty cover off of my bookshelf and started reading it. I'm glad I did. Philip Gulley writes in an easy manner that anyone can understand, even a teenager like me. His stories make you laugh, even though I don't think he tries to be funny. It just comes out natural in his writing. I've read the book twice and got my mom to read it and she liked too. I recommend this book to anyone who likes to read mini-stories, because that's what the book is. You can put the book down and not have to worry about remembering characters' names or other details. It's full of stories that will make you laugh and also warm your heart. So why are sitting here reading my review? Buy the book on Amazon today! If I'm 13 and I liked it, I think you'll like it too. Thanks for reading my review. Bye!

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book changed the way I live my life., March 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Front Porch Tales (Hardcover)

For most of my life I have sought the answer to many questions about life, I've complicated my life in trying to find the answers. But here, after the better part of twenty-five years of searching, is the definitive answer.....basic simplicity, fundamental values, caring for each other, respecting each other, gathering strength from friends and family....no frills, no thrills in the new age sort of way....just remembering the past, learning from it and living by it, we've lost so much of it......well here it is...Phillip Gulley has restored my belief in living life to it's fullest, savoring every moment big and small. This book for all its simplistic values is the one book, that every man, women and child should read, to help them cherish the life that God has given us, the opportunities that are presented to us, and the gift of small, sacred treasures.....like home.