Customer Reviews

A Day with a Perfect Stranger (Random House Large Print)

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Before I read this book, I read "Dinner with a Perfect Stranger." When I found there was another, more recent book written as a follow-up, I rushed to the computer [...] and ordered "A Day with a Stranger." Having read that, I learned--on Amazon.com--that the movie, "A Perfect Stranger," was available. I ordered it immediately. I recommend that new readers to David Gregory's wonderful books be read in the same order. It was as if fate had decided I should read them in that order! These books have so impressed upon my heart the love available to all of us, if we just open our minds/hearts to the message of these books and respond to the invitation that can be found at the end of the movie, "A Perfect Stranger."

This book was great! It was very inspiring just like the book Dinner
with the Perfect Stranger. I could not put the book down. Just like the
first book I had tears in my eyes on the last page. It moved me that
much. I have given this book to all my friends to read and we are all
in agreement that there has to be a third book written to see what
happends to Matti and Nick.

A Day with a Perfect Stranger by David Gregory is the sequel to Dinner with a Perfect Stranger. It picks up shortly after the previous book. Nick has joined a Bible study and is changing his life around his newfound belief in Jesus. His wife Mattie is so uncomfortable with the changes that she's considering divorce. While contemplating this separation, she gets on a flight to Dallas and ends up discussing religion with the man in the seat next to her. No one who's read the first book or even the back of this one will be surprised at the identity of Mattie's seat partner. What is surprising is how he answers her questions about religion, a personal relationship with God, and why God allows evil in the world. While this book isn't quite as engaging as the first, it was an enjoyable read. I don't know that it would sway an unbeliever, but I know that it has provided good apologetics arguments for believers. Gregory keeps to the point and keeps it short, much like Jesus did in his teachings. This slim 100 page book will create some interesting discussions among believers and non-believers alike.

Even though this book stands on it's own.....I would think one would choose to read Dinner with a Perfect Stranger first. Both very good, and wonderful tools for sharing with friends and family about the beautiful character, grace, sensitivity and love of our savior the Lord Jesus Christ.

Received a copy of this book as a freebie at the International Christian Retailers Show last summer and it immediately became my personal Book of the Year. Bought copies for friends. A classic, it is "Mere Christianity" for the 21st century--a readable, amazingly insightful handbook for friendship evangelism. And what a Friend! Gregory's portrayal of Jesus Christ, as he would be if he were sitting across the table at dinner with us, reveals him as a man of tremendous compassion who speaks truth so matter-of-factly, succinctly and powerfully, it blows one away. Every one of those Big Questions confronted head-on and nailed with a one-sentence answer that leaves one slack-jawed: Objection resolved! until one, convinced can say only, No more questions, M'Lord. Where do I sign up? (although I have to admit my deist brother thought Jesus arrogant).

This book and its successor deserve far more publicity than they have been getting. There is even a movie, every bit as good and even more immediate than the books--but I had to come across it at random in a bin of discounted DVDs at Blockbuster. Drew tears from both my husband and myself. For me, it ranks up there with The L, The W and the W (Chronicles of Narnia) as Movie of 2006.

Thank you, David Gregory, for The Perfect Stranger books/DVD and thank you, Lord, for David Gregory!

Jessica Shaver Renshaw,
author, Compelling Interests
and Gianna: Aborted and Lived to Tell About It

First the book,'Dinner With a Perfect Stranger', then the movie, 'The Perfect Stranger', now another book -'Day With a Perfect Stranger'.

David Gregory (along with the filmmakers) has successfully mastered this means of telling the world about a kind-hearted Jesus who loves each of us like his own child....so far from the scary, fire-and-brimstone, guilt-and-judgement view of religion so many of us grew up with.

Jesus was not only a Savior, but also a teacher - and these stories bring out that fact with warmth, compassion, and wit.

Read the books, watch the DVD, wait for another movie...whichever you do, you'll be the better for it.

Only 4 stars, because the first one, Dinner with a Perfect Stranger, is even better. I liked this book because it talks about other issues than its predecessor, like God's relationship to us when it comes to the people around us, our relationships, about marriage, children etc. It takes a slightly different approach. If you haven't read any of the two books, you better buy Dinner with a Perfect Stranger, which moved me even more and where I read the stranger's words as if God was speaking to me personally. "A Day" also has very emotional parts, and it should be of interest to you if the first book has already cast a spell on you.