Shame: A Novel [Paperback]

Greg Garrett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2009

John Tilden's glory days are far behind him.. He certainly thought there'd be more to it than his ramshackle Oklahoma farm and a mundane job coaching basketball. He loves his wife, but the marriage has settled into complacency.

Now his twentieth high school reunion looms. Will John finally stop moping about what might have been and discover all God has given him?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Seven years after his acclaimed novel Free Bird, Garrett, a professor of English at Baylor University, returns to fiction with a family love story that starts as slow as the pace in the Oklahoma farming town where it's set. The plot picks up steam when John Tilden unpacks his past in first-person narration. A class reunion and alumni basketball game planned in the small community churn up a midlife crisis for this married man with kids, stirring up his glory days of basketball and girls. The writing is titillating for Christian fiction but believable as the narrator fights the temptation of a former lover and recent divorcé (The two of us in my truck flashed into my head, and it took a moment of mental wrestling to body slam it to the mat). The book explores faithfulness in marriage and friendship through rich, believable characters. Punchy dialogue, particularly the funny exchanges between rancher father and newly vegetarian daughter, should bring knowing nods from parents of teens. Shame plows deep furrows in the heart—a slam dunk for Garrett. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

From Publishers Weekly Seven years after his acclaimed novel Free Bird, Garrett, a professor of English at Baylor University, returns to fiction with a family love story that starts as slow as the pace in the Oklahoma farming town where it's set. The plot picks up steam when John Tilden unpacks his past in first-person narration. A class reunion and alumni basketball game planned in the small community churn up a midlife crisis for this married man with kids, stirring up his glory days of basketball and girls. The writing is titillating for Christian fiction but believable as the narrator fights the temptation of a former lover and recent divorcé (The two of us in my truck flashed into my head, and it took a moment of mental wrestling to body slam it to the mat). The book explores faithfulness in marriage and friendship through rich, believable characters. Punchy dialogue, particularly the funny exchanges between rancher father and newly vegetarian daughter, should bring knowing nods from parents of teens. Shame plows deep furrows in the heart—a slam dunk for Garrett. (May) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: David C. Cook; New edition (May 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1434767523
• ISBN-13: 978-1434767523
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,227,667 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Greg Garrett is the author of over a dozen critically-acclaimed books of fiction, memoir, translation, and criticism. His debut novel Free Bird was chosen by Publishers' Weekly and the Denver Rocky Mountain News as one of the top fiction debuts of 2002, and many have been moved by his autobiographical writing on depression and faith, Crossing Myself and No Idea, but he is probably best known for his books on religion, politics, and culture. These works include One Fine Potion: The Literary Magic of Harry Potter, We Get to Carry Each Other: The Gospel according to U2, Stories from the Edge: A Theology of Grief, Holy Superheroes!, The Gospel According to Hollywood, and The Gospel Reloaded: Exploring Spirituality and Faith in the Matrix (with Chris Seay). His newest book is The Other Jesus, a personal work of theology examining how to be a thoughtful and faithful follower of Jesus in the 21st Century. You may have heard (or read) him talking about religion, politics, and culture in the media. His work has been covered by The New Yorker, USA Today, The Christian Science Monitor, BBC Radio, National Public Radio, CBS Radio, msnbc.com, The Bob Edwards Show, The National Review, Commonweal, and many other broadcast, print, and web venues.

Greg writes a weekly column on religion and politics, Faithful Citizenship, for Patheos (http://patheos.com), blogs on religion and culture for The Thoughtful Christian (http://blog.thethoughtfulchristian.com) and blogs for the Christian Century (http://theotherjesus.com). In addition to his ongoing work in fiction, he is currently doing thinking, research, and writing for book projects on post-9/11 literature and culture, American religion and politics, and Christian wisdom traditions. Greg is an award-winning Professor of English at Baylor University, Writer in Residence at the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest and at Gladstone's Library in Hawarden, Wales, and a licensed lay preacher based at St. David's Episcopal Church in Austin, Texas.

He lives in Austin with his two sons, Jake and Chandler. His heroes include Martin Luther King, Barbara Jordan, Henry David Thoreau, Robert F. Kennedy, Desmond Tutu, and Stevie Ray Vaughn. His favorite authors include Lee Smith, Walker Percy, Graham Greene, Nick Hornby, Barbara Brown Taylor (are you really still reading this?), Scott Fitzgerald, Thomas Merton, Rowan Williams, and Anne Lamott. His favorite color is blue (No, yellow!), he plays Taylor GS-7, Fender Stratocaster, and Epiphone Casino guitars, and he likes both green and red chile on his blue corn enchiladas.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Refreshing, October 6, 2009

By 

M.D.C (Southwest Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shame: A Novel (Paperback)

A charming story, with likeable characters (most of them), and not a four-letter word uttered among them. One flaw, it was not clear what Michael's problem was...why he estranged himself from the family. I could see this story as a movie.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The road less traveled, August 1, 2009

By 

An Observer (Texas, Deep in the Heart Of) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shame: A Novel (Paperback)

Got this book for Father's Day, started shortly thereafter and read it very quickly. It's that engrossing. On the surface it's the story of one man's struggle with attaining that point in life where one seriously considers choices made, reconsiders those choices and what might have been had he taken the road more frequently traveled. (Intentional reference to Robert Frost.)

But, a second and more important understanding is that we all deal with regrets, not only for what might have been; but also, for what prior actions have caused to be. The relationship with a member of John's Championship Team and his attempts at reconcilliation were particularly poignant.

Any book I really enjoy, I can usually keep a few lines to savor over and over. Greg's offering was two fold towards the end of this effort. Riding with John in the pasture, his Dad says: "You've done well for yourself, ... Raised good kids. Honored your parents. Found a useful place for yourself. Provided for your family. Done just fine." To which John answers: "...even if I've done everything you say, I didn't always want to, mostly didn't want to." And his Dad replies: "Got done all the same, though, didn't it?" A few pages thereafter John muses: "What could have been is the greatest enemy of what is."

This is a book for anyone willing to examine their own life while peeking in on the one Garrett presents us with. Kudos.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Edgy and realistic. That's my kind of book!, May 29, 2009

By 

Michelle Sutton (Arizona) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Shame: A Novel (Paperback)

This story was amazing. I must admit that I have been thoroughly impressed with the quality of and edgy content in David C. Cook's books that have been released so far this year. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that whoever acquired their books this past year had amazingly good taste. I've enjoyed every novel. Their stories are all unique and contain deep concepts with strong emotion and great characterization. There is nothing blah or same-old, same-old here. If I were to purchase books solely based on the publisher alone, I'd select anything Cook releases...unless they change their pattern. Now enough about the publisher and on to the book.

Shame is the kind of book I like to sink my teeth into. I love novels with genuine thoughts and real characters. People who are flawed and aren't model citizens. People like me who don't always make the best decisions or choices, but they want to live their life in a way that is pleasing to God. Yet they still struggle. Shame is one of those books.

Numerous times I found myself smiling as the author had his character thinking honest thoughts. I wanted to cheer for the author. Why? Because so many books portray people as "near-perfect" and who always choose the right thing. The marital issues in Shame are typical of many couples. The family problems are also not unusual. The insight the author had into both topics was incredible. He portrayed everything in such a believable manner.

Also, the small town setting and the farm drew me in. I felt like I was involved in the same activities of the main character and his friends. The setting was very well done and it was easy for me to forget the present and delve between the pages of Shame. And like a good book is supposed to do, Shame brings the reader full circle when it comes to emotion. There are no unresolved issues, and yet everything doesn't always end up perfectly fixed. Just realistically wrapped up.

I had a warm glow after finishing this story. It left me feeling inspired and I would highly recommend this story to anyone who loves to experience angst and drama in a book but only when it's done with realistic characters and emotions. Everything felt very natural and nothing was forced. Bravo!