Acclaimed columnist Tony Woodlief pens the poignant and powerful story of his search for meaning in the midst of tragedy. When he and his wife lost their adored little girl, his trust in God turned to bitter anger. As he and his wife struggled to save their marriage and his faith, they discovered that home is more than just rooms and a roof. Home is a place where people are sometimes wounded or betrayed. Home is also where God is strong in the broken places. Woodlief takes readers through his house, room by room, showing that home is: * Where we cry out to God as we seek him in the small things * Where the sacred and the mundane meet * The place that makes us better than we could ever be on our own * More than the place where we eat and sleep...it is where we learn grace Woodlief's heart-touching stories leavened with humor will appeal to a wide audience, especially those trying to reconcile the idea of a loving God in a broken world.
Somewhere More Holy
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Somewhere More Holy is sweet company for anyone enduring broken things and broken selves." --Sara Groves, singer/songwriter
"Somewhere More Holy is one of the rich, rare and rawly authentic books that will have you sharing both the laughter and the tears of the writer." --Betsy Hart, columnist/author
"This is not an easy book, because it shows a real man and real failures . . ." --Marvin Olasky
"Woodlief writes with enthusiasm, earnestness, and a sense of personal confession." --Image Journal
"Somewhere More Holy is one of the rich, rare and rawly authentic books that will have you sharing both the laughter and the tears of the writer." --Betsy Hart, columnist/author
"This is not an easy book, because it shows a real man and real failures . . ." --Marvin Olasky
"Woodlief writes with enthusiasm, earnestness, and a sense of personal confession." --Image Journal
Review
'This is not an easy book, because it shows a real man with real failures---but Tony Woodlief delights in his children, and God uses them as a means of grace to teach Tony about his need for Christ. The apostle Paul wrote in 1 Timothy that women shall be saved by childbearing. Men who fear fatherhood should realize that they need children even more.' -- Dr. Marvin Olasky, Provost, , The King's College, and editor-in-chief, World <br><br>
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Tony Woodlief writes lyrically, yet realistically, about family life. He and his wife both came from flawed and broken families, and so have made it their life's work to create a home environment in which everyone feels loved and safe, both physically and mentally.
This is the kind of book that will deeply delight many readers, especially those in loving, close-knit families. If you enjoyed Katrina Kennison's The Gift of an Ordinary Day: A Mother's Memoir you might find this book similarly satisfying, especially if you share Mr. Woodlief's biblical outlook.
Yet I found myself oddly detached. Once Mr. Woodlief writes in the introduction about his daughter's tragic death, his depression, his infidelities and the near implosion of his marriage, I just couldn't settle into the day-to-day observations of small family moments.
I would have preferred the author go into more depth about the tragedies and hard times he and his wife have endured. How does he maneuver the faith crisis implied in the verse he quotes so often: "I do believe. Help me in my unbelief." Although Mr. Woodlief writes evocatively about how deeply wounded he and his wife were, I didn't get any sense of how they worked through their grief, anger and loss of faith. I know he has much to tell us, and I hope one day he does.
This is the kind of book that will deeply delight many readers, especially those in loving, close-knit families. If you enjoyed Katrina Kennison's The Gift of an Ordinary Day: A Mother's Memoir you might find this book similarly satisfying, especially if you share Mr. Woodlief's biblical outlook.
Yet I found myself oddly detached. Once Mr. Woodlief writes in the introduction about his daughter's tragic death, his depression, his infidelities and the near implosion of his marriage, I just couldn't settle into the day-to-day observations of small family moments.
I would have preferred the author go into more depth about the tragedies and hard times he and his wife have endured. How does he maneuver the faith crisis implied in the verse he quotes so often: "I do believe. Help me in my unbelief." Although Mr. Woodlief writes evocatively about how deeply wounded he and his wife were, I didn't get any sense of how they worked through their grief, anger and loss of faith. I know he has much to tell us, and I hope one day he does.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I read Tony's stuff on his blog/in the WSJ/etc., so I knew I would like this book. I didn't know that I would love it -- that I would find it profoundly affecting, that my wife would attract the attention of men other than me on the Acela due to how frequently she laughed while reading it, or that I would quickly find myself back on Amazon buying more copies for friends.
Let me put it this way: There are a lot of "how to" books out there on marriage, kids, handyman-hood, etc. I know this because I read them; I read them because I know I need the help. But none of these treatises -- even those with the most rigorous doctrine, simple ten-step programs, and clear writing -- have anything near the power of Tony's book.
This book will grip you (it's got some stories he is brave to tell, as others have said), this book will amaze you (mainly as you realize how well Tony has married), and this book will inspire you to chase after the things that have, through so much suffering, become precious to Tony (marriage, family, home). And it will help you understand -- in a way no amount of theological navel gazing could -- what the apostle Paul meant when he wrote that "suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us" (Rom. 5:3-5).
Oh, and did I mention that the dude can flat-out write?
Let me put it this way: There are a lot of "how to" books out there on marriage, kids, handyman-hood, etc. I know this because I read them; I read them because I know I need the help. But none of these treatises -- even those with the most rigorous doctrine, simple ten-step programs, and clear writing -- have anything near the power of Tony's book.
This book will grip you (it's got some stories he is brave to tell, as others have said), this book will amaze you (mainly as you realize how well Tony has married), and this book will inspire you to chase after the things that have, through so much suffering, become precious to Tony (marriage, family, home). And it will help you understand -- in a way no amount of theological navel gazing could -- what the apostle Paul meant when he wrote that "suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us" (Rom. 5:3-5).
Oh, and did I mention that the dude can flat-out write?
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Do not read this book in public. You will cry, laugh, moan, roll your eyes, and generally be regarded as unbalanced. It's that sad, that funny, that good.
The writing style is reminiscent of Hemingway, while the overall feel is one part Faulkner, two parts Twain. In short - very American: tight and unsentimental. Like the caress of a hand on your cheek, a feather on your bare foot, or a punch in the nose, it is visceral. Like the Kansas landscape, it's at once beautiful and heartbreaking. This is true even in his choice of quotes from the Bible. ("Be still and know that I am God.")
The tale is in many ways a modern, personal rendition of the Book of Job, and like that Book it is sometimes painful to read and difficult to sum up. The result is the same: there is simply no way of understanding the meaning of suffering. To try only seems to end in a mischaracterization of God, or the sufferer. It is in the realm of poetry, and at its best the prose in this book is like a poem. The emotion and shared experience is conferred as much between the lines, from what is not said. It requires you to pour your experience into it, to become one with it.
Kurt Vonnegut said that writing and reading are subversive acts - they subvert the notion that things have to be the way they are, that we are alone, that no one has ever felt the way we have. I wonder if the author knows just how subversive he is. He was able to lead me back into a conversation with God, and so bring me closer to Him. No small feat, if you know me.
Peace.
The writing style is reminiscent of Hemingway, while the overall feel is one part Faulkner, two parts Twain. In short - very American: tight and unsentimental. Like the caress of a hand on your cheek, a feather on your bare foot, or a punch in the nose, it is visceral. Like the Kansas landscape, it's at once beautiful and heartbreaking. This is true even in his choice of quotes from the Bible. ("Be still and know that I am God.")
The tale is in many ways a modern, personal rendition of the Book of Job, and like that Book it is sometimes painful to read and difficult to sum up. The result is the same: there is simply no way of understanding the meaning of suffering. To try only seems to end in a mischaracterization of God, or the sufferer. It is in the realm of poetry, and at its best the prose in this book is like a poem. The emotion and shared experience is conferred as much between the lines, from what is not said. It requires you to pour your experience into it, to become one with it.
Kurt Vonnegut said that writing and reading are subversive acts - they subvert the notion that things have to be the way they are, that we are alone, that no one has ever felt the way we have. I wonder if the author knows just how subversive he is. He was able to lead me back into a conversation with God, and so bring me closer to Him. No small feat, if you know me.
Peace.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Dear Tony Woodlief, I don't know who you are. I just picked your book from the Vine Program, off the Title alone. I liked the title and subtitle. (Equal parts good - we needed the subtitle: "Stories From: A Bewildered Father, Stumbling Husband, Reluctant Handyman and Prodigal Son") I did notice in researching your book before it arrived that your prior work was published in the Wall Street Journal and London Times, so, I knew you could write - and write well. But, I wasn't sure if you could capture my interest...until your book arrived. I picked it up and started to read the introduction. After I read one paragraph, I stopped and pulled my husband away from his work and said, "you have to hear this.". Then I read another paragraph and laughed outloud. I rarely laugh OUT LOUD at something I'm reading. I interrupted my husband again - "You have GOT to read this.". Then I continued reading and started crying. Mr. Woodlief, I am so sorry, your first little girl died at 3 years old. I am so sorry, for the pain you and your wife cried through...but oh so grateful you wrote about it all so honestly. Thank you for telling us the truth, that you cheated on your wife, hated God and burried yourself in a bottle of Scotch. Thank you for being transparent and for writing about it in such wonderful prose, that we actually forget the words and can only get the story. You are my kind of writer Mr. Woodlief, and my kind of Christian - the honest kind. The Funny Kind. The Transparent Kind. Thank you...Oh God, Thank you for Mr. Woodlief, and for Zondervan who published something about faith that isn't insipid.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
I am not the only one!
Tony Woodleif's book was a welcome reassurance that I am not the only father out there who struggles with parenthood, balancing doing the right thing while trying not to... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Clinton J. Holloway
5.0 out of 5 stars
Honest and real
This book by Tony Woodlief is a treasure. Beautifully written, it is almost impossible to put down. The honesty is inspiring; this review cannot possibly do it justice. Read more
Published on December 29, 2010 by AndrewB
5.0 out of 5 stars
Somewhere More Holy
Heartwarming, encouraging, edifying book on how one man strives to see the holy in daily family life. Read more
Published on October 26, 2010 by K Sorb
5.0 out of 5 stars
You Will Laugh and Cry
It says something about the book when the introduction moves me to tears. Somewhere More Holy is a book every father and potential parent must read. Read more
Published on September 29, 2010 by MasterAP
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best books I've read in the 2000s
Out of the probably thousands of books that I've read, few are as laugh-out-loud funny, or as unbearably poignant, or as full of wise and profound observations about God's place in... Read more
Published on June 13, 2010 by S. Buck
5.0 out of 5 stars
Building a home, room-by-room
This is a raw, captivating, and well-crafted book. In Somewhere More Holy, Tony Woodlief walks us through the rooms of his home, using those rooms to explore his own emotions,... Read more
Published on June 3, 2010 by John Coleman
5.0 out of 5 stars
Poignant prose to live by
Elegant in its inelegance. The prose was easy to read but the emotions were difficult. This book grapples with a lot of fundamental issues of faith and family that anyone can... Read more
Published on May 27, 2010 by Whitney Garrison
4.0 out of 5 stars
Augustine of Hippo Meets Tony of Wichita
Augustine of Hippo pioneered, in his "Confessions," a model of spiritual introspection and reflection that has in our day often degenerated into treacly or salacious self-pity. Read more
Published on May 25, 2010 by Adam DeVille
5.0 out of 5 stars
A courageously written book.
Tony Woodleif bares his soul here, and sometimes that's not pretty. We all benefit from his transparency, though, and our hearts break and are healed again as we read his stories,... Read more
Published on May 23, 2010 by Elizabeth J. Brendle
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