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Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back Paperback – Illustrated, September 30, 2008
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With honesty, empathy, and humor, Schaeffer delivers a brave and important book” (Andre Dubus III, author of House of Sand and Fog)both a fascinating insider's look at the American evangelical movement and a deeply affecting personal odyssey of faith.
- Print length417 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherDa Capo Press
- Publication dateSeptember 30, 2008
- Dimensions5.5 x 1.12 x 8.25 inches
- ISBN-100306817500
- ISBN-13978-0306817502
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"A story that needed to be told...A very personal and brutally honest memoir, that opens up and exposes the underbelly of the evangelistic movement...Gives the reader a rare and different look at some of various leaders of the fundamentalist moment...The book may open some eyes and minds about the dangers of politics and religion...A must read book for serious seekers looking for their own authentic path to enlightenment, or at least some inner peace."
De-conversion.com, 12/2/08
"A must read for the de-converting...It is brutally honest, eye-opening, at times laugh out loud funny, and heart breaking."
"Princeton Packet," 2/13/09
"Mr. Schaeffer knows what he's talking about. He was there, and his book lays it all out, chapter and verse."
TCM Reviews
"[A] moving memoir...For those interested in a different perspective on Francis and Edith Schaeffer, l'Abri, and the fundamentalist right-wing evangelical movement, as well as the touching story of someone deeply involved in it all, this is a must-read."
"Augusta Metro Spirit," 4/15/09
"In a witty recollection that takes a different path from the average evangelical story, Frank Schaeffer offers an intimate portrait of a life within and without the spotlight of mass congregations...Schaeffer is more than qualified to offer candid commentary concerning the religious right in these United States...Written with an intricate collection of detail, a smooth ability to turn elements of conflict into startling moments of realization, and a wonderful search for meaning."
"Tallahassee Democrat," 7/25/09
"Part memoir, part biography, and part expose of a fundamentalist moment in U.S. religion and culture. As memoir it is at times funny, at times moving. As biography it provides an interesting, not to say intimate, perspective on Francis and Edith Schaeffer. As expose it provides revealing glimpses into the emergence of the religious right and some of it
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Da Capo Press; Illustrated edition (September 30, 2008)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 417 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0306817500
- ISBN-13 : 978-0306817502
- Item Weight : 15.5 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.5 x 1.12 x 8.25 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #825,703 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3,100 in History & Theory of Politics
- #4,263 in Religious Leader Biographies
- #24,771 in Memoirs (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

New York Times best selling author of more than a dozen books Frank Schaeffer is a survivor of both polio and an evangelical/fundamentalist childhood, an acclaimed writer who overcame severe dyslexia, a home-schooled and self-taught documentary movie director, a feature film director and producer of four low budget Hollywood features Frank has described as "pretty terrible," and a best selling author of both fiction and nonfiction. Frank is the author of "And God Said, 'Billy!'" and many other books. Frank's three semi-biographical novels about growing up in a fundamentalist mission: "Portofino," "Zermatt" and "Saving Grandma" have a worldwide following and have been translated into nine languages. Jane Smiley writing in the Washington Post (7/10/11) says this of Frank's memoirs "Crazy For God" and "Sex, Mom and God": "[Schaeffer's] memoirs have a way of winning a reader's friendship...Schaeffer is a good memoirist, smart and often laugh-out-loud funny...Frank seems to have been born irreverent, but his memoirs have a serious purpose, and that is to expose the insanity and the corruption of what has become a powerful and frightening force in American politics... Frank has been straightforward and entertaining in his campaign to right the political wrongs he regrets committing in the 1970s and '80s...As someone who has made redemption his work, he has, in fact, shown amazing grace."
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I have opted to comment on "Crazy for God" because of some of the other negative reviews posted here. I do not believe for a moment that Frank wants to destroy his parents as individuals or their life's achievements. He is simply telling the story of two very eccentric individuals who lived a somewhat bizarre life and how the public persona differed from the private person, with all the possible contradictions the public would not want to hear about. I found this book to be very human, even brutally funny and sometimes embarrassingly honest.
Any person whose parents were involved in "full time ministry" would find this book beneficial. The paradoxes in faith, fame, life, parenting, counseling are well presented as well as the contradictions of "what I say isn't always what I do".
Frank, I found, was also very honest about himself. He doesn't hide. He portrays himself in the same way he portrays his parents - let it all hand out! As the saying goes "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" and so Frank did not fall far from his heritage. He too was an absent parent and a self-consumed workaholic. He has grown beyond it though and looks back on all his life with amazement, fondness and sheer puzzlement. There are very tender moments in the book that speak to other human qualities, which have taken Frank a long time to acquire. The closing chapter is very touching.
If I may, the only disturbing part in this book to me, was on page 387 when he state "These days, I don't know what my children believe or don't. I don't ask. It's none of my business". WHAT!!!!!! I hope those days pass quickly. The treasure of being a parent is helping your kids know what they believe. So you don't care if they become a Baptist, Methodist or even an atheist, ok. But knowing how they think, why they think that way... That, for me, is the part of being a parent that I love. That is fun. That is life. That's conversation around the dinner table. Would not give that up for a minute...
So, I think "Crazy for God" is a great read. It may make you angry but it will make you think. Buy it, read it, think about it!
David.
The first three quarters of the book, however, in which he tells the story of his childhood, adolescence, and young manhood, were well-written, sometimes funny, sometimes poignant, and a thoroughly engaging read. I loved his transcriptions of his colorful mother's talks and the description of her missionary techniques. My own mother was of the very same theological tradition and had many similarities in personal style, so I frequently found myself exclaiming excitedly over things like "the gospel walnut" (we had "wordless books", essentially the same thing), the cheerful, childlike spiritual songs, and a shared vocabulary, with words like "witness" and "fellowship" having meanings unique to that particular Christian tradition. The stories about growing up in the alps and his lively rendering of the people he knew filled me with a mixture of envy and pity - what a strange, fabulous childhood he had, such a curious mixture of privilege and profound neglect. No wonder he comes off sometimes as tragically bitter, a deeply damaged man who is also a pompous spoiled brat. Still, there's much in him to like, much to feel for.
I don't agree with the fans of his father who excoriated this book, and him for writing it. I believe people who grew up with abuse have a right to speak about it, even if their parents were famous and revered figures - especially if they were famous and revered. The cult of personality is a terrible problem, not only in the conservative evangelical subculture he writes about, but everywhere. It is salutary to be reminded that your heroes have feet of clay. Me, I rejected my Calvinist upbringing a long time ago and never shared my parents' interest in Francis and Edith Schaeffer, but I actually found myself liking and sympathizing with them as I read about them. They didn't come off as wicked hypocrites, but as flawed people who nonetheless genuinely tried hard and had a lot of good in them. As their son said in this book, they were no better nor worse than most people. They do reinforce my prejudice against "professional Christians", though. Being put up on a pedestal isn't good for anyone.
I appreciated the author's humility in including letters from family and friends that sometimes disagree with him or describe him in unflattering terms. His willingness to be vulnerable in this and in his sometimes cringingly personal depictions of himself won my admiration and gave his point of view some credibility it might otherwise have lacked. Those parts weren't always easy to read, but on the whole I enjoyed the book and found it hard to put down.
Top reviews from other countries
Frank Schaeffer has been accused of effectively trashing the legacy of his parents. I think that is somewhat unfair; he sets out the foibles of his parents as he saw them, but one is left in no doubt by the end of the book that he did love them both. If any criticism can more seriously be made against Francis and Edith, it is that they allowed their son (the only son of the four children, and the youngest sibling) to run a little wild, or at least not to pay more serious attention to his upbringing and education. Nevertheless Frank was given the chance of a decent schooling, but this went awry partly due to his dyslexia.
If there are any real villains in the book, they appear to be the leaders of the Christian Right in the USA who co-opted father and son for their own agenda and who are harshly portrayed here by the author. Not knowing any of them, nor living in America, perhaps I cannot comment, but it seems that towards the end of his life Francis himself was having doubts about the wisdom of their enterprise.
I give this book four stars based on the interest and the standard of writing, not because I necessarily agree with the author. It misses a star because frankly there is a little too much frankness about his sexual habits and history which some readers will probably find offputting.









