Thursday, February 11, 2009 » A reminder: every book, movie or album is given a certain number of cannarfs depending on whether it met expectations or not. For example, if the album met prior expectations, it receives zero cannarfs. If it was better than expected, it can receive up to 10 cannarfs; if not, it can receive as low as -10.
Author: Matthew Paul Turner
Book name: �Hear No Evil: My Story of Innocence, Music, and the Holy Ghost�
Book synopsis in Twitteresque 140 characters or fewer: A memoir about a guy�s love for music and how it shaped his life and faith � with lots of jokes in between.
Where I bought it: I didn�t, actually. I won the book from Turner by re-Tweeting about its release. Score!
Where you can buy it: Tree of Life
How long it took me to read: Two days
Favorite quote taken completely out of context: �A month or two later Laura and Jesus broke up, and she started dating a nice-looking keyboardist from Arkansas.� (p. 156)
Favorite part of the book: Turner�s mom, a conservative Baptist, would not let him own any Amy Grant music. A huge fan of her music, Turner bought Grant�s secular album when it came out. His mom discovered it in his car, yelled at him and threw it away. He bought another copy, felt guilty and threw it away. He repeated this several times. Turner admitted buying �Heart in Motion� five times.
Least favorite part of the book: Turner kept making �80s references � they were very distracting and isolated me as a reader.
Who I WOULD NOT recommend this book to: People who have never been exposed to Christian music (for better or for worse).
Who I WOULD recommend this book to: Everyone else. A lot of what Turner discovers is universal. He learns what it means to chase dreams, to have a consistent love (music), and to grow into your own person. This book is entirely relatable. Expectations going in: I wasn�t really sure what to expect. Turner puts out a lot of books; I was worried that this would be something thrown together.
Cannarf rating: I was wrong. Maybe it�s because I�m a music addict myself, but I felt a connection with this book. Even though we come from two different generations, music has affected me the same way it has Turner. Also, the book definitely kept my attention. Turner added just the right amount of humor to amuse me without being over the top.
+4 cannarfs.