Though Kingsbury’s writing is serviceable, Zack’s interior life, which is consumed by guilt, worry, shame, reticence and...
Christian novelist Kingsbury offers a faith-based look at an American Idol–style show and the inherent spiritual risks placed upon the contestants.
Zack Dylan loves a few things intensely: Jesus, his girlfriend, Reese, the family horse farm and singing. When creditors threaten the family ranch, Zack sees Fifteen Minutes, a popular television singing competition, as a way to earn the big bucks and also let the world know about his faith. Zach is a gifted singer-songwriter, and there is little doubt that he could win, but no one wants him to enter the competition. Reese is worried it will strain their relationship (they were college sweethearts), and Grandpa is afraid that celebrity will weaken his commitment to God. Apparently, no one can exit the celebrity sawmill unscathed. Two of the show’s new judges are testaments to the dangers of the spotlight: Chandra Olsen was a previous Fifteen Minutes winner, but since her win, a crazed stalker killed her parents, her fiance left, and she lost her faith. Kelly Morgan, nearing 40, is the daughter of a preacher and the wife of a faith-based movie producer, but stardom has made her vain and shallow; she wants to divorce her (perhaps cheating) husband and take up with a young reefer-smoking pop star. Ignoring family concerns, Zack auditions in Atlanta and meets beautiful cheerleader Zoey Davis. The two make it through the auditions, and as she begins crushing and tweeting about Zack, the show’s producers immediately create a Romeo and Juliet narrative for the season. Zack is outraged and worried that Reese will misunderstand, but he is increasingly committed to winning and hopes that when he does, he can use his new platform to tell the world about Jesus. But he changes, as was feared by all, and it is up to Chandra and Kelly (recently renewed in their faith) to help Zack.
Though Kingsbury’s writing is serviceable, Zack’s interior life, which is consumed by guilt, worry, shame, reticence and insecurity, becomes a drain on the novel’s momentum.Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4516-4705-1
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Howard Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
These letters from some important executive Down Below, to one of the junior devils here on earth, whose job is to corrupt mortals, are witty and written in a breezy style seldom found in religious literature. The author quotes Luther, who said: "The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn." This the author does most successfully, for by presenting some of our modern and not-so-modern beliefs as emanating from the devil's headquarters, he succeeds in making his reader feel like an ass for ever having believed in such ideas. This kind of presentation gives the author a tremendous advantage over the reader, however, for the more timid reader may feel a sense of guilt after putting down this book. It is a clever book, and for the clever reader, rather than the too-earnest soul.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1942
ISBN: 0060652934
Page Count: 53
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1943
This first novel, ostensibly about the friendship between two boys, Reuven and Danny, from the time when they are fourteen on opposing yeshiva ball clubs, is actually a gently didactic differentiation between two aspects of the Jewish faith, the Hasidic and the Orthodox. Primarily the Hasidic, the little known mystics with their beards, earlocks and stringently reclusive way of life. According to Reuven's father who is a Zionist, an activist, they are fanatics; according to Danny's, other Jews are apostates and Zionists "goyim." The schisms here are reflected through discussions, between fathers and sons, and through the separation imposed on the two boys for two years which still does not affect their lasting friendship or enduring hopes: Danny goes on to become a psychiatrist refusing his inherited position of "tzaddik"; Reuven a rabbi.... The explanation, in fact exegesis, of Jewish culture and learning, of the special dedication of the Hasidic with its emphasis on mind and soul, is done in sufficiently facile form to engage one's interest and sentiment. The publishers however see a much wider audience for The Chosen. If they "rub their tzitzis for good luck,"—perhaps—although we doubt it.
Pub Date: April 28, 1967
ISBN: 0449911543
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1967
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