May 8, 2012 § 2 Comments
My Almost Certainly Real Imaginary Jesus is the December selection for Lambda Literary’s My Story Book Club on Goodreads.
“My Almost Certainly Real Imaginary Jesus is a joyous, raw, wry story about how Barth found her identity as a Christian-believing member of humanity in partnership with the world. Her truth-telling as a lesbian is a ground truthing as a human being in search of faith through the transcendent landscapes of love and spirit. This memoir is more than timely, it is a radical and conservative reckoning of prejudice
transformed into peace.”
Terry Tempest Williams, author of When Women Were Birds, Finding Beauty in a Broken World, Leap, and Refuge.
“My Almost Certainly Real Imaginary Jesus is a beautiful memoir of a young Christian woman’s determined but hopeless battle with her sexuality, and Barth’s narration is wise, honest, and frequently hilarious. Her struggle and triumph, so engagingly rendered, should resonate with anyone who has taken the long way to thoughtful self-reliance.”
— Laura Moriarty, author of The Rest of Her Life, Center of Everything and While I’m Falling
“Barth’s heartfelt, funny and wrenching book is testimony to Jesus’ steadfast love. Her faith, tested and tried, looks beyond the failings of religion to claim that love for all.”
—Sara Miles, author of Take This Bread and Jesus Freak
“Funny. Poignant. Heartbreaking. Barth takes us through a world of religious dogma that can be harsh and frightening and emerges into a Christian spirituality we recognize—one of love and tolerance and wisdom. Her nuanced story will be exotic to those of us who have never personally experienced evangelical religion, even as its central humanity remains deeply familiar.”
—Sharman Apt Russell, Standing in the Light: My Life As A Pantheist
Hi Kelly. My wife just read your book and enjoyed it…and she shared it with me. I also grew up in Raytown (RHS 63)…we lived in the same neighborhood it appears, me at 52nd Terrace and Norfleet. And you commented all the old haunts in the area which both visited. Best of luck to you!
Hi Woody. It’s great to hear from another Raytownite. Those were generally good years for me, except for those difficult junior high and high school experiences. I didn’t know Raytown had such a sad reputation–to many pizza places and bowling alleys–until I moved away. So did you graduate in ’63? I just went to my 30 year reunion this year. What a time warp. Thanks for your kind words about my book. Kelly