A Mennonite Finds Faith, Meets Mr. Right, and Solves Her Lady Problems
by Rhoda Janzen
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Published Oct 2012
272 pages
Genre: Biography/Memoir
Publication Information
What does it mean to give church a try when you haven't really tried since you were twelve? At the end of her bestselling memoir Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, Rhoda Janzen had reconnected with her family and her roots, though her future felt uncertain. But when she starts dating a churchgoer, this skeptic begins a surprising journey to faith and love.
Rhoda doesn't slide back into the dignified simplicity of the Mennonite church. Instead she finds herself hanging with the Pentecostals, who really know how to get down with sparkler pom-poms. Amid the hand waving and hallelujahs Rhoda finds a faith richly practical for life - just in time for some impressive lady problems, an unexpected romance, and a quirky new family.
Does This Church Make Me Look Fat? is for people who have a problem with organized religion, but can't quite dismiss the notion of God, and for those who secretly sing hymns in their cars, but prefer a nice mimosa brunch to church. This is the story of what it means to find joy in love, comfort in prayer, and - incredibly, surprisingly - faith in a big-hearted God.
"A welcome second installment for readers who enjoyed Janzen's first memoir. Others may want to turn elsewhere." - Kirkus Reviews
"If you have ever wondered what happened to Rhoda Janzen, the bestselling author of Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, this eventful memoir brings you up to date. Does This Church Make Me Look Fat? describes the "weirdness" of her mercifully brief battle with breast cancer, but devotes most of its pages to her new relationships with a huge, intense rocker; the Pentecostal church; and her new stepchild. Elizabeth Gilbert called Janzen's debut as "singular, deadpan, sharp-witted and honest," not a bad description either for this follow-up." - Barnes and Noble
"Does This Church Make Me Look Fat? made me laugh out loud, often enough to make my beloved children inquire as to whether I was losing my mind. Too much spiritual writing these days claims that religious practice is about healing or developing the self. But Rhoda Janzen avoids this theme: here she sets out on a path to become more loving, grateful, and helpful to others. This is particularly impressive given that she's writing about a period in her life when she's got a scary, life-threatening illness, and a brand-new family. Bravo, Rhoda-or rather, 'Thank God!'" - Kate Braestrup, author of Here if You Need Me and Beginner's Grace
"Rhoda Janzen is one of the few people I trust to write about faith without using God to clobber me. She writes about the most serious things in the world-life, death, family, love-with such spot-on honesty, spiritual humility, and disarming humor that I would follow her anywhere. The nicest thing I can say about her new book is that it made me want to be a better person. It is that good." - Barbara Brown Taylor, author of An Altar in the World and Leaving Church
This information about Does This Church Make Me Look Fat? was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Rhoda Janzen is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Mennonite in a Little Black Dress and the poetry collection Babel's Stair. She holds a Ph.D. from UCLA and teaches English and creative writing at Hope College in Holland, Michigan.
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