Frank Schaeffer is the author of the New York Times bestseller Keeping Faith and the memoir Crazy for God. His novels, including Portofino, have been translated into nine languages. He has appeared on numerous television and radio shows, including The Oprah Winfrey Show and NPR's Fresh Air, and is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and AlterNet. He and his wife, Genie, live in Massachusetts and have three children.
World, 8/27/11"Schaeffer can be witty and ironic and, like the
stopped clock that is accurate twice a day, some of his
observations hit their mark." Bitch, October 2011
"Braids the rise of the religious right with Schaeffer's
development as an evangelist and antiabortion
activist...Recommended for history, religion, or political buffs
who enjoy a dash of tender reflection."
Maclean's magazine, 9/21 issue"Former evangelist Frank Schaeffer
may have quit the business and turned his back on what he now calls
'our dreadful, vengeful little God, ' but the man clearly still has
a knack for sermon titles. And Sex, Mom, and God is nothing if not
a righteous, furious, cringe-inducing and surprisingly nuanced
sermon delivered in book form against Schaeffer's heavenly
demons...Schaeffer's contention that most, if not all, of organized
religion's shortcomings stem from hang-ups over sex is nothing new.
What's compelling about Sex is Schaeffer himself, who bashes away
at what he held dear for so long." Santa Fe New Mexican,
11/25/11"[Schaeffer is] unafraid to tell it like it is."
Kirkus Reviews (website), 6/1/11
"The memoir, the third and last in Schaeffer's God trilogy, unfolds
in lucid anecdotal excursions probing the chinks that later became
gaping holes in the fundamentalist walls that penned him in."
Internet Review of Books, 6/8/11
"A fond and sometimes hilarious look back at [Schaeffer's] mother's
child-rearing methods and the effect they had on him...Schaeffer's
journey demonstrates that the world could be a better place if we
were all able to reassess our beliefs and values--to examine them
closely and glean only those worth saving." Library Journal,
6/15/11"Well worth reading, highly entertaining, and very
informative about the recent history of American evangelicalism. It
will appeal to readers interested in the world today, memoir, or
religion." Huffington Post, 6/13/11
State of Formation, 6/20/11
"Part memoir, part theology, and part political commentary...An
ambitious undertaking. But Sex, Mom, and God did not disappoint.
Alternating between laugh-out-loud episodes and poignant
reflections, Schaeffer recounts with candor the influence his
mother had on both his beliefs and the beliefs of a generation of
Evangelicals...His readers--believers and non-believers alike--will
be challenged to reconsider their views about politics, sex, and
religion." The Daily Beast, 6/24/11
"Intriguing...[Schaeffer's] privileged view of the Christian
right's sexual weirdness makes his account particularly
interesting, and helps explain why the aggressively pious so
frequently destroy themselves with sex scandals."Milwaukee
Shepherd-Express, 7/7/11
"[Schaeffer] has grown into rueful middle age with his sense of
sarcasm sharpened... Sex, Mom and God dips into the same well as
Crazy for God and draws irony and venom from its
depths."WomanAroundTown.com, 6/16/11"By turns biting, funny, and
thought provoking."
Washington Post, 7/10/11
Kirkus Reviews, 5/15/11
"The book shines in sections centered on Edith, a 'life-embracing
free spirit'...A consummate memoirist, Schaeffer fills the
narrative with interesting anecdotes...The sage conversation on a
New York-bound bus with a distraught Asian girl is warmly resonant
and a befitting conclusion to...[a] book of ruminations, memories
and frustrated opinion."Booklist, 5/15/11
"[A] startlingly honest work, which is part memoir and part
religious history...Intriguing fare." Church of England Newspaper,
5/13/11
"Part memoir, part exploration of evangelical views."
PoliticusUSA.com, 5/16/11"A work that alternates from heartwarming
to thought provoking to laugh out loud funny...Schaeffer
brilliantly guides the reader through an exploration of the Bible's
strange, intolerant, and sometimes frightening attitudes about sex,
and how these Biblical teachings, through the evangelical
grassroots of the Republican Party, have come to dominate the GOP
stance...Schaeffer's writing style combines intelligence, warmth,
humor, depth and insight...Sex, Mom, and God is hands down one of
the best non-fiction books of the year."
"[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." Roanoke Times, 7/10/11
"A thought-provoking analysis of the social and religious struggles
that continue to define American consciousness...Schaeffer covers a
lot of important territory in his book...He provides an insider's
view on the ways America has become fragmented, polarized by
various forms of extremism." In These Times, August 2011
"An unusual mix--part memoir, part exegesis on Bible-based belief
systems, and part prescription for a more compassionate,
human-centered politics for both religious and theologically
skeptical people. Humor, at times of the laugh-out-loud variety, is
abundant. And while readers will likely bristle at some of
Schaeffer's conclusions, his wit, sass and insights make Sex, Mom,
& God a valuable and entertaining look at U.S. fundamentalism." San
Francisco Book Review, 7/20/11
"This memoir/diatribe on organized religion is so shockingly bold
and intimately revealing that it will spin your head around
whiplash-quick, and cause you to double check to make sure you read
the words correctly...Schaeffer comes to a jarring conclusion for
fundamentalists, Roman Catholics, Jews, and Muslims alike, that if
we don't set aside our dogma and start making a serious effort at
getting along, we will end up destroying ourselves and everything
we thought we believed in." Reference and Research Book News,
August 2011
"Provid[es] a new, less prudish view of radical Christianity." New
York Times, 8/20/11"To millions of evangelical Christians, the
Schaeffer name is royal, and Frank is the reluctant, wayward,
traitorous prince."
"Intelligent and easy to read; it transitions smoothly back and
forth between story-telling and point-making prose...In his
portrayal of Edith Schaeffer, Frank is able to call out the
nuttiness of the religious right and to humanize conservative and
Evangelical Christians in the same narrative. It is the deft work
of a talented writer practicing his craft...It is a bit of wisdom
our entire nation--hell, the whole world--needs to hear." RH
Reality Check, 6/16/11"Part memoir, part revelation about
Evangelical pathology, and part prescription for theological
sanity, the book has much to recommend it." Patheos.com,
6/16/11"Offers an insider's glimpse into how fundamentalism became
the dominant voice in the U.S. political area." InfoDad.com,
6/16/11
"Frequently entertaining." The Humanist, July/August
2011"[Schaeffer's] stories aren't just interesting, they're also
well told...[He] serves up an intriguing combination that's part
sexual memoir and part expose of religious right extremism. It's a
strange combination to be sure, but in the hands of a gifted
wordsmith like Schaeffer it works."
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