Sunday, March 11, 2018

I CAN ONLY IMAGINE, by Bart Millard




I CAN ONLY IMAGINE is a memoir. The author who performed the song bearing the same title wrote this book. He includes photographs, both colored and black and white, in the middle of the book. It is not quite 200 pages. It has become a major motion picture. Bart Millard, the writer, opens with an Author's Not and an Introduction. He spread his actual content throughout ten chapters. Millard ends with a Conclusion, Appendix 1 and Appendix 2, Acknowledgements, and author bios (Millard has co-written this book with Robert Noland). Both Bart Millard is involved in Contemporary Christian Music. Robert Noland is an experienced author, having written over 76 books.

This memoir is what I have expected. I have known of and heard the son "I Can Only Imagine." I expected a positive, powerful, and inspirational book. It is all these. I felt both anger and sadness at the author's childhood. His dad's abusive behavior comes from factors he had no control over, though they were no excuse. His mother's neglect, however, seems less explainable. However, she and the author are reconciled today and he has forgiven her. His story is one of rising from a bad childhood to a highly successful Christian rock music career. But he covers how his very success and pressures of being in the spotlight had strained his family life and almost destroyed his health. It gives a reader a peek into the life of a Christian music artist.

I recommend this book for any fan of so-called contemporary Christian music. If you are one who likes "I Can Only Imagine," this is a book you will want to read. Even if you do not care about so-called Christian rock, you may be moved by this book's themes of forgiveness and healing from a troubled past.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to give a positive review of this book.

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