Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of Son of a Preacher Man: My Search for Grace in the Shadows

Son of a Preacher Man: My Search for Grace in the Shadows
LauraBookworm avatar reviewed on + 12 more book reviews


I was excited to read this book but I felt a little meloncholy at the end. It was a sad story of a kid who sees the mistakes of his parents splashed all over Saturday Night Live and he couldn't understand how the world could be laughing. I wanted to put my arm around Jay and tell him, "This is the real world kid." It's kind of a realization of what our society can do to a human being who is just trying to do some good in the world. Fame just builds pressure and the media will either dig and dig till it hit dirt; or they sit back and wait for the pressure to cause an imperfect human being to implode. And when that person takes a fall, everyone goes for the ratings regardless of who it hurts.

I thought it was worth the read to see what Jay does with reinventing himself beyond his parents. You are compelled to cheer him on.