PRAISE FOR JESUS, MY FATHER, THE CIA, AND ME

“Ian Cron walks us through the drama of his life, making us laugh and cry with him every step of the way. His memoir is filled with everything from boyhood stories of celebrating communion in the woods with chipmunks and blue jays, to poignant reflections about growing up with an alcoholic father. Ian’s honesty, vulnerability, and humor will bring a measure of healing to all who go on the journey with him.”

JIM WALLIS, president of Sojourners,
best-selling author of God’s Politics
and Rediscovering Values

“I like stories. And this is a good one. Ian Cron has a ton to teach the world, and he’s gentle as he does it. Here it is: The Gospel of Ian . . . not in the top four gospels, but it’s pretty magnificent. And it’s sure evidence that God continues to tell the extraordinary story of grace through the lives of ordinary people.”

SHANE CLAIBORNE, author, activist,
and co-compiler of Common Prayer

“Ian Cron writes with astonishing energy and freshness; his metaphors stick fast in the imagination. This is neither a simple memoir of hurt endured, nor a tidy story of reconciliation and resolution. It is— rather like Augustine’s Confessions—a testimony to the unfinished business of grace. The deeply painful reality of trying to discover how to love a parent who has hidden away, in a number of ways, from responsibility and vulnerability is not softened but explored with clear-sighted empathy. And somehow, the new possibility comes into focus—the possibility of offering to another the grace received, and of finding both love and truthfulness in that moment.”

The Archbishop of Canterbury,
DR. ROWAN WILLIAMS

“Ian Cron has the gift of making his human journey a parable for all of our journeys. Read this profound book and be well fed, and freed.”

FR. RICHARD ROHR, author of
Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer

“Ian Morgan Cron’s story is a compelling one. . . . Each turn of the page will draw you closer to God.”

CRAIG GROESCHEL,
author of The Christian Atheist

“Ian Morgan Cron is a brilliant writer. This is the kind of book that you don’t just read. It reads you.”

MARK BATTERSON, author of
In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day:
How to Survive and Thrive When Opportunity Roars

“Ian Morgan Cron’s daring writing lays bare the human journey with grace and wit. His confessional words combat despair and illuminate the path toward forgiveness and redemption we are all searching for.”

MAKOTO FUJIMURA,
artist, author, and founder of
International Arts Movement

“Simply the best memoir I have read in years. It is engaging, clever, heartbreaking, and God-drenched in all the right ways.”

PHYLLIS TICKLE, author of The Great Emergence:
How Christianity Is Changing and Why

“There are some books you have to read—they’re important for your work or required so you can be ‘up’ on what’s happening. There are other books you want to read. These books humanize you, deepen your soul and your insight, help you see the world through the eyes of another. They move you to tears and to smiles and delight you with the craft of the author. This is one of those want-to-read books, a portal that transports you into the struggles of childhood, the agony of alcoholism, the joys of coming of age, the terror and hope of parenthood, and the mystery of faith. Enthusiastically recommended.”

BRIAN MCLAREN, author of
Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in 12 Simple Words

“At once touching and profound, poignant and full of grace, this is compelling writing of the highest order. I can’t imagine anyone not being drawn deeper into the momentum of God’s healing Spirit.”

JEREMY BEGBIE, musician and
Thomas A. Langford Research Professor of Theology,
Duke University Divinity School; author of
Resounding Truth: Christian Wisdom in the World of Music