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a little disappointed that this A Door in the Ocean's main focus was not really on swimming, It was a lot on evangelical rhetoric, which at times got tedious, My favorite chapter was the final one called "Open Water", "Wandering Around Zion" was good too, The prose was clean and descriptive, I think this young writer might be good at fiction, Will keep an eye out for more from McGlynn, I only knew of this book because I heard a review of it on NPR, It was a very positive review and it came to mind after I finished my last book, I read it pretty quickly and felt very involved in it from beginning to end, The book is a memoir of the author and I could relate to his personality, He is an accomplished swimmer and spent his young adulthood immersed in evangelical Christianity before finally realizing that this kind of religion does not fit who he truly is although he does retain his core faith.
It seems a very honest portrayal of himself and it's beautifully written as well, There were a few sections in the book in which I became irritated with the author's piousness to the point where I felt squeamish for him, But I think he was likely portraying himself realistically as the person he was rather than the more evenminded person he becomes, What struck me in this book is how the author's struggles with religion mirrored my own growing up and although I did not cling to my beliefs with the fervor that the author did, I could still understand his inner struggle to either let go or grab tighter to beliefs that had previously defined him.
Interesting memoir, a bit slow in the middle, The book cover let me know a second trauma was coming, and I was eager to reach that point, Also, I would have stopped the memoir with the move to Wisconsin, Seems like the beginning of a new, unrelated chapter in his life, Worth a read, especially if you enjoy memoirs and or Wisconsin authors, Good, descriptive scenes. Characterization is a little lacking, and the book needs a clearer connection for all the chapters, I know David McGlynn through the many years that he spent as a Masters swimmer in Utah, He was always in the super fast lane, but enjoyws talking to all swimmers, He was also a great coach,

I am interested to read his memoir about how swimming and faith guided him in his life, I, too, feel that swimming and my faith have made it possible to keep going, In my most grief stricken moments, the only thing that got me out of bed was the fact that I had to go coach a swim team, This was truly a lifeline, Some of the major vivid descriptions Ive ever read, Wonderful. Not a fan. I just didn't care about this guy, I think I have higher standards for nonfiction than fiction because it's not really my genre, This book didn't grab me, or even draw me in, I'm personally a little turned off by the religiosity of the book tooagain, just not my thing,

Apparently other people really enjoy this book but I can't say that I'd recommend it, This is one of those memoirs I love because it clarifies all the ways life does NOT turn out like a datemovie or Victorian novel, An early trauma not only destroys the narrator's childlike sense the world is safe but also blows his family apart, In search of a place to belong, he becomes evangelical, because doing so seems to be the price of belonging to his father's new household, But that's just the trigger: the evangelical certainty takes hold for the narrator because, if you buy in to it, it provides insurance that nothing can ever go totally wrong.
But he's a bad fit in the evangelical community, It always feels a little wrong to him, This book traces his journey from simplistic faith to complex faith that acknowledges evil and bad luck and suffering exist, no matter how much you pray or worship, This is one of the most intelligent books about the spiritual life I've ever read, It simplifies nothing. So amazed at my friends who find the bravery and the willingness to be exposed by sharing very personal and deeply affecting stories to draw out compassion, understanding and grace within we lucky readers.
I'm lucky to have a handful of such friends, And I'm grateful to have read the story stories shared so intimately in this book, Now called "A Door in the Ocean" At age, the author's best friend and family members were brutally murdered in their home in Houston, That event and his parent's divorce shaped this man's character and life, In his search for answers as to why God allows bad things to happen, he becomes involved in the radical world of evangelical Christianity until another tragedy leaves him doubting his beliefs.
David McGlynn takes you on a rough but rewarding journey in his memoir A Door in the Ocean, Themes of murder and loss and faith are woven together improbably but

beautifully through the sport of swimming, I found myself reading the book in small pieces to fully absorb the power of the story and the elegance of the writing, The images are vivid and startling, and a few of them stayed with me long after I put the book down, A Door in the Ocean is the best memoir Ive read in a long, long time, Fantastic literary memoir! I loved the highly personal examination of the formation of faith and the strength, and traps, of evangelicalism, David McGlynn's beautifully written memoir offers a knowledgeable, frank, loving, skeptical, and faithfilled assessment of the state of evangelical christianity in America today, I found his observations especially applicable to my role as father of high school and college age boys, I really loved the way this book navigated between several narrative threads: loss, swimming, faith, family, McGlynn does a good job of tracing these narratives throughout his life, I, of course, enjoyed the focus on swimming and how swimming amp religious faith become the two main staples of his life, the things he can rely on to mitigate the normal losses of life.

I had read several of these essays on their own, and I enjoyed reading them again within the larger context of the book, They all fit together nicely to create a complete story of his life,
In the end, I was more interested in the swimming, and his life as a writer and parent, But, even as a religious outsider, his account of his faith made a lot of sense to me in the context of his life,
Highly recommended! DAVID McGLYNN was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and grew up in Houston, Texas and Orange County, California, He graduated inwith a B, A. in English and Philosophy from the University of California, Irvine, He received an M. F. A. inand a Ph. D. infrom the University of Utah, where he also served as Managing Editor of Western Humanities , His fiction and creative nonfiction have appeared in Alaska Quarterly , Image, Mid American , Shenandoah, and other literary journals, He currently teaches at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, where he lives with his wife and sons, A lifelong swimmer, he was captain of the swimming and diving team at UC Irvine, He captured a national championship in theyard freestyle DAVID McGLYNN was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and grew up in Houston, Texas and Orange County, California, He graduated inwith a B, A. in English and Philosophy from the University of California, Irvine, He received an M. F. A. inand a Ph. D. infrom the University of Utah, where he also served as Managing Editor of Western Humanities , His fiction and creative nonfiction have appeared in Alaska Quarterly , Image, Mid American , Shenandoah, and other literary journals, He currently teaches at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, where he lives with his wife and sons, A lifelong swimmer, he was captain of the swimming and diving team at UC Irvine, He captured a national championship in theyard freestyle at theUnited States Masters Nationals, He now competes in open water races, and on most mornings is the first one in the pool, sitelink.