How do you write a memoir without using “I”? Allow the brilliant author Mark Richard to show you how it’s done. As a young man, Richard, defying both his doctors and parents, set out to experience as much of the world as he could — as a disc jockey, fishing trawler deckhand, house painter, naval correspondent, aerial photographer, private investigator, foreign journalist, bartender and unsuccessful seminarian — before his hips failed him. While digging irrigation ditches in east Texas, he discovered that a teacher had sent a story of his to the Atlantic, where it was named a winner in the magazine’s national fiction contest. But that’s not the end of the story. Richard returns to his West Virginia home where is mother is the only white member of an African-American Pentecostal church. While there, a casual act of tithing leads Richard to the unexpected ownership of the House of Prayer No. 2. This book is a gem, the most unusual and unforgettable memoir you will ever read — absolutely not to be missed!
“A fiercely gifted writer…an absorbing account of growing up in the 1960s South, living with a disability, becoming a writer and finding faith. Richard’s book attests to the power of words (and the Word) in shaping a life, while at the same time challenging some dearly held beliefs about memoir as a genre.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“An amazing memoir…read it as soon as you can.”
—Entertainment Weekly, “A”
Meet Mark Richard on his book tour.
Listen to Mark Richard on The Diane Rehm Show.
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Incredible book! Bought it yesterday on my iPad and finished it today — I could not put it down. Just want to tell everyone: don’t miss this book. It will change the way you view writing, faith and our journey here on earth.
Who can I talk to about this book!? How I wish I knew people who have read it; so many feelings, so much to say. How often do we get to look into such a life, such a heart, as Mark Richard’s?
For me, just reading House of Prayer No. 2 makes me feel more alive, more humble, more glad.