Kevin Roose is an aspiring writer and a student at Brown when he decides to transfer to Liberty University--probably America's best and most well known evangelical university--for one semester, immerse himself in its culture, and write about the experience. Roose is no academic writer. Although he references theologians and anthropologists in his book, he does not use the confusing jargon and high-minded academic theories prevalent in many other ethnographies about Christian fundamentalist culture. Instead, his writing is intimate and honest--and if we are to believe what he writes, it turns out that there is a lot more complexity at Liberty than most of us secular liberals would like to believe.

Roose lived in the dorms of Liberty. He sang for the choir. He took 6 courses that a typical Liberty freshman would take. He made friends, went on dates, went to Bible study, and prayed with his friends. In short, Roose, a liberal and intelligent young man who was raised in the Quaker church, went to Liberty to get the most realistic, average Liberty experience possible. He kept an open mind, and even admitted that he might, in fact, be converted and born again by the end of the semester. In the end, Roose does not convert to evangelical Christianity--however, he is admittedly changed (for the better) by the experience.

I really enjoyed this book. In part because I have a morbid curiosity about extremely conservative Christians, but also because I do believe and agree with Roose's conclusions: that just as fundamentalists paint gay people, feminists, Democrats, etc with a broad brush, so do secular folks paint religious folks with a broad brush. In reality, there are many shades and types of Liberty students. Roose made friends with evangelical feminists, he attended a meeting for gay students at Liberty (trying to go straight) and male students struggling with lust (he dubs this group Masturbators Anonymous). He also prays on a regular basis with a stereotypical, blindingly optimistic future youth pastor and deals with his incredibly hostile and homophobic roommate. Roose takes a class called History of Life (a required class for all LU students) that teaches strict Young Earth Creationism--a class he can never quite get his head around. But he also takes a class on theology, which he grows to love. And for every goody-goody rule following student he meets, he is bound to interact with a "rebel" student--someone who isn't a virgin, or who curses, or watched R-rated movies. Basically, there is no typical LU student just as there is no typical Brown student.

The most fascinating aspect of Roose's experience is how is changes him. He transforms from a non-church going atheist/agnostic to someone who believes "70-75% of the time" in a higher power. He goes from never praying to automatically praying as part of his daily routine. He comes to enjoy going to church! Roose is not a hardcore believer by the end of the book, per se (he still finds Liberty's party line on homosexuality, evolution, etc and its insistence on two black and white categories of people: saved and unsaved, to be abhorrent), but he is much more open minded about the possibility that there is a God out there and that belief in Him can change a person's life in a very positive way.

I liked this book because I understand Roose's thought process. Like the bumper sticker that says "Jesus, save me from your followers", I am a self-identified Christian who is easily annoyed by other (fundamentalist, evangelical) Christians. I see and understand the shades of gray that Roose found in his time at Liberty and I can see how and why he came to see the good that comes out of religion, as well as the bad. I'm glad that Roose wrote this book and I'm glad he wrote it in a way that showed Liberty's good side as well as its darker corners. Roose claims at the end of the book that he did not "bridge the God divide", and indeed, that bridge may never be built. But I think he went further than many non-evangelicals would dare to go in his attempts to understand and humanize Liberty students. ( )

Absolutely frightning, yet at the same time full of heart and hope. A thoroughly enlightening read. ( )

Roose goes to Liberty College as a "study abroad" experience hoping to see how others religious experiences differ from his. He states that these people are in his time zone and vote in the same elections as he does but he knows little about the extreme conservative Christian movement.
I liked that the book was not a this way is right / this way is wrong type of book, but explored the culture and beliefs of the conservative movement. It also brought up examples of people within the extreme conservative movement disagreeing with each other over politics, interpretations of the Bible, breaking rules enforced at the school and students coming to Liberty College for a variety of reasons (from its Christian background to being close to home to it providing an opportunity to play sports). Yes there is Friday night Bible Study and hand holding not hooking up, but there is still dating drama and intermural sports. ( )

Kevin Roose starts out his book with a fairly solid idea - spend a semester at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia to find out what it really is like to attend a fundamentalist Bible College. His subtitle claiming it to be America's Holiest University may be a bit of hyperbole, as events in the book lead students to compare the Liberty Way rules to the rules of other biblical colleges where they learn that they're downright liberal compared to other institutions. At the same time, what Liberty allows in relative social freedoms, it makes up for in a strict curriculum that still follows the 6,000 year-old earth theory and the leadership of the controversial Jerry Falwell.

The easy book to write today would have been one very critical of Falwell and one that would have mercilessly mocked the students at Liberty. After all, this seems to be the way to a larger audience today - make fun of the crazy religious nuts, claim they're going to be the end of us all and make fun some more. It's an odd argument and one that is about as effective as, say, claiming everyone that attends Brown is part of some massive east-coast liberal conspiracy.

Thankfully, Brown doesn't write the easy book. He goes in and simply writes what he experiences as a student at Liberty. Not as a student from Brown who chose to spend a semester at Liberty. And in it, he finds a diverse student body with a number of different reasons for attending Liberty. While he frets over the teaching of the strict 6,000-year-old earth creationism, he also finds that a good percentage of students won't leave Liberty sharing that same view. Not that all is well at Liberty and Roose delves into this as well.

All in all, this is an even-handed view of a dividing issue. And we could use more discussions like this. You know, less calling of names and more humanizing of the views. Less scary sound bites, more reasonable discussion, that kind of stuff. ( )

Think Blue Like Jazz if Don Miller wasn’t a Christian. Roose has so much heart. He’s gracious and vulnerable, which makes him so enduring. But his transparency is coupled with wisdom beyond his years (or a phenomenal editor). This book is great reading for anyone with a connection with fundamentalist Christians. It’s also great for “Bible believing Christians” to read to help them empathize with the target of their evangelism. Roose’s story is a great testimony to the blessings that can arise when we get beyond labels and make an honest effort to treat people with real respect and open arms.

As someone who has attended a fundamentalist church for the past five years (think Liberty University) as well as liberal churches with gay pastors (think Brown University), I am in awe of Roose's even-handedness. Although I don't agree with him on every point, he made a phenomenal effort of good will and open mindedness and should be commended. ( )

Kevin Roose was a journalist at Brown University when he decided to transfer to Liberty University, a very conservative Christian college founded by Rev. Jerry Falwell. Kevin was raised Quaker by pretty liberal parents, has a lesbian aunt and fit right in at Brown, so it was culture shock when he transferred. But Kevin figured out that students at Liberty aren't that different than the students at Brown. In fact, the students at Liberty seem happier, even with the strict rules enforced by the RAs. Nothing beyond short-term hand-holding. No revealing clothes, etc. Kevin leaps into the evangelical college with an open mind and doesn't spend the book bashing conservatives, which I appreciated. Instead, he pretty fairly notes the positives and the negatives of the college and the people who go there. In the end, he interviews Jerry Falwell (the last interview before Falwell's death) and he is greatly impacted by the Rev.'s death. Falwell was "complicated, " Kevin tells his father. Even back at Brown, Kevin still prays occasionally, so the semester at the holy university definitely influenced him. And even though I really enjoyed the first third of the book, the middle and end took me forever to read. I just couldn't breeze through it and I found myself putting the book aside to find something else to read. ( )

You know, I read this expecting to find a writer critical of Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, but was surprised to find a writer very thoughtful both about his craft and fellow students. I am not a fan of Jerry Falwell, and expected to dislike the students and faculty at Liberty University very much, but, instead, found a different view of this school through the author's eyes. Although he came from a liberal background and left Brown University for a semester at Liberty, the author is even handed and thoughtful about his new classmates. ( )

I loved this book. The author was funny and insightful and really tried to give an honest assessment of life a Liberty University. Definitely a book I'd recommend. ( )

For people who are interested in what goes on in Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, the author's reporting is first-rate. Spending a semester at Liberty rather than spending a semester during his junior year abroad, the Brown University student-author dives into all kinds of various programs and experiences that generate an insider's view of how evangelical students behave.
When the author switches from reporting to 'analysis', the book suffers. His admirable effort to be even-handed about what he is experiencing unfortunately prevents him on many occasions from realizing what he is seeing. For example, he reports a professor who states that even if all of the evidence in the universe contradicts young earth creationism, a foundation belief of the University, the professor would still believe in creationism because that's what the bible says. The author states that without changes, positions such as that will prevent the University from achieving more than academic mediocrity. I would argue instead that 'mediocrity' in the context of academia means that , for example, a program is taught by professors who are not the most insightful and therefore students do not receive an above average understanding of the subject matter. On the other hand, the professor's comments belongs in what I would call academic fraud. Conclusions such as this one by the author make the book a more frustrating read than was necessary. ( )

The Story

Kevin Roose challenges his personal belief system as he puts himself into the shoes of his complete opposite… a student at Liberty University. Changing from a lifestyle at the liberal Brown University to the conservative rules and restraints of a Evangelical Christian university is radical change for a 19-year old, bright student. However, he looked forward to the experience of a semester “abroad” and the opportunity to understand the similarities and differences of the students of these polar opposite campuses. I believe that Kevin achieved just that.

As he starts the semester, he quickly learns that Liberty University has a strict code of ethics, aka “The Liberty Way,” in which there is:

No smoking
No drinking
No cursing
No dancing
No R-rated movies
No hugs lasting more than 3 seconds
Kevin opens himself up to this new code of conduct, attends “Bible Boot Camp,” and really immerses himself into the school and its environment. He takes his readers along as he attends:

An evangelical hip-hop concert
A Friday Night Bible Study Group
Choir Practice/Performance at Jerry Falwell’s Thomas Road Baptist Church
A spring mission trip on Daytona Beach, Florida
An on-campus support group for chronic masturbators
Prayer groups
Nights with his new dorm-mates in which they sneak in a R-rated flick
Church
In my opinion, what Kevin discovers and shares with his readers is that despite the differences, the students are much more alike than he had originally assumed. He learned that his preconceived ideas about the students at Liberty were exaggerated and found them to be just as down-to-earth and likeable as his Brown classmates. Kevin found prayer, although he didn’t necessarily “find God.” He learned A TON about the Bible and studied the differences between evolution and creationism. From all of this, he wrote a book that forces the reader to look at his/her own beliefs and identify how they relate to his/her political and social ideals.

The Review

All in all, this is a very thought provoking book. In reading this book, I learned so much more about the studies of The Bible than I expected I would. The specific parts on Noah’s Ark and early creationism were of specific interest to me.

I really enjoyed watching Kevin keeping his mind open to all of the students he encountered. Even though he may not identify himself as a Christian, the way that he honors his fellow students and exhibits respect towards them, I feel emulates Christianity. There were many sections within the book that I got a great giggle out of. I loved reading about his mission trip to Daytona Beach, his efforts to give up “self-love” to focus on his spirituality, and his interview with Jerry Falwell.

Some of the topics that are brought to the surface in this book really challenged my belief system. I am a believer of the Christian faith, however I do maintain somewhat liberal views on certain topics. In other words, I’m best described as a non-conservative Christian. But, what I’ve often heard and what was delivered to me again in this book is that if you believe The Bible, you believe the entire thing. You can’t pick and choose what you believe to fit with your moral, social, or political viewpoints. This becomes difficult when you have such a deep love for God and Christ and yet try to accept all of God’s children regardless of their color, race, religion or sexual orientation. And, that’s a long conversation for another day and most likely not in a book review. But, it is those types of topics that surface in reading this book and I welcomed the mental challenge it provided me.

In reading this book, I learned WAY TOO MUCH about Jerry Falwell. Let’s just say that I can’t imagine investing in a Jerry Falwell Bobble-Head figurine. It was surprising to me just how much influence Jerry had on American politics and the Teletubbies (*yes, he was that guy who outed the purple one!*). When I visited the Liberty University website today, I discovered that his son, who has taken over the ministry, recently visited and prayed with members of U.S. Congress. I guess there’s no breaking that family tradition!

I also learned one other valuable lesson… if I get approached by Evangelicals who are on a mission to convert souls to Christ, I will be more tolerant and much nicer. I now have a different understanding of just how difficult it must be to approach strangers to discuss something as great as God. Now, this is not to say that I will spend more than a couple of minutes chatting with them, but I will be kind and honest in my response to that they can use their time to convert those non-believers that they set out to change! (*smile*)

Extras & Goodies

Kevin wrote a great article about Jerry Falwell that you can read HERE.

The Liberty University website can be accessed HERE.

Great Reviews I Found On The Book: My Friend Amy, The Book Lady’s Blog, A Reader’s Respite, At Home With Books, and Booking Mama.

The Rating

On Sher’s “Out of Ten Scale,” I am giving The Unlikely Disciple a rating of 9 out of 10. The novel really held my attention and I feel as though I spent a semester of learning at Liberty University. Although I both disagree and agree with Kevin Roose in his beliefs on various political and religious viewpoints, I feel a sense of kinship with this author. I want to see him do well in his sure-to-be-successful career as an author and/or journalist. In many ways, this book somewhat reminded me of an episode of 30 Days, a fantastic show by Morgan Spurlock about stepping into a life that you may form an opinion of without ever taking a step into. What people who have done this is usually discover is that they were very wrong about the mountainous divide between the two sides… we are all, inevitably human. ( )

I was skeptical of this book at first. However, I found it to be engaging, well written and couldn't put it down. Being a part of the evangelical community, I found this book very interesting. Kevin Roose has a bright future ahead of him. Ready for his next book to come out!

Kevin Roose, secular Quaker, Brown student, all around liberal -- decides to spend a semester "abroad" at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA.

He goes "undercover" ---not telling his friends, classmates, and professors that he is not, like everyone else there, an evangelical Christian in training.

What a wonderful book! Brilliant! Hair-raising, as well, to hear what it is like to be on the inside of a university that only has a library to get accrediation from the State, that does not allow student to read whole passages of writers (they quote only sentences to make their point), that teaches creationism,etc. I could go on and on and on. ( )

Kevin Roose does something so unlikely that it floors his Brown classmates. He is going to go down to Lynchburg, Virginia to the Liberty University founded by the late Dr. Jerry Falwell to spend a semester there then to write a book about it.

I heard about this book and being a Liberty University alumni and was not quite sure what I was getting myself into when I opened up The Unlikely Disciple. Kevin Roose did such a great job of capturing Liberty, the good and not so good. I laughed so hard when Roose is faced with a lot of little nuances that make up Liberty University. He did a wonderful job describing familiar professors and classes. I've recommended this book to a lot of friends from Liberty and those who have no idea what Liberty is about. ( )

Since I've lived in Virginia for most of my life and went to college about 2 hours away from Lynchburg, I was very interested in this book. I thought Roose is pretty fair about the plusses and minuses of the evangelical movement. I would love to have my high-school students read this book so they could see what someone (almost) their age can do! ( )

This book chronicles Roose’s semester at Liberty, and despite the fact that his interaction with his research subjects makes him incapable of being totally objective, he presents a relatively balanced picture of the students and their lives. Sure, some of his new peers are violently homophobic and anti-feminist, and sure, some of them are way too nosy or pushy or judgmental. But they all have such damn good intentions. (Except, maybe, for the ones who want him to give up masturbation. That’s asking a lot, don’tcha think?)

Liberty’s students turn out to be not as universally pure and wholesome as Roose thought they would be, and his exploration of what lies beneath their clean, shiny surfaces gives the book real depth and human interest. This is a funny, insightful example of immersion journalism at its best that will be interesting and accesible to readers religious and unbelieving alike. ( )

Roose, a student at Brown, decided to take a semester 'abroad' by going 'undercover' at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University. The Unlikely Disciple is his memoirs from that expericence. I applaud Kevin for gritting through all the right-wing extremeism at Liberty U and putting a facade of an evangelical for a few months; however, Kevin was too nice in his description of Liberty. He tried to show the similarities, rather than the differences, between Brown and other mainstream universities and Liberty. ( )

Kevin spent his semester "abroad" from Brown going undercover as an Evangelical at Liberty University. This is the account of his semester there. Well-written and structured, but he glosses over the immense difficulties faced by anyone raised in the faith who doesn't quite fit in or obey entirely.
For my extended review, see: http://opinionsofawolf.wordpress.com/... ( )

While those who need their eyes most opened as to what drives evangelicals will be the ones least likely to actually read this book, I think they'd do well to at least try to read this book through. It's as balanced a view as they are apt to find of Liberty University, warts and all. I recommend it.
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http://thegrenzian.blogspot.com/2009/... ( )

Recommended. An easy read, it can be finished in a single sitting over a couple of hours. Roose's style is simple and breezy, and has a good knack of giving broad personality sketches.

It's the book of a young man, to be sure. Roose is 19 when he begins the book, and despite a long number of quoted books on sociology through the book, Roose is still intellectually and philosophically developing.

To be fair, that is part of the charm. Roose is a bit fuzzy exactly where he personally lies on the whole 'God' thing, but the fact is that 'fuzzy' is as far as he's been able to work out in terms of his personal belief structure. He takes us along with him as he is confronted not by hate, but by absolute certainty. Something he finds far more unsettling and challenging.

Roose is very careful to praise the friends he made at Liberty College, and it gets a bit repetitive. He does touch briefly on the history of the college, but more information on where the graduates end up statistically in the workplace or geographically would have been very interesting. Finally, it would have been nice to hear a bit more about what Roose wanted to take away from his experience there, not simply relief at no longer having to deceive those around him. ( )

A really good look at a cross cultural experience. Kevin Roose is a Brown student from a non religious, liberal family with an outspoken gay aunt. After visiting Lynchburg VA and meeting students from Liberty University, he realizes their conversations were from extremely different/foreign cultures. He then decides to go undercover for a semester as a conservative Christian transfer to write a book about the experience.

This isn't a boring anthropological study, or a slanderous piece on how whack fundamentalists are. This is an honest experience that tells more about Kevin Roose and the people he encounters.

I left the book deep in thought thinking that too often "activists" in today's world shape the conversation and interaction of people from different cultures. Kevin's experience shows that people may not agree, but they can also find the the joys and heartaches in each other that crosses cultures.

Worth a good read. ( )

I really enjoyed this book. The author is great and I loved his sense of humor in the book. Coming from Brown University and going undercover at the Christian University, Liberty was very compelling. This was a very quick read for me and I could not put it down. I am glad in the end nobody was offended with him. ( )

I bought this book the week it came out. Being a Liberty Student I was very curious to see what an outsider had to say about coming to our school. I could not put it down. It was an extremely funny, witty book that without a doubt, gives a very fair view of how we live down at school. From the inside jokes and hilarious accounts of run ins with everyday professors, Roose does a fantastic job just showing us how it is. The way he explains it makes me double check to make sure some of the guys he was talking about weren't on my own hall. Roose makes this very real for anyone who is looking for a good read, a first hand account of what it's like at LU, and gives a great introduction to Christianity with little discrepancies to what is actually believed and practiced in the faith. Altogether a fantastic book. ( )

I was distracted from my reading of Du Maurier's My Cousin Rachel by a piece on NPR. Two weeks ago, I heard an interview with Kevin Roose about his book, An Unlikely Disciple. The story sounded familiar so I went back to my stacks of ARCs and found that I had picked this up at ALA Midwinter in January. I am very impressed with Kevin Roose, who spent a semester at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University in 2007. At the time, Roose was only 19 years old. An Unlikely Disciple is extremely well written for someone of Mr. Roose's age. I'm sure some will fault him for his generous evaluation of Liberty and its evangelical Christian community. I agree that he is rather lenient, yet I am happy that he managed to maintain a sense of objectivity throughout his experience. Most outside views of evangelical Christianity are not and, in fact, tend to dismiss or even attack the values of this group. While I don't agree with evangelical views, I appreciated Roose's attempt to truly understand the people he met at Liberty and his emphasis on the fact that not evangelicals are cut from the same mold. No political or religious sect is entirely of one mind. I would heartily recommend An Unlikely Disciple to anyone curious about the evangelical Christian movement. Perhaps it is age bias on my part, but I am truly amazed by what this now twenty-one year old achieved in An Unlikely Disciple. I look forward to the future work of Kevin Roose as one can only assume his writing and retrospection will improve with age. ( )