{"product_id":"this-boys-faith-notes-from-a-southern-baptist-upbringing","title":"This Boy's Faith: Notes from a Southern Baptist Upbringing","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn unforgettable memoir about growing up Southern  grappling with faith  and confronting a childhood colored by religion  Bible Belt culture  and a mother who minces words better than a food processor  A child stumbles upon a vintage photograph and glimpses salvation. A young girl vanishes in a famous cavern when she runs away from her tour group. A hijacked plane circles overhead  its passengers lives in jeopardy. A mystical stranger  a refugee from the Holocaust  seals off her secrets behind an elusive smile. From simple blessings to historical tragedies to random twists of fate  This Boys Faith plumbs the uncanny mysteries and surprising revelations at the heart of a Southern Baptist childhood.  Hamilton Cain came to Jesus on a trampoline  or as his devout parents described it  He just jumped and bounced his way to the Lord. Growing up in Tennessee in the 1970s and 80s  he set himself on the path to becoming the best Baptist boy he could be. The veil between the concrete and the magical shimmered all around him  nourishing his soul. Religion was a map to help him navigate his life  to steer away from the reefs of temptation. Yet as he grew older  Hamilton began to notice fractures and cracks in a world that had once promised sanctuary and transcendence  perils threatening to shatter the protective shell of family and community. Like an escape artist  he cut himself free from his evangelical milieu  and eventually gravitated north  to cosmopolitan New York.  Twenty years later  the smooth flow of Hamiltons life reversed itself yet again when his first child was born with a grave genetic disease. Thrown into a chasm of confusion and despair  he found the primal voices of his original culture reaching out to him. He picked up that faded  half-forgotten script to see what values  if any  could steady him in the here and now. The result is a story of growing up Baptist  and then growing up. Haunting  evocative and gorgeously written  Hamilton Cains debut will resonate with fans of poignant personal memoir  readers interested in faith and spirituality  and anyone who has known what its like to engage the complexities and contradictions of ones past.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44964717822005,"sku":"ByrdShop_030746394X","price":30.44,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780307463944.jpg?v=1770476633","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/this-boys-faith-notes-from-a-southern-baptist-upbringing","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}