Same Kind of Different as Me

I checked out this book two days ago at work (one of my favorite things about working at Borders is that we can check out books, like a library.) Several customers have told me it was one of the best books they've ever read.

I am not quite halfway through it, and I wholeheartedly agree.

A veritable slave, sharecropper Denver Moore grew up in rural Louisiana in the 50's and 60's, picking cotton and living off credit to "the Man." He never once received a paycheck, and never learned to read, write, or 'figger'. In his twenties, on a whim, he hopped on a boxcar of the train that he watched roll by day after day, and took it to Fort Worth, Texas. With no skills other than picking cotton, there was nothing for him to do there but live on the streets, panhandle, and get into trouble.

Meanwhile, Ron Hall, who grew up in Texas in a lower middle-class home, was making a name for himself as an art dealer. He was building quite an empire- and quite an ego. His marriage almost fell apart due to his greed and self-indulgent behaviors. He and his wife Deborah dealt with their problems through prayer and scripture. Ron's art business continuted to thrive, and their marriage grew stronger by leaps and bounds.

When Deborah begins volunteering at a homeless mission in downtown Fort Worth, Ron reluctantly goes along, not because he feels called to serve the less fortunate, but out of love for his wife and a desire to be a good husband. When he and Deborah strike up an unlikely friendship with surly Denver, he is surprised to find that there is so much more than meets the eye. This book serves as an awesome reminder that there is so much beneath the surface of people, if we only discover our inner archeologist and dig.

This sounds like a lovely story, right? If this were a work of fiction, that's all it would be. But this book is written by Ron Hall and Denver Moore, bringing their unlikely friendship to a new status as coauthors of one of the most incredible memoirs this blogger has ever read.

Go read this book! I promise you won't be sorry.