Fish Out of Water

By Eric Metaxas

Fish Out of Water - Eric Metaxas
  • Release Date: 2021-02-02
  • Genre: Biographies & Memoirs
Score: 4
4
From 20 Ratings

Description

What Happens When One of America’s Most Admired Biographers Writes His Own Biography?

For Eric Metaxas, the answer is Fish Out of Water: A Search for the Meaning of Life—a poetic and sometimes hilarious memoir of his early years, in which the Queens-born son of Greek and German immigrants struggles to make sense of a world in which he never quite seems to fit.

Renowned for his biographies of William Wilberforce, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Martin Luther, Metaxas is the author of five New York Times bestsellers, the witty host of the acclaimed Socrates in the City conversation series, and a nationally syndicated radio personality. But here he reveals a personal story few have heard, taking us from his mostly happy childhood—and riotous triumphs at Yale—to the nightmare of drifting toward a dark abyss of meaninglessness from which he barely escapes.

Along the way he introduces us to an unforgettable troupe of picaresque characters who join this quintessentially first-generation American boy in what is both bildungsroman and odyssey—and which underscores just how funny, serious, happy, sad, and ultimately meaningful life can be.

Reviews

  • Enjoyable overall

    4
    By TCB777-mymail
    I thoroughly enjoyed Eric’s books on Luther and Bonhoeffer so had to check this one out as well. I especially enjoyed his testimony at the end in how he became a born again Christian. Eric’s world is very different from mine as I am unfamiliar with a large number of people and cultural references that he mentions in the book. Also there was a LOT of vocabulary in the book that I am unfamiliar with. I looked up some out of a desire to learn but there was so much of it that after a while I gave up and figured it out the best I could from the context. I think the more cultured and educated people out there will appreciate Eric’s writing talents more than I am able. I also listen to some of Eric’s podcasts and have come to appreciate his cultural commentary and passion for what is good, pure and lovely.