Very interesting read. It took me several weeks to complete this book but overall I did enjoy the book. One of the quotes states that "our god becomes the self magnified" and I think this is such a true statement. It becomes our own realism verses what God actually says in His Word. So many of his statements in this book are bold and I don't agree with all of them, but it did make me ponder some of his arguments and statements. This is certainly a book that will make you stop and think and determine what you believe and how you feel about some of the thoughts!. We don't always have to agree with what someone says or thinks but it is always nice to explore others thoughts and wisdom. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this intriguing read.

Thanks NET GALLEY

The light of the optimist is always bright.

Strange time and strange book, thought provoking but delves close to the Jimmy Cricket "give a little whistle" realm at times. Still it was good.

This book I didn’t get. So it must not have been reaching out to me. It talked about God and Jesus and America, but nothing I was relatable to. I just didn’t get it at all. It kept talking about a Beloved Community. What is that? It sounds like they’re trying to make a new, like a new world order America? and though America has it’s failures, it has it’s moments of love, compassion, and triumphs as well. So, I I just didn’t get the book.

I liked the title and the premise but was disappointed. My understanding of a good essay, or a nonfiction book directed to a stated point, is that you introduce your thesis, your share your arguments and then you wrap up your points with a conclusion. Sadly, in my opinion, this book failed in all three elements. If the subtitle was the point or goal of this book it did not succeed in presenting that premise clearly although it meandered around the topic.

I found this work to be esoteric and full of lengthy, confusing sentences. It reminded me of the saying that someone is “so heavenly minded they are no earthly good.” He challenges “truth” as presented by the news, stating (in a 52-word sentence) that “… it’s as if our ability to see and think clearly is constantly compromised by an endless diversion from the facts on the ground.” I may well agree with that statement, but I didn’t find where he gives a solution or suggestion to overcome this. (My solution is to watch at least two versions of the news and often read articles on topics trying to pick out the actual facts.) Mr. Dark also states: “Politics is how we govern ourselves. It’s the way we conduct our lives.” I do not agree with this generalization. There is certainly an element of the American public that fall under this statement, but many do not. Particularly I would argue that the lives of true Christ-followers are not governed by politics.

The author quickly (and repeatedly) slips into sharing bias, bitterness and convoluted statements that I found inappropriate for a book purporting to want to foster the Gospel. There are several comments bashing American founders, President Trump, and even evangelicals as “white supremacists”. He states that “evangelical” in America might be “so definitively thought to refer to a sleeper cell of the Republican Party and thereby to be tied to the ideology of white supremacy and climate denial that to say it aloud is to court misunderstanding.” I can’t agree more that such statements “court misunderstanding”. I can sense that not only many Republicans would find this implied generalization offensive, but I think it is even more offensive to American evangelists whom I think would be part of the book’s intended audience. At 62% in the book, Mr. Dark, while discussing one of his author icons, Toni Morrison, states: “True witness knows no division. Labels be damned.” And oh, how I wished Mr. Dark had left labeling out of his ‘effusion’ (a more fitting description than ‘treatise”).

If a reader pushes through the confusion of the first 30% of the work, the reader will find a rather interesting discussion of classic literature, science fiction authors, movies and musicians. There is a detailed discussion of moral and religious issues presented in Moby Dick and The Scarlet Letter. Mr. Dark also discusses like themes from many authors including Shakespeare (Macbeth), John Milton, Ursula K. Le Guin, Kurt Vonnegut, George Orwell, William Faulkner (As I Lay Dying), Octavia E. Butler (Kindred), Thomas Pynchon (Gravity's Rainbow), Phillip K. Dick and more. On the music exploration, Mr. Dark includes comments on Bob Dylan, Sly and the Family Stone, Bambara, Aretha Franklin, Woody Guthrie, Kris Kristofferson, Pixies, Patti Smith, Chance the Rapper and others. Movies that get some discussion include The Body Snatchers, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Patch Adams, Sunset Boulevard and Mulholland Drive. TV series mentioned include Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone and even The Simpsons.

I did find some nuggets (maybe 5) buried in the slog. Mr. Dark laments that “…our capacity for right worship and right listening for functioning democracy is compromised” due to the loss of willingness or ability “to hear, read, or listen to any version of history that can’t be contained in a sound bite or a put down…”. (Another 50-word sentence.) He notes that we need “the skills to understand and locate ourselves…” but he doesn’t give any reason for the loss or a recommendation to change it. I would suggest that we have a crisis in educating our children in history, civics, and morality. I would question why college students are quick to shut down or protest presentations and open dialogue with those of different views.

The book is peppered with references to The Beloved Community which I believe the author intends to be the basis for the “possibility” of America. He doesn't make this clear. About 77% into the book, in Chapter Seven, Mr. Dark discusses the Catholic Worker Movement and finally shares some thoughts on how the underlying Christian directive to “love they neighbor” would change the atmosphere of America.

I chose this as my First Book for 2020. Sadly, I was disappointed. I would recommend the book to those who might enjoy the literature discussions as long as the reader isn’t looking (like I was) for a work to support the subtitle.

Source: NetGalley.

This book started off with an interesting premise, however, it seemed to lose it's way in the middle. It was supposed to be a book that analyzed the current state of affairs in our country through the lens of religion. However, the author spent a lot of time talking about pop culture references. A strong start, and an exceptional ending, but the middle was disappointing.

I could not get into this book. It was wordy and clunky. I made it through the introduction and first chapter and couldn't understand where the author stood. This is more scholarly and not for casual Christians.

The Possibility of America: How the Gospel Can Mend Our God-Blessed, God-forsaken Land by David Dark is an examination of American culture, democracy and its spirituality. America had brought this great experiment in to the world and extended the argument that human beings owe one another the basics of respect and decency. Mr. Dark examines American patriotism as well as being honest about the darkness that is in American history. Any relationship cannot be at its best when its lying to itself about itself. Americans need to acknowledge its dark history as well as its flaws. Using examples from American movies, music, literature, television and its political figures, David Dark shows that America is on the right track with areas of improvement. He also uses these areas to show that God and Christian values, and even its faults, have been a part of the American fabric from the beginning. He advocates for the Beloved Community, an idea postulated by the late Martin Luther King Jr, in which a society is based on justice, equal opportunity, and love of one’s fellow man.
The Possibility of America is a difficult read as Mr. Dark goes into great depth and analysis in order to support his argument. He likes to use heavy vocabulary with sentences that seem to drag on. He often gets too bogged down in summarizing a book, movie or music before making his point. However, his points were eye-openers and I made notes in order to back and examine his examples on my own. It is a book that I will revisit again after I have made my own examination of his examples. It is a fairly short book, only 188 pages, but it is jampacked with information and insights. I recommend The Possibility of America for its honest look at America, it’s history, it’s culture and its spirituality.

The Possibility of America
is available in paperback and eBook