Book Review: Hear No Evil

Hear No Evil by Matthew Paul Turner (reviewed by Brian Dolleman)

Review
I love the honesty and humor Matthew Paul Turner uses to talk about growing in a Fundamentalist home.

One of my favorite excerpts:

“For as long as I could remember, I had lived a separate existence from normal people. I don’t believe I comprehended to what extent my life was different from the lives of other people my age, but I wasn’t naive to how odd and detached we were. Sure, my parents installed a chastity belt around my brain to keep out unwanted predators like Pee-wee Herman and the anti-God propagandist who wrote 1984, but I wasn’t ignorant. I knew my family was different. We liked being different.

Why wouldn’t God find pleasure in my holy brown-nosing? Most of the people at my church did. As far as I knew, the faith I lived was built on nothing less than the state of my own righteousness.

I wanted to go to the theater, But I did fear that when the movie was over, I’d struggle to envision God looking at me with the same delight as he did before.

At my church my sins weren’t so much saved by grace. They were taunted by it.”

If you enjoy music, stories, satire, honesty and humor, this book is for you.

Summary of Hear No Evil:
If you’ve ever had the opening bars of a song transport you back in time or remind you of a pivotal spiritual moment, Matthew Paul Turner’s honest—and frequently hilarious—musings will strike a chord. Straightforward and amusing, Hear No Evil is Turner’s “life soundtrack,” a compilation of engaging personal stories about how music—and music’s ability to transform—has played a key role in his spiritual life. Groove along on his journey as young evangelical Turner attends forbidden contemporary Christian concerts, moves to “Music City” Nashville, and dreams of becoming the Michael Jackson of Christian music. Cosmic and compelling, keen and funny, every page is a new encounter with the people, places, and experiences that have taught the music-editor-turned-author