Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Adorning the Dark by Andrew Peterson

Genre: Biography/Memoir 
Publisher: B&H Books 
Released: October 1, 2019
199 pages
About the Book:
Making something beautiful in a broken world can be harrowing work, and it can’t be done alone.
 
Over the last twenty years, Andrew Peterson has performed thousands of concerts, published four novels, released ten albums, taught college and seminary classes on writing, founded a nonprofit ministry for Christians in the arts, and executive-produced a film—all in a belief that God calls us to proclaim the gospel and the coming kingdom using whatever gifts are at our disposal. He’s stumbled along the way, made mistake after mistake, and yet has continually encountered the grace of God through an encouraging family, a Christ-centered community of artists in the church, and the power of truth, beauty, and goodness in Scripture and the arts.
 
While there are many books about writing, none deal first-hand with the intersection of songwriting, storytelling, and vocation, along with nuts-and-bolts exploration of the great mystery of creativity. In Adorning the Dark, Andrew describes six principles for the writing life: serving the work, serving the audience, selectivity, discernment, discipline, and community
 
Through stories from his own journey, Andrew shows how these principles are not merely helpful for writers and artists, but for anyone interested in imitating way the Creator interacts with his creation.
 
This book is both a memoir of Andrew’s journey and a handbook for artists, written in the hope that his story will provide encouragement to others stumbling along in pursuit of a calling to adorn the dark with the light of Christ.
 

My Rating & Thoughts:    


This was not a book for me. I am not a musician or a writer and didn't expect this book to be so memoir focused. Andrew Peterson drops so many names I didn't recognize, and he is definitely a huge fan of Rich Mullins (could he talk about him more?). The beginning was an easy read, and I was thinking I'd enjoy this read, but I ended up getting bored about a third of the way and found my mind wandering as I was reading it. If I hadn't been reading it as part of a group, I would have dnf'd it. If you have any interest in the music industry or songwriting, you will probably enjoy this book.

(I purchased my copy of this book; opinions expressed 
in this review are my honest opinion and completely my own.)

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