Does This Church Make Me Look Fat?: A Mennonite Finds Faith, Meets Mr. Right, and Solves Her Lady Problems

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Does This Church Make Me Look Fat?: A Mennonite Finds Faith, Meets Mr. Right, and Solves Her Lady Problems

3.39 of 5 stars 3.39 · rating details · 669 ratings · 195 reviews

What does it mean to give church a try when you haven't really tried since you were twelve? At the end of her bestselling memoir Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, Rhoda Janzen had reconnected with her family and her roots, though her future felt uncertain. But when she starts dating a churchgoer, this skeptic begins a surprising journey to faith and love.

Rhoda doesn't sli...more

Hardcover, 257 pages

Published October 2nd 2012 by Grand Central Publishing

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Nov 21, 2012 Clif Hostetler rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography

A spiritual journey from Mennonite (preacher's daughter) to humanist (scholar with PhD) to Pentecostal (with a bit of skepticism). An unlikely journey but nevertheless that's what this book is about. The switch to Pentecostalism coincided with a new romantic relationship and a bout with cancer. The author admits her spiritual transformation was sufficiently bizarre to cause her friends to ask, "Has the cancer affected your frontal lobe?" The cancer probably did concentrate her mind while she pon...more
A spiritual journey from Mennonite (preacher's daughter) to humanist (scholar with PhD) to Pentecostal (with a bit of skepticism). An unlikely journey but nevertheless that's what this book is about. The switch to Pentecostalism coincided with a new romantic relationship and a bout with cancer. The author admits her spiritual transformation was sufficiently bizarre to cause her friends to ask, "Has the cancer affected your frontal lobe?" The cancer probably did concentrate her mind while she pondered her mortality. But it didn't hinder her ability to write creatively about her experiences in an upbeat humorous style while scattering little vignettes of spiritual insight.

"Like most people when they first approach God, all I wanted was help. I was hoping that God would swoop in and do the work for me. He didn't do that. But he did show me how to do the work myself. … I had spent a lifetime blaming other people for my own stuff. The sheer force of this revelation took my breath away. It changed everything. All of a sudden I saw that holding a grudge was a way to avoid confronting my own stuff. And so for the last two years the idea of prayer had been slowly gathering heft. At the time of my diagnosis I saw faith in God not as belief in a real external entity but as a useful cause and effect strategy for managing heartbreak, anxiety and blame."

Comments such as the above show surprising maturity. I'm surprised because the author didn't have this kind of sober self evaluation in her first book, “Mennonite in a Little Black Dress .” The author's writing style is entertaining to read, even when she's describing the most mundane subjects. I'm convinced she could maintain the reader's interest even when describing paint drying.

We may be witnessing the development of a new subgenre of Mennonite memoir. First there was Rhoda Janzen’s first book, “Mennonite in a Little Black Dress ” which made it to #1 on the NY Times bestseller list. Then came Rhonda Langley's reply in the form of her book, “ Mennonite in Blue Jeans: a Lenten Journey ” which didn’t make it to the NY Times list, but was more popular with most Mennonites because the author had remained within the Mennonite community. Now Rhoda Janzen’s second book (the subject of this review) is published telling of her current situation. I've just learned that Rhonda Langley has also published a second memoir, titled The Year of 42, that also updates happenings in the life of her and her family. Link to Rhonda's blog

What’s coming next? I’ve been following Shirley Showalter’s blog for several years. (She’s former president of Goshen College.) She has written her memoir, handed it into the publisher and it’s scheduled to be published in September, 2013. I’m looking forward to reading it.(less)

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Dec 24, 2012 Renita M rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: female-centric, memoirs

I read Mennonite in a Little Black Dress and chuckled my way through it, with some familiarity, although Janzen's Mennonite experience does not mirror my own.

(To wit, she was actually raised Mennonite Brethren, a separate denomination; most modern American Mennos don't grow up speaking German; I was not forced to eat beets growing up. That said, my grandmother was raised Russian MB.)

I picked this book up expecting similar musings, sped through it in an evening, and came away quite surprised.

Janz...more

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Jun 12, 2012 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-mt-bookpile

This is a real mish-mash of a book: part exploration of faith, part story of how the author found love and remarried, and part tale of cancer survival. That's why there are only three stars, because in some ways all three parts get shortchanged. There are wry observations, so-called "SAT" words and humorous asides about all three aspects (for example, her comments about her then-boyfriend Mitch's habit of calling his son 'Billy the [insert thing the child failed to do/did to excess]').

The title...more

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Apr 30, 2013 Linda Post rated it 3 of 5 stars

The author, a college professor, continues her memoir first begun in Mennonite in a Little Black Dress. Here her faith is reignited in a most unlikely spot, she meets and marries a most unlikely guy and she deals with breast cancer. Her engaging writing style and good humor make this a compelling read, even if I’m left thinking “how very odd indeed.”

“The stories we surround ourselves with can either move us forward or hold us back. A word in the mind is like a pebble in the shoe: both can bring...more

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Jan 31, 2013 Connie rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is the funniest book I have ever read (or ever expect to read) about having cancer and joining a Pentecostal congregation (though the two are only peripherally related). It's hard to describe just what reading this book is like. Imagine hanging out with a good buddy and talking about the stuff that really matters while you laugh a lot, too. Thoughtful and witty, chatty in tone, Janzen writes with both great seriousness and a light touch when it comes to some very tough topics. She is honest...more

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Dec 09, 2012 Cristina rated it 3 of 5 stars

I had such high hopes for this book. When I saw that Ms. Janzen was writing another book, I put it onto my wish list as soon as it was listed on Amazon. I really enjoyed Mennonite In A Little Black Dress. Even for the high Kindle book price, I decided to splurge on this book. I didn't realize when I bought it that it was Ms. Janzen's journey back to religion. I started reading and from the first bit I got the impression the book was about her journey through cancer. There were lots of tangents,...more I had such high hopes for this book. When I saw that Ms. Janzen was writing another book, I put it onto my wish list as soon as it was listed on Amazon. I really enjoyed Mennonite In A Little Black Dress. Even for the high Kindle book price, I decided to splurge on this book. I didn't realize when I bought it that it was Ms. Janzen's journey back to religion. I started reading and from the first bit I got the impression the book was about her journey through cancer. There were lots of tangents, but as you get further through the book the story about cancer sort-of drops out and it's only about religion. Specifically, her experience meeting and marrying a Pentecostal and her conversion too. It felt like there were so many loose ends in the book. I liked her writing style and stories but at the end of each story, she'd switch over to talk about something else and I was left wondering if there was a conclusion. I don't know that I'd say the book was actually preachy, but there was a lot of Bible talk. It felt like lots of time was taken explaining the point of things like tithing or spiritual gifts but the language used was for someone who already agrees with the underlying narrative that God's Authority is right because it's God. I was disturbed by how easily Ms. Janzen was able to push aside issues (that she says she feels very strongly about) such as lack of female leadership in churches. I also felt let down about her monologue on the joys of a "Christian Marriage". It really felt like she was saying marriages fall apart because the people in them are not Christian enough to "seek God in their marriage" - like it's just random chance if non-Christian people have a good marriage because the only truly great ones are Christian marriages. Overall, I was left feeling rather down after reading this book. From her perspective, I'm sure this is a happy story but from my perspective it was a story of an independent woman who got a cancer diagnosis then turned into a woman who set aside everything she believed in to throw herself into her boyfriend/husband's church and all the beliefs it entailed. Let me be clear that I'm not saying this impression is what her life is now, it's just what I was left feeling after reading this book. I'll keep an eye on this author because I do like her writing style and I enjoy her stories. I'll probably even read Mennonite In A Little Black Dress again sometime. But I don't think I'll pick up this book again.(less)

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Nov 14, 2012 Jill Furedy rated it 3 of 5 stars

When I read the first book, I had heard so much about how funny it was that it didn't impress me at all...I was only mildly amused by it. But I thought I'd give the sequel a try. It's a catchy title/subtitle. Again, I was not nearly amused as I hoped to be. Especially after finding "Let's Pretend this Never Happened" so funny that I started following that author's blogs...most of which make me laugh more than this book did. Then somewhere in the book it went from the story of her spiritual devel...more

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Oct 29, 2012 Teressa Morris rated it 5 of 5 stars

I couldn't help but fall in love with this book. Rhoda Janzen's irreverent writing style, although shockingly, sometimes hysterically funny, is also touchingly insightful. I had to pause frequently throughout my reading to find someone who would listen to particularly intriguing passages. I am thrilled to be able to share some of these with my readers as well.

One of Rhoda's biggest struggles in the book is in returning to some of the practices she had abandoned as a young adult. Prayer was not s...more I couldn't help but fall in love with this book. Rhoda Janzen's irreverent writing style, although shockingly, sometimes hysterically funny, is also touchingly insightful. I had to pause frequently throughout my reading to find someone who would listen to particularly intriguing passages. I am thrilled to be able to share some of these with my readers as well.

One of Rhoda's biggest struggles in the book is in returning to some of the practices she had abandoned as a young adult. Prayer was not something she had taken seriously in the past, but once she is diagnosed with serious "lady problems" she finds that people all over the world are praying for her. She writes of this time:

"As far as I could see, there were two ways to read this situation. Either all that prayer mattered, or it didn't And I needed to make up my mind."

As Rhoda's medical situation worsens, she turns to God for help. During the process, she tries to learn an "attitude of gratitude" - a new endeavor for her.

"Like most people when they first approach God, all I wanted was help. I was hoping God might swoop in and do the work for me. He didn't do that. But he did show me how to do the work myself. One day something clicked into focus...(I had) the tardy epiphany that I had spent a lifetime blaming other people for my own stuff. The sheer force of this revelation took my breath away. It changed everything. All of a sudden I saw that holding a grudge was a way to avoid confronting my own stuff."

Rhoda looks to her parents as an example of godly living. A Mennonite minister and his wife, they had "resolutely taken responsibility for their own happiness." Her father-in-law, on the other hand, had allowed life to beat him down. He didn't seem to find pleasure in anything.

"I tried to tell myself that the spirit of kvetch was understandable, given the onus of Albert's disability. But in my heart I knew that nobody has to be crankypants. Kvetching is a choice. You can choose to do it, or you can choose not to."

Throughout all of this, Rhoda and her boyfriend grow closer. Rhoda, who is recently divorced, after 15 years of marriage, is a little gun shy. She is concerned that although their relationship is going well, once they are married she and her new husband will tire of each other. She turns for answers in the New Testament story of a father who begs Jesus to heal his child. The father cries to Jesus, "I do believe; help my unbelief!"

"For me, the takeaway is that we don't need to be strong and faithful and firm in order to approach God. We can be an unholy mess, like the son, or a frustrated skeptic, like the dad. What a relief that we don't have to be good at religion in order to seek God! We don't even have to have a strong sense of belief. All we need is the desire to believe.

I decided to approach marriage as the dad approaches Jesus."

Don't expect a typical religious memoir. There are a few mild swear words throughout this book and it is anything but pious. But Rhoda's journey toward a deeper relationship with God and her fiancee' is a story that many of us can relate to. I too, feel a strong relationship with God, but often struggle with some of the teachings of the church. I really appreciated how Rhoda dealt with this conflict and deepened her faith in the process.

My only problem with the book was the occasional overuse of "large" words. Really, how many times should the word ineluctable used in one book? I had to pull out the dictionary frequently throughout my reading, which as my friends know, is highly unusual for me. However, not knowing these words will not detract from the story itself, so don't let this keep you away. I'm just a little obsessive that way.(less)

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Oct 08, 2012 Miriam Downey rated it 4 of 5 stars

You can find my full review here: http://mimi-cyberlibrarian.blogspot.c...

Memoirist Rhoda Janzen says, “What a relief it is that we don’t have to be good at religion in order to seek God! We don’t even have to have a strong sense of belief. All we need is the desire to believe.”

In her second memoir, Does This Church Make Me Look Fat, Janzen displays her desire to believe with marvelously funny stories about a topic that shouldn’t be funny, i.e. seriously dangerous breast cancer. Janzen is an En...more You can find my full review here: http://mimi-cyberlibrarian.blogspot.c...

Memoirist Rhoda Janzen says, “What a relief it is that we don’t have to be good at religion in order to seek God! We don’t even have to have a strong sense of belief. All we need is the desire to believe.”

In her second memoir, Does This Church Make Me Look Fat, Janzen displays her desire to believe with marvelously funny stories about a topic that shouldn’t be funny, i.e. seriously dangerous breast cancer. Janzen is an English professor at Hope College in Holland, Michigan, about an hour from where I live. PhD educated at UCLA, she is an academic who abandoned her Mennonite faith as a teenager. Her first spiritual memoir, Mennonite in a Little Black Dress tells the story of the horrendous time in her life when she returned to her Mennonite roots to heal following a divorce and a lot of broken bones from a car accident. The desire to believe came back to her then and continued after she returned to her academic life.

By this time, she is open to returning to religion, or in her words, with the desire for faith. She meets a “manly man,” who is a born-again Pentecostal, and starts attending church with him. Although they are as opposite as can be (his son says that they might be from different planets), they find they are perfect for each other.

As fate would have it, shortly after she meets “Mitch,” she receives a diagnosis of breast cancer—a massive tumor in her breast. Fearing the worst, she offers to let Mitch off the hook, but he tells her that he is the right man for this challenge, and so they face the surgery, the radiation, and the chemo together. The chapter that details how she finds out about the cancer raises goose bumps, both spiritually and factually. Yet, the way in which she handles the diagnosis is nothing short of amazing. In her inner being, she seems to know that everything will be all right, and so, as the book evolves, Rhoda marries Mitch, the cancer goes into a complete remission, and Rhoda becomes a part of Mitch's faith community.

I could relate to Janzen’s cancer journey on many levels. I will never forget when my husband, who had been fighting lymphatic cancer for 6 years, came home from a doctor’s visit. He had not told me he was going, so when he came home I was fixing dinner in the kitchen. I was mixing meat loaf as I recall, and he walked in, gave me a peck on the cheek, and told me he had been to the doctor. “The doctor says it’s really bad this time,” he said, and I kept making the meatloaf. Rhoda received her diagnosis over the telephone while she was counseling a student. She finished the session with the student and then went off to teach a two hour class. Sometimes doing common things helps soften the blow.

Janzen really doesn’t linger on the cancer. Most of Does This Church… is a love story and a narrative concerning the nature of faith and its reappearance in her life. It is the story of affirming the present, seizing upon the opportunities that life offers, and restoring the rightful place of faith in God in life. Although her spiritual journey is different from mine, I grew as I read about her journey and about the gracious God that guides her.

Besides all that, like Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, this book is laugh-out-loud funny. When life becomes absurd, you can either bemoan the hand you have been dealt, or you can laugh at the irony of it all. Personally, I love Janzen’s humor, her outlook on life, and the affirming way her husband, friends and family love and support her quirky take on it all. (less)

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Jul 03, 2012 Cheryl rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: christianity

I didn't know what to expect from this book since I hadn't read her previous memoir. The title was snarky, but the contents were not so much, and I can see why some other early reviewers here were perplexed and put off, because at heart this is an unlikely conversion story and not a path that secular people or even liberal Christians are likely to have innate sympathy with. As a spiritual memoir of a (now) fifty something, Janzen's life has given me a lot to ponder that would be boring to list h...more

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May 31, 2012 Jenny rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: read2012, biography-memoir, netgalley

I don't think I would have finished this, were it not for how quick of a read it is. It is unfortunate, because I really enjoyed Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, but there is an important difference between that book and this one. In Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, Rhoda Janzen was laughing - at her upbringing, at her family, at herself. Almost like she was laughing because some of it was tragic, and that's just what you do, but still, I laughed too.

In this book, as she chronicles her journ...more

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Sep 28, 2012 Anna rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography, nonfiction

I had the pleasure of meeting Rhoda Janzen at a trade show in Denver a couple of weeks ago. If the title of this book had not already convinced me to read it, she certainly would have. She's outgoing and well-spoken and snarky, three of my favorite things in an author. Also, she was wearing a bright pink skirt suit, and you have to respect a woman who can pull that off. Does This Church Make Me Look Fat? is hysterical and heart-warming. If you read her first memoir, Mennonite in a Little Black...more

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Nov 27, 2012 Alexandra rated it 3 of 5 stars

I wanted to like this book as much as I liked her other book, Mennonite in a Little Black Dress. But I didn't. It was still a decent book. It was well-written, witty, and a quick read.

However, if you thought her previous book was written in a stream of consciousness, then watch out! This one seemed even harder to follow at times. Sometimes I found myself saying "Get to the point!" Or "Where did this come from? Oh yeah, this was the whole point of this chapter but it wasn't until the end that I r...more

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Sep 04, 2012 Nancy Herkness rated it 3 of 5 stars

I read Mennonite in a Little Black Dress and laughed all the way through it. I also learned quite a bit about the Mennonites, so it was a hugely satisfying read.

Alas, Does This Church Make Me Look Fat? does not offer the same amount of laughter or education. It is a much more serious book, not surprisingly, because it deals with cancer and a reawakening to deep religious belief. For those who are interested in following another person's path to religion, Ms. Janzen offers some interesting discus...more

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Oct 12, 2012 Charlotte rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: advanced-readers-copy, nook

http://charlotteswebofbooks.blogspot....

Does This Church Make Me Look Fat follows Rhoda as she battles cancer while trying to foster a new relationship and attending a new church that is so different than anything she ever experienced growing up in the Mennonite faith. Having grown up Catholic, I have not had really any exposure to the Pentecostal faith, so I found that a bit interesting. I also enjoyed watching her relationship develop with Mitch and even Mitch's son, Leroy.

Bottom line, if you...more

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Sep 30, 2012 Catherine rated it 3 of 5 stars

I missed Rhoda Janzen’s first book, Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, so jumping into her newest book, Does This Church Make Look Fat?, was a bit like going to a new high school your sophomore year. Yes, they speak the language but you don’t know any of the backstory or the cliques. Also, I’ll admit it. I wanted to read the book because the title made me laugh out loud. If you read her first book, you’re a little ahead of the game but even if not, Janzen has enough going on in this one and is k...more

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Apr 14, 2013 Jane rated it 2 of 5 stars

I have fond memories of Rhoda Janzen's first memoir, but I was startled to find God steadily infiltrating every corner of this newest memoir. Janzen has a lot of hysterically funny lines in this, but after a while, I started feeling like I was reading a book about religion and not a book about one person's specific experience with religion.

I have mixed feelings about this book. The mix between personal and all-mighty religion just seemed confusing, and when I read the acknowledgements at the end...more

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Jun 13, 2012 Jim rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, biography-memoir

"The stories we surround ourselves with can either move us forward or hold us back... We erase not our history, but its power to harm us...Faith is the hope that our work will have meaning, that someday our troubled rooms will be transformed." page 141

Rhoda Janzen picks up her story of departure from and return to her Mennonite roots in Mennonite in a Black Dress, a number one New York Times bestseller with a new work, Does This Church Make Me Look Fat? (To be published by Grand Central Publishi...more
"The stories we surround ourselves with can either move us forward or hold us back... We erase not our history, but its power to harm us...Faith is the hope that our work will have meaning, that someday our troubled rooms will be transformed." page 141

Rhoda Janzen picks up her story of departure from and return to her Mennonite roots in Mennonite in a Black Dress, a number one New York Times bestseller with a new work, Does This Church Make Me Look Fat? (To be published by Grand Central Publishing on October 1, 2012)

In Does this Church Janzen tells the rest of her story that unfolds in her earlier work: that having lost her husband to a boyfriend from a gay website and having sustained serious injuries in a car accident she returns to her parents home and comes face to face with her Mennonite roots and the larger issue of faith.

Without giving away details Janzen, with her delightful humor, wit, and sarcasm, that disappears as she comes to grips with the issue of faith and all the barriers to faith she had erected over the years , puts her life back together as she meets a man who is the opposite of so much she believes in, a step-son and a father-in-law that she inhabits a house with and many of the political hot buttons pushed along the way.

And while it was Janzen's first book that interested me in this book, I recommend getting this book because of the simply honest way that Janzen describes her journey into a faith that is her own faith and not her childhood faith nor her parents faith. Her story and journey is the story and journey of many adults today.

And though many readers many not agree with the path than Janzen has taken, I do believe they will recognize that adulthood requires us to make adult decisions and sometimes those decisions take a while to fully make - whether it is matters related to faith or becoming one's own person- and re-make as well.

I rate this book a "great" read.

NOTE: The review copy of this book was a Net Galley copy via Net Galley from the publisher. A positive review was not required.(less)

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Aug 22, 2012 Danielle rated it 4 of 5 stars

I broke my Augusten Burroughs rule by reading this book. What is the Augusten Burroughs rule you may ask? It is the rule that I don't read more than one memoir by any given author. It seems to often these days that authors manage to sell a memoir based on some life experience, wind up on the bestseller list and then decide that if people enjoyed reading about their lives that much the first time then the world must be clamoring for yet more tales from their lives. Mostly I'm not. I instituted th...more

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Apr 05, 2013 Ruthmgon rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was pretty cute, the author certainly can write, and she is really funny--so I may read her other bestseller. I would not recommend this book to people who are not warmed to or sold on Christianity, just because I think her humor is geared toward commonly discussed themes in churches and church groups...like prayer, tithing, marriage, baptism.

The portions of the book that deal with cancer are really interesting to me, but my criticism of the book lies in this area. The author obviously dea...more

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Nov 26, 2012 Amanda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Mostly good, but a little cloying by the end. At times it just felt like she was trying too hard to be funny. I actually preferred the times when she played it straight and didn't interrupt a poignant story with a witty aside.

That said, as a Mennonite academic myself, I really enjoyed reading about her faith journey and particularly about her intial perceptions of and experiences in the Pentecostal church, especially when contrasted with the church of her youth.

For many years, as a professor, J...more

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Feb 25, 2013 gina rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography, spiritual, audiobook

Oh this is a lovely book for anyone who has ever questioned the church, left and came back in some form or another. Rhoda is *Hilarious* and as with many authors who read their own work- I at first felt she wasn't a good narrator, but by the end was sold that no one could have narrated her story with such perfection and humor than she did. I highly recommend it to anyone with a sense of humor who also appreciates a good "Hallelujah!" Also recommended to anyone who has ever been to graduate schoo...more

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May 08, 2012 Kathy rated it 5 of 5 stars

I had to read this book as I loved Mennonite in a Little Black Dress so much! This time out Rhoda has moved on with her life and moved on with (gasp!) a Pentecostal! Through this involvement with this new man and primarily with his church she develops a deeper relationship and a deeper trust with God.

Rhoda shares her joys and sorrows as well as her deeper walk with the readers. I love the moving and hilarious references to the Mennonite way of life as I was part of that life for twenty years....more

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Oct 28, 2012 Hannah Notess rated it 3 of 5 stars

So, here's the thing about Pentecostals: They fascinate and confuse me. Because we believe basically the same stuff, but we go about it differently. For instance, it never occurs to me to rebuke stuff when I'm praying. But I love hanging out with them, because they are always looking to see and hear God in their everyday lives. And they do. And so those encounters make me think, "Well, why not?"

Rhoda Janzen has become a Pentecostal, and so her outlook and approach to life has changed quite a bit...more

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Apr 17, 2013 Karen Mcgivney rated it 5 of 5 stars

I LOVED this book. I read it in two sittings. Her humor made me laugh out loud until I would have an asthma attack and tears ran down my face. She deals with her own response to life threatening illness, issues of faith, and suffering in a real trasnparent fashion that is whimsical and serious at the same time. Best of all this book will appeal to anyone regardless of political views or religous beliefs. She crosses all the barriers and writes a real story of a woman who answers tough questions...more

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Mar 28, 2013 Leigh Kramer rated it 4 of 5 stars

This second memoir follows Janzen as she dates Mitch, explores a Pentecostal church, and is diagnosed with cancer. True to form, I laughed out loud quite a bit while reading. She has a deft way of delivering her story, a wry wit seasoned with intelligence. And then I'd wipe away tears a few pages later. There are two reasons I recommend this book. The first is any scene with Janzen's mother. Hilarious. The second reason is Janzen's journey toward faith. Admittedly, making the jump from nominal M...more

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Dec 27, 2012 Megan rated it 5 of 5 stars

I found this a funny memoir and hard to put down. Janzen was raised Mennonite, but left her religion during college to become an academic. She leaves religion behind, but finds it hard to leave faith. She reconnects with religion in her first book.

This book is her journey back towards a personal faith. She joins a pentacostal church, she begins tithing, she learns about loving others and also survives breast cancer. She marries a man very much her opposite, but what a great couple they make. She...more

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Jun 10, 2012 Sharon rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, nonfiction

I did not care for this book. As a poet, Janzen's use of language is very skilful, but her ability to tell a story is sketchy--she does a lot of digressing into anecdotes that were not relevant to the story or particularly amusing. Her way of explaining her faith is very strange--she starts the book out converted, while she ended her previous memoir as an agnostic. So there's no conversion story here. There's LOTS that comes across as condescending and/or racist, with the strong sense that admit...more

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Nov 26, 2012 Marion rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is one of those rare books about which I find it hard to sum up my feelings. The author is at once likable, yet condescending; reverent and irreverent. The prose is breezy, yet erudite; the story pointed, but somewhat unfocused. I know. I'm no help to prospective readers at all.

I haven't read "Mennonite in a Little Black Dress" and don't think I will. My impression is that Janzen has matured and accepted that maybe the people she (apparently) used to feel superior to might just know someth...more

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Nov 14, 2012 Sallee rated it 5 of 5 stars

This bok is the sequel to Mennonite in a Little Black Dress. In this book, Rhoda has met a rocker, motorcyle driving guy who she finds is a serene and God-loving Christian having been through drug and alchol abuse. Belying his looks, she finds herself drawn closer and closer. They fall in love and he is there for her as she battles an inoperable breast tumor that has lymph node involvement. As she regains her faith, she finds her home in his Pentecostal church learning to open her mind and heart...more

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About Rhoda Janzen

Rhoda Janzen is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Mennonite in a Little Black Dress and the poetry collection Babel’s Stair. She teaches English and creative writing at Hope College in Holland, Michigan.

Rhoda Janzen holds a PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles, where she was the University of California Poet Laureate in 1994 and 1997. She is the author of Babel's Stair,

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title link	preview: Does This Church Make Me Look Fat?: A Mennonite Finds Faith, Meets Mr. Right, and Solves Her Lady Problems
avg rating	preview: Does This Church Make Me Look Fat?: A Mennonite Finds Faith, Meets Mr. Right, and Solves Her Lady Pr Goodreads rating: 3.39 (669 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13529056-does-this-church-make-me-look-fat?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1346859931l/13529056.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13529056-does-this-church-make-me-look-fat?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Does This Church Make Me Look Fat?: A Mennonite Finds Faith, Meets Mr. Right, and Solves Her Lady Problems by Rhoda Janzen[/url]

Does This Church Make Me Look Fat?: A Mennonite Finds Faith, Meets Mr. Right, and Solves Her Lady Problems

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