Same Kind of Different As Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together

by Ron Hall, Denver Moore

book data

2,379 ratings, 4.26 average rating, 921 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		49%
4		32%
3		13%
2		3%
1		0%

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published

March 11th 2007 (first published 2006) by W Publishing Group

binding

Paperback, 224 pages

isbn

084991910X (isbn13: 9780849919107)

description

A dangerous, homeless drifter who grew up picking cotton in virtual slavery.

An upscale art dealer accustomed to the world of Armani and Chanel.

...more

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11/06/08

MB rated it:

(review of isbn 0849900417)

Read in August, 2008

This was a book group selection, not my own selection. I didn't like it, I thought the style was atrocious, and ultimately I didn't believe one of the narrators (the art dealer). I thought the "modern day slave's" story was absolutely fascinating, but the rich white art dealer was too busy telling us how much better a Christian he was than anyone else. His faith did not sound sincere to me; I felt like he was constantly clubbing me over the head with it.

Please note: some of...more

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2 comments

02/21/09

Jackie rated it:

(review of isbn 0849900417)

bookshelves: book-club, memoir, religion

Read in March, 2009

Its awkward to read a memoir when you don't like the subject. It's awkward to read religious propaganda from a religion you don't subscribe to or ever intend to subscribe to. And it's really awkward to feel the terrible sadness of a real person's death while gawking at the absurdity of her family and friends' visions of angels and spirits.

I have to admit I started off with the idea that I wasn't going to like Same Kind of Different As Me. I'd read some reviews and they were largely p...more Its awkward to read a memoir when you don't like the subject. It's awkward to read religious propaganda from a religion you don't subscribe to or ever intend to subscribe to. And it's really awkward to feel the terrible sadness of a real person's death while gawking at the absurdity of her family and friends' visions of angels and spirits.

I have to admit I started off with the idea that I wasn't going to like Same Kind of Different As Me. I'd read some reviews and they were largely polarized, with religious folks loving it and everyone else complaining about the preachiness. I fully expected to be in the second camp and got to my nit-picking right away.

One of my pet peeves is book (and movie) descriptions that are not accurate. The subtitle is: A Modern-Day Slave, and International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together. No no no. Yes in his early years, Denver was a "modern-day slave" and lived through shit that most of us cannot imagine. However, he left that life 40+ years ago, and I'd not call the 1960s "modern day". While we're on the topic of slavery, isn't the word "bound" kind of in poor taste? And if anyone is going to bring together a wealthy snob and a jaded homeless man, a wealthy person with a passion for serving the homeless seems to be the most likely person to make the introduction (or is it unlikely for any wealthy person to be genuinely philanthropic?).

Once I got beyond the book jacket things didn't get a whole lot better. While, Denver's story was fascinating, Ron came across like a egomaniac, a woman-hating rich guy pushing his religion. Eventually the cancer story kicked into one heart breaking scene after another and I finally started to become involved with the story and my opinion of Ron slowly climbed. In the end, I did find the book to be inspirational from a civic-works kind of context and I was able to dig out a few pearls of wisdom from Denver's messages.

Once I realized I was reading evangelical propaganda, it all made a little more sense. (Make no mistake this isn't a memoir that happens to be religious, it's published by a publisher who deals exclusively in Christian books.) In a way, I read it as kind of a social-studies text-a view into a world I don't normally see. There are people who believe this stuff and talk like this and attempt to disguise their proselytizing as humanitarian work. Ron and Deborah are probably supposed to be roll models. I could see that the things I disliked about Ron are part of that whole culture. In all, Same Kind of Different As Me reinforced some of the negative stereotypes I already had about evangelicals. I wish that wasn't the case as I'd like to be less judgmental.

Denver's fascinating early life, Deborah's good works, her good intentions and her emotional story all lead me to like this book more than I'd expected to. But the self congratulations, religiousness and propaganda subtracted largely from my ability to like this book.(less)

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3 comments

03/23/08

Nandi rated it:

(review of isbn 0849900417)

bookshelves: bios--autos-and-memoirs, the--south--and-it-s-things

Read in March, 2008

recommended to Nandi by: Walmart
recommends it for: anyone who feels they are not going anywhere in life

I am currently reading this book; I saw it in Walmart and I didn't pick it up then, but I just had to get a copy of this book. I'll hold judgement for now but from what I've read, I am touched. No, it may not be the most well written book, it may not be this or that, but if it touches lives, I'm down for it anyday and from what I see here, that's what it's doing.

Well, I finished this within a day and I tell you, I wanted to grab a hanky and cry when Debbie died. One thing that struc...more

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12/18/08

Faith rated it:

(review of isbn 0849900417)

Read in February, 2009

When I was at FSU, a girl came up to me in the public restrooms and started chatting with me. She was very nice and friendly, but at the end of the conversation, just like that, she invited me to go on a Christian retreat with her. I was very put off by this. She'd maybe talked to me for 2 minutes and proceeded to invite me to a whole weekend activity as if we were old friends.

That's kind of how this book made me feel. Just as I'm getting to know the characters and their backgr...more

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02/11/09

Sheryl rated it:

(review of isbn 0849900417)

Read in February, 2009

i had no idea this was printed by a division of nelson, a christian publisher or i would not have read it. but i am glad i did as it raised more questions than it answered and was fantastic on so many levels. the mystery, magic and miracles described...the fascinating story of denver...a modern day slave, and the question of the value of prayer for anyone, believer or not was thot provoking for the hardline evangelical. but denver's life, dialect/speech and history was the highlight. the cha...more

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03/22/09

Nancy rated it:

(review of isbn 0849900417)

Read in March, 2009

The first thing I noticed about this book is that it was reviewed by Barbara Bush, and her review made me throw up in my mouth a little. (In case anybody is interested, when I hear the name "Barbara Bush", I hear again Barbara's voice on the radio during the aftermath of Katrina, saying how the shattered former New Orleanians at the Houston shelter "never had it so good." I will never forgive her for that. And Laura! Laura couldn't even remember the name of the hurricane)...more

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03/11/08

Kim rated it:

(review of isbn 0849900417)

Read in April, 2008

I think the concept for this book was great. But whoever helped the two main characters tell their stories added so much fluff for "dramatic content" that the story was almost ruined for me by the end. I think if Denver Moore and Ron Hall had just told their story simply it would have been a wonderful book. I had a hard time believing that anyone actually said any of the dialogue by the time I finished.

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04/08/09

Leslie rated it:

(review of isbn 0849900417)

Read in April, 2009

I don’t know what it is about my book club picks this year. They seem to be taking a religious, emotional turn at full speed around a curve with no side rail. Perhaps it’s because of the difficult times we are facing. Perhaps people are drawn to inspirational tales of overcoming obstacles and wanting to discuss them in an open forum. So far, 3 of the last 5 books we’ve read have dealt with death on some level and it’s not even Halloween yet. Not Sherlock Holmes solving a mystery typ...more I don’t know what it is about my book club picks this year. They seem to be taking a religious, emotional turn at full speed around a curve with no side rail. Perhaps it’s because of the difficult times we are facing. Perhaps people are drawn to inspirational tales of overcoming obstacles and wanting to discuss them in an open forum. So far, 3 of the last 5 books we’ve read have dealt with death on some level and it’s not even Halloween yet. Not Sherlock Holmes solving a mystery type of death, but long drawn out, miserable suffering sort of death. Do I want to read about this stuff in a time of crisis? In the words of Charlie Brown, good grief,no, no, no. Not one right after the other. I’m starting to have nightmares. Seriously.

With that said, if you’re still even reading this depressing ink (if I were you I’d have stopped long ago) my third tale of woe in this series of “inspirational” reading, is one of Denver Moore, a man born and raised in Louisiana in the 40’s and 50’s, and until the late 60’s worked for “the man” on a share-cropping farm. He’s never been to school a day in his life. Never gotten a birthday present. Never owned a home or a car. He’s a man who’s skimmed along the surface of life without anyone noticing. Until he meets Ron Hall and his wife Debra at a homeless shelter, two rich people trying to make a difference. They notice him, and everything changes, for all three of them.

If this book had only been about Denver, I probably would give it 4 stars. His story was very interesting and almost unbelievable. A modern day slave on a cotton farm, he worked for nothing but food and a roof over his head until he literally jumped on a train to Texas and while there remained homeless for almost thirty years. Somehow what he said rang true.

However, Ron Hall’s part of the story (as it is told from both their perspectives) I found to be self-indulgent and (here’s that dreaded word again) preachy. He talks of his “poor” beginnings in a white middle class family. How he smoked pot with “fat chicks” in college and how later he rose from Campbell Soup salesman to a fantastic and super rich art dealer of the famous. Somewhere along the way with the help of his saintly wife, and after he’s caught having an affair, he finds God and a purpose in life. His wife drags him to a homeless shelter where the two of them come across Denver, who is of course all too happy to be hounded by two rich people with a cause. It’s not hard to guess what happens next.

So, I’ll say no more of this get happy tale but this: ugh.
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12/03/08

Katy rated it:

(review of isbn 0849900417)

The Denver part of the story was very interesting but, I found Ron to be selfish and uninteresting. I could careless about how much he (Ron) was spending on new homes, cars ect. Denver's life was heart-breaking and I really enjoyed reading about his life

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04/02/09

Gary rated it:

(review of isbn 0849900417)

Read in March, 2009

Admittedly the broken english title "Same Kind of Different as Me" piqued my interest and boy did I enjoy this book. It is an autobigraphy of two men and the miraculous events that were orchestrated bringing two vastly different lives and lifestyles to intersect in a purely heavenly moment. Something every reader should get out of this book is a deeper understanding of homeless people and a greater mystery of providence. If you feel you have been given a bad hand and would like to d...more

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08/27/08

Jessica rated it:

bookshelves: biography-autobiography, read-in-2009

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in February, 2009

While I enjoyed Denver's passages, Ron's passages left me with an uneasy, almost offended feeling. There is a point where he is talking about enlisting and he speaks of an incident with a woman he smoked pot with. Twice within the same paragraph he refers to her simply as the "fat chick". I was completely taken aback and aghast at such a juvinile and mean spirited statement that he felt the need to reiterate a few sentences later. There is another passage he talks about his $500 Europe...more

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01/10/09

Erica rated it:

Read in January, 2009

This was a book that made me think about the people that I come into contact with and what I can, or have, learned from them. It made me ponder if I have ever really added some sort of value to someone else's existence. I have not had an experience like the relationship in the book (coming together with someone from the opposite side of the track), but I do have people in my life that I can't imagine not having met. It is a rare occasion when a book makes me cry but I found myself choked up a...more

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03/25/09

Grant rated it:

Read in March, 2009

The bottom line is that this book tells a good tale (a bonafied true story!) about a homeless black guy and rich white guy who become best friends through the pluck and persistance of the latter’s freakin’ angelic wife. The story is remarkable, and it has left a real mark on the city of Ft. Worth, TX. I’m not saying that it’s for everyone, but anyone who ever laid a claim to a hope in The Lawd could use this book as quick test of the state of their soul. (I know mine could use some wo...more

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08/19/08

Joyce rated it:

(review of isbn 0849900417)

Read in July, 2008

I wish I could say I liked the book. I felt ambushed about half way through when it became a cancer story. Perhaps that doesn’t make sense, but having lost one of my sons to cancer and then a few years ago my brother, it is hard to read stuff like that without somehow steeling myself for it first. In any case, I just didn’t care for how it was written, even beyond the cancer part of the story. Maybe a bit too much of patting themselves on the back. I don’t know. I did not feel like it was ...more

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04/08/08

Kris rated it:

(review of isbn 0849900417)

Read in March, 2008

A wonderful true story, especially in today's rush-rush world where we barely notice those around us. A truly inspiring story of how one woman's love, motivation and faith connected two very unlikely gentlemen and part of a city.

Set mostly in Fort Worth, TX it was especially interesting for me to read something set so close to home.

This book was a learning experience for me on so many levels, but it espeically opened my eyes to things I had no idea went on in our rec...more

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05/02/08

Kathryn rated it:

(review of isbn 0849900417)

Read in May, 2008

I don't know that I enjoyed this as much as most of my book club (though the book club where we disscussed it was a great night). I enjoyed the spirituality of it and the glimpse into a different kind of worship than I practice. There were parts that I really did enjoy reading like where Denver drives to Colorado with a truck loaded with more things than he's ever owned. Maybe I'm just the most cynical person, but I just kept wondering why they wrote the book. What was the aim in writing it? The...more

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08/02/07

Melissa rated it:

(review of isbn 0849900417)

Read in August, 2007

recommends it for: EVERYONE!

I've had this book for a few weeks. It had been suggested to me by a few people and then someone actually bought it for me. I finally started reading it Sunday afternoon and finished it that night. I'm not a terribly fast reader at all, I just couldn't put it down. The two narrative voices are completely different and the reader is completely drawn into each narrator's story in appropriate measures. I would be just as moved if I didn't work in a Rescue Mission. It's an amazing story of how...more

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11/06/07

Marci rated it:

(review of isbn 0849900417)

bookshelves: favoritebooks

Read in October, 2007

recommends it for: Christians

I recently read this book for a book club I am in. It is a true story co-written by two very different men that God brought together in a very unusual way. The first man is a former share-cropper (pretty much modern day slavery). He was raised in rural Louisiana and suffered much because of his race and poverty. He ended up homeless, uneducated and in prison. The second man is a Texan, white, rich and is an art deal. He had the "American Dream" life in every way. However, God saw these...more

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01/03/09

Steve rated it:

(review of isbn 0849900417)

I'm not sure what to say about this other than I found myself skimming the last 100 pages. There are certainly a lot of compelling and inspirational pieces to the story, but I have to say I felt like the two main characters were somewhat delusional in their religious beliefs and faith, and that a lot of suffering could have been avoided by a few reality checks along the way. The revelation that seemed to most amaze everyone concerned was that a black man and a rich evangelical white man could b...more

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09/11/08

L13eanna rated it:

(review of isbn 0849900417)

bookshelves: growinginside

recommends it for: my dad or my mom - i can't decide.

ok - so this is kind of a hokey book. I mean, it's joint authored by this very rich christian white man and this very homeless christian black man and it's about thier relationship. So you can understand. A little hokey. But I was really blown away. I mean, how many homeless people do you and I have relationships with? and meaningful ones? ones where they come and live in our house? where we go to the presidential inaugural ball together?
I'm just saying.
As far as a guide for h...more

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