Full Title: 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 and Denver Moore with Lynn Vincent.
I read Same Kind of Different As Me for the book club I’ve recently joined since moving to the PGH area. {Side note: I was invited to the book club after meeting a local writer at a happy hour at Round Corner Cantina. We bonded over the fact that she lived and covered the turmoil surrounding the border towns in far south Texas for almost 10 years. Chance meeting!} It was a very unlikely book for this particular club to read, as other titles have included Madam Bovary, The Tiger’s Wife, Picking Cotton, and The Saskiad.
A friend of mine saw that I was reading the book from my page updates on my Goodreads, and asked a simple question: What is this book even about? I completely understood his question, and was left somewhat puzzled after reading the back cover as he was, too. The summary leads you to believe it will be some epic inspirational story, but that's far from the truth, in my opinion.
If I had my way, which is the cynical type, the summary would look something more like this:
The first third of the story is about a husband and wife trying to save their marriage {after he has cheated on her with a much younger woman}, and along the way the wife is called to serve God through volunteering at a dilapidated, slummy soup kitchen. As the chapters continue, each written from either the husband’s prospective or from the homeless man on the cover’s prospective, the two are pushed into an unlikely 'friendship' by the wife. This whole arrangement seems forced, unrealistic and very unlikely. This is the second third of the book.
The first third of the story is about a husband and wife trying to save their marriage {after he has cheated on her with a much younger woman}, and along the way the wife is called to serve God through volunteering at a dilapidated, slummy soup kitchen. As the chapters continue, each written from either the husband’s prospective or from the homeless man on the cover’s prospective, the two are pushed into an unlikely 'friendship' by the wife. This whole arrangement seems forced, unrealistic and very unlikely. This is the second third of the book.
The final third of the book is spent detailing the last days of the wife, who has cancer that cannot be squashed by treatments. It's not inspirational - it's a beating.
I love inspirational reads. Reading something uplifting has always been a respite for me. Had I known this book was riddled with unbelievable partnerships and the process of dying through the viewpoint of a depressed, cheating husband, I would not have opened its pages.
Coming from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, which happens to be the setting for the book, the story was immensely boring to me because it was so typical: the religious, well-off couple feeling like they need to 'give back' and volunteer. It just gave me a sense of disenchantment.
I did enjoy the telling of the homeless man’s early life, and learning how one can be so shut-off from the constantly developing world. Of course, these chapters required very little research, as it was most certainly first-hand. I also liked that it was a very short read.
Bottom line: It was far too religious/preachy and emotionally weighty for me to enjoy. Most of my book club agreed with these points.
Book Club Vote: 2 liked, 6 disliked, 1 did not vote.
Goodreads Review
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
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I like uplifting humorous books, I don't want to be depressed or stressed reading a book, I will stew and ponder and try to mentally FIX whatever the situation is in the book, and that just wears me out. Funny is good!!
ReplyDeleteLove,
MO