Grace Like a River [With CD]

This was an enjoyable book to read, brought insight into the sacrifices necessary to become a virtuoso guitar player. It also has a few good tips on fly fishing!

Christopher Parkening's new autobiography "Grace Like a River" is so good that I finished it in 2 days. Starting on a 100 dollar Goya guitar and working very hard as a boy he became one of the greatest guitarist alive. When he was 40 he retired, never to play again. God called him back to the guitar. Since then he's returned as a great concert guitarist and as a teacher at Pepperdine University. If you are a guitar player you should read this book!!! Bravo Chris

Over New Years I could not put the book down. Read it in several days. Greatness does not happen by accident. It does take work (for Parkening one and a half hours before school and after), dedication and commitment. Parkening would certainly say that we can all be used of God, no matter the extent of our natural abilities, if we put ourselves in His hands, go to work, depend on Him, and see where He takes us. What a great book for anyone (Elementary students even) who wants to excel.

Parkening does an excellent job of retelling his life story: classical guitarist virtuoso, champion fly-fisherman, husband, father, and Christian in his new autobiography entitled Grace Like a River. The book describes Parkening's early days of practice and training to be a premier classical guitarist, mid-life filled with successes and emptiness, and finally, conversion to Christ and desire to play the guitar and live for the glory of God. As he recounts the major periods of his life, he weaves in delightful tales of his fly-fishing experiences at the end of each chapter. Finally, the book ends with Bible-saturated words of wisdom from Parkening as he deals with issues of life and theology. He poses a series of life questions one might ask and then answers them aptly from the Bible. The book also includes a music CD with a few selections of Parkening's guitar work. Grace Like a River is a great read and especially informative for someone who is not familiar with classical music nor fly-fishing. Parkening's God-centered worldview, as well as his casual storytelling manner, is an encouragement throughout the pages of his autobiography. What a life the Lord has graced Parkening with and this work clearly points to the river of grace he has experienced. - Kelly Capranica, Christian Book Previews.com

I Think that this is an excellent book, but not for everyone! Between chapters there are fishing stories which are entertaining and very insightful, however, can be a distraction in the later chapters. My main purpose in obtaining the book was to learn how Mr. Parkening became the world class classical guitarist that he is. It's no surprise as far as I'm concerned that Mr. Parkening like so many other great musicians had the drive to succeed and excellent instructors who helped him achieve his goal. What is quite obvious to me, given the fact that Mr. Parkening is a devoted follower Christ and promotes Christianity is that his idol as far as his professional life was concerned was Andres Segovia. That said, it is without a doubt that Mr. Parkening is a very disciplined gentleman who took his career and duty to his family very seriously. Unlike so many musicians who have led unfavorable lives, Mr. Parkening is a man you can admire even if you don't agree with his Christian beliefs. I think that this book is a valuable read because there are so many people who don't realize that to have the ability to play music at such a high level or any level is indeed a gift from almighty God. The great Joe Pass came to this conclusion near the end of his life. Simply, Mr. Parkening, I think succeeds at pointing the reader past himself to the source who gave him his talent and blessings. Some people will be put off by this. It's understandable though. However, I must add why I find this book so appealing has to do with Michael Dregni's biography of Django Reinhardt. Reinhardt in my opinion was and is the greatest improviser the guitar has ever known. After reading Dregni's book, I could understand Django in ways I could never have imagined. These great musicians are gifted by almighty God! The sooner we understand this, the less put off we'll be when a great musician like Mr. Parkening expresses his faith!