I Thought My Father Was God: And Other True Tales from NPR's National Story Project

this book is a great traveling companion, and thanks also to NPR

In some ways I THOUGHT MY FATHER WAS GOD could be called "Chicken Soup for the NPR Soul." Like the titles in the familiar "Chicken Soup" series, this is a collection of stories from ordinary individuals that have a way of reaching readers. The selections in this volume stemmed from National Public Radio's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED National Story Project. The book is edited by noted writer Paul Auster who selected the stories included in this volume from nearly four thousand entries. The stories themselves range from the humorous and heartwarming to the serious. We meet a variety of people such as a woman who questions life after death when a lost ring is discovered; an artist who falls in love at first sight with a woman absorbed in Dickens' GREAT EXPECTATIONS; and a man who went to a Halloween party dressed as a priest, but gets a taste of ministry from people who have no idea its just a costume. These are juts a sampling of the many stories included in this work. The tales are varied, but share one common characteristic. All find meaning in ordinary events as we interact with the people in our lives: family members, friends, and sometimes strangers. Most of the contributors are not professional writers but each story is the creation of someone who has a desire to share an often times ordinary but deeply held story that needs to be told. When we finish reading the stories in this volume, we may be tempted to say "I can tell a story like that" and since these stories are so human and real, we probably can!

I picked up this book in London, looking for something to read on a square for a sunny afternoon. It turned out to be one of the most poignant reads of this year. Auster is a brilliant author, but he really shines as editer of this collection. He arranges the book into chapters by subjects like "Objects", "Animals", "War", "Death", and "Love". At first, I was skeptical, as the "Animals" stories were a bit silly. He soon draws you into the styles of everyday Americans, and by the 50th page you're reading some of the most piercing truths that you could ever imagine. Not only are the stories facsinating and unique, but they resonate with the themes of universality. I laughed and cried my way through this book---and by the time it ended, I was rationing myself on only one story per day, because I wanted them to last forever. I read them aloud to my boyfriend in bed, and to my friends on the phone, the way that you would read a story to a child at night. Great read for all ages and walks of life.

I was not looking for this book but in a thrift shop looking at other things. A woman came out of the back room with books in her arm that had just come in and she walked toward me with I Thought My Father Was God and handed it to me saying this looks like a good one, as if she knew me. I took it and have hardly been able to put it down since. I have read some of the stories aloud to my husband and we have laughed together and we have cried. When I wake in the morning I know the people are there waiting to tell their odd, miraculous, glowing, quiet stories and that in these stories I find threads of myself. I hope this is an ongoing book project because it is treasures like this that will spread the word that the world is not only about the dreaded stories on the 6 o'clock news - that these are the kind of stories that have the power to change the way we see our own lives and the lives of others no matter how small or insignificant they seem. These are the stories we need to understand that the world is more than the nightly news or the mostly violent movies on the screen today but the world is full of good, funny, clever, and an 'average sadness' of people trying to understand the Mysterious that happens to them in their lives.

"I Thought My Father Was God: And Other True Tales from NPR's National Story Project" is a superb and unusual book that manages two wonderful things: it confirms the universality of the human experience and it amply demonstrates that everyone, EVERYONE has a story to tell.The experiences told in this eclectic and endlessly absorbing collection are varied and run the gamut of experiences life has to offer. There are stories of love, loss, regret, joy, sorrow, and growing up. The subjects that bring on these emotions are as varied as a pet bird, a sharp slap from a parent, a new piece of clothing, a weekend alone at the beach, a party in which the increasingly annoying guest of honor gets his face pushed into the cake, a reconnection with a former lover, a loose car tire, and a harrowing audition for a sleazy adult film. Some of the stories are flatly told, facts laid out on the page. Others take loving care with the details. Either way, the accretion of all the stories gives the reader a most satisfying sense of membership by the end of the book--membership in the human race.