Non-Fiction Book Reviews

Book Review: Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me

By Sandy Amazeen Nov 3, 2011, 17:24 GMT

"When I first discovered the grainy picture in my mother\'s desk-me as a towheaded two year old sitting in what I remember was a salmon-orange-stained lifeboat-I was overwhelmed by the feeling that the boy in the boat was not waving and laughing at the person snapping the photo as much as he was frantically trying to get the attention of the man I am today. ...more

Called a memoir of sorts because he might have embellished or misremembered past events, Cron presents a warm, personal account of growing up with an alcoholic father who maintained a secret life working for the CIA. When Cron was a very young boy the family hobnobbed with the rich and famous while living abroad but a reversal of fortunes led to the family returning to a much quieter life in the states. Astringed from his father and awash in all the problems of youth, Cron found solace in drugs, an addiction that followed him into adulthood. Through heartfelt stories recounting both important and everyday events in his life, Cron leads readers through his journey to faith and shows how he evolved into a priest and a real father to his three children.

Once again, Cron has created a poingent book that anyone whose life has been disrupted by the lasting effects of alcoholism will be able to relate to. If the remembrances have been embellished then it only makes for a thoughtful journey of self-discovery that begins and ends at an alter.