With two weeks to go before the release day, Amazon still hasn’t uploaded the graphics for the print editions, but we’re going to start promoting the pre-sales anyway. Some have noted a May ship date, but I’m told the book should still get to you on or around the release date. Bookshop.org and Barnes and Noble also have the book up for pre-order without issue. And don't let Amazon's May ship date deter you. I'm told it should still ship on or near the release date. In all there is a paperback, hardcover, e-book, and an audiobook I recorded in my home studio which will be available on Audible on the release date.
I started writing down stories, often right after they happened when I was still teaching at that school (which could be any evangelical school). At first I was writing an expose on the horrors of evangelical higher education set at the school. I still have 200 pages of stories and emails detailing shenanigans that didn't make it into the book. But last year I started v3 of the book, centering my own story of losing faith and finding my identity as a Japanese American whose parents survived incarceration camps, who survived a childhood and youth in Sunday School, IVCF in college, and a return to Lake Ave church in my late 20's. I looked back on all that and could see I was deconstructing the whole time. And communities like the Tuesday Night Cafe (which starts its season tonight!"), a rock star neighbor, and an ExVangelical movement online became my people. The time at "EVU", as I call it in the book, just happened to be the final chapter of my faith journey. But damn. What a ride.
I hope you get a chance to read it and admire the people who became my greatest friends, inspirations, and supporters. I hope you are entertained and horrified at evangelical culture. And I hope you consider your own identities in comparison or contrast to mine.