The Stuff Christians Like

After creating his answer to the blog 'Stuff White People Like,' Christian blogger Acuff saw his satirical Web site become a popular Internet destination. His best essays, accompanied by childlike illustrations, comprise this book, which maintains the structure of his short posts. From sexual purity to crock pots to clapping during worship, Acuff uses a standup comedy style to laugh with Christians at their private conventions. Readers will learn the unspoken rules of Christian living, including the (in)appropriate use of God's name to avoid a speeding ticket and obligations to 'think about going into full-time ministry at least once every three years.' Entries such as the diagram of a metrosexual worship leader mimic the truth-telling wit of the Web site ChurchMarketingSucks.com and will appeal most to young Christian hipsters. Sarcasm masks a deeper layer of commentary that exposes hypocrisies and faith flaws, and readers may want to amend these behaviors to avoid becoming the subject of Acuff's newest jokes on his blog. Acuff's ability to point out unbecoming idiosyncrasies while inducing a knee slap is stuff readers will like. (Apr.) * Publishers Weekly *
Yes, the popular blog-turned-paperback Stuff Christians Like is a direct rip-off of the even more popular blog-turned-paperback Stuff White People Like. And yes, one of the things Christians like is making their own versions of "secular" intellectual property. Acuff's is not the first book of insider evangelical observational humor (see Patricia Klein, Joel Kilpatrick, Matthew Paul Turner), but his background as a trend hunter at an advertising company makes it sharper than most. It's also far more accurate sociology than all the sour-faced "explaining evangelicalism" books that came out after Bush's reelection. * Christianity Today *