Growing Up a Sullen Baptist and Other Lies

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University of North Texas Press, 2001 - Biography & Autobiography - 157 pages
This is an eclectic array of seventeen essays, all of which will evoke a direct and immediate response. Ranging from humorous to satirical, from persuasive to sarcastic, Flynn moves from preaching to the choir to preaching at the choir. Trained as both a Baptist and a Marine, he explores the concepts gleaned from a world that this training did not equip him to control, improve, or escape. Flynn admits he has tried to meld the pretty presumption of the Baptists that "all men are brothers" with the hard presumption of the Marines that "you will attack until I say you are dead." He calls the result an unholy view of the world in which he lives and survives, alternating between humor and anger.

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Selected pages

Contents

Growing Up a Sullen Baptist
9
Miracles in Chillicothe
17
A Baptist Looks Askance
25
A Sense of Place
35
Enduring Love
48
Lions in Camp
51
Truth and Beauty
59
Jeremiah was a Bulldog
71
The Combined Platoon
91
Understanding Vietnam
105
Hooked on Heroes
113
India the Divided Crowd
119
Still the Street Without Joy
139
Understanding Pol Pot
143
Pol Pots Legacy
147
John Wayne Must Die
154

City of Fire Jerusalem
89

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Popular passages

Page 74 - Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou earnest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
Page 77 - O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived ; thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed : I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.
Page 85 - And He answered and said unto them, "Have ye not read, that He which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?' Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
Page 80 - We beseech thee, let this man be put to death : for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt.
Page 77 - Shall I not visit for these things ? saith the Lord : shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

About the author (2001)

Robert Flynn, a native of Chillicothe, Texas, is the author of seven novels, among them North To Yesterday, (winner of awards from the Texas Institute of Letters and the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and named one of the Best Books of the Year by the New York Times ) and Wanderer Springs (winner of a Spur Award from Western Writers of America). Most recently, he coauthored with the late Dan Klepper a new novel, The Devils Tiger. He is also the author of a nonfiction narrative, A Personal War in Vietnam. His two story collections are both recipients of awards: Seasonal Rain, co-winner of the Texas Literary Festival Award, and Living with the Hyenas, winner of a Western Heritage Award from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. He also coauthored When I Was Just Your Age, published by the University of North Texas Press. In 1998, Flynn received the "Distinguished Achievement Award" from the Texas Institute of Letters. Retired as writer-in-residence at Trinity University, he lives in San Antonio with his wife, Jean.

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