Same Kind of Different as Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together

Its awkward to read a memoir when you don't like the subject. It's awkward to read religious propaganda from a religion you don't subscribe to or ever intend to subscribe to. And it's really awkward to feel the terrible sadness of a real person's death while gawking at the absurdity of her family and friends' visions of angels and spirits.I have to admit I started off with the idea that I wasn't going to like Same Kind of Different As Me. I'd read some reviews and they were largely polarized, wi [...]

This was a book group selection, not my own selection. I didn't like it, I thought the style was atrocious, and ultimately I didn't believe one of the narrators (the art dealer). I thought the "modern day slave's" story was absolutely fascinating, but the rich white art dealer was too busy telling us how much better a Christian he was than anyone else. His faith did not sound sincere to me; I felt like he was constantly clubbing me over the head with it.Please note: some of my book group felt th [...]

Book Club Discussion Book.I would never have chosen this book to read but it was our Jan Book Club read and that is how this book ended up on my list.I didn't enjoy the book however our group had a terrific discussion that lasted for 1.5 hours and I was quite surprised what a great discussion we got from this one. This book has rated very high on GoodReads and many readers have found it inspiring.Based on a true story.Denver is a man who was raised under plantation-style slavery in Louisiana in [...]

I am currently reading this book; I saw it in Walmart and I didn't pick it up then, but I just had to get a copy of this book. I'll hold judgement for now but from what I've read, I am touched. No, it may not be the most well written book, it may not be this or that, but if it touches lives, I'm down for it anyday and from what I see here, that's what it's doing. Well, I finished this within a day and I tell you, I wanted to grab a hanky and cry when Debbie died. One thing that struck me most wa [...]

i had no idea this was printed by a division of nelson, a christian publisher or i would not have read it. but i am glad i did as it raised more questions than it answered and was fantastic on so many levels. the mystery, magic and miracles describede fascinating story of denvera modern day slave, and the question of the value of prayer for anyone, believer or not was thot provoking for the hardline evangelical. but denver's life, dialect/speech and history was the highlight. the chapters altern [...]

Definitely heartwarming. A feel-good book and an appropriate one to usher this season of love. I made the right decision to pick this up to celebrate the start of Advent.This is a story of three people whose lives intersect beautifully resulting to their realizations of who they are and what they are capable to accept. This acceptance leads not only for them to be at peace with themselves but also to witness a modern miracle: how faith can influence other people to do whatever good they can do f [...]

Like some of my other most rewarding reads, this is one that "snuck up on me." I'd read and liked a review of it by a friend some time ago, but I read and like a LOT of reviews; so I'd long since forgotten that I'd ever heard of the book when someone donated a copy to the library where I work. But I thought the call number/classification assigned to it by the Library of Congress looked dubious, and decided to read it in order to make my own judgment. It proved to be a very powerful and meaningf [...]

The first thing I noticed about this book is that it was reviewed by Barbara Bush, and her review made me throw up in my mouth a little. (In case anybody is interested, when I hear the name "Barbara Bush", I hear again Barbara's voice on the radio during the aftermath of Katrina, saying how the shattered former New Orleanians at the Houston shelter "never had it so good." I will never forgive her for that. And Laura! Laura couldn't even remember the name of the hurricane) Somehow this book had t [...]

When I was at FSU, a girl came up to me in the public restrooms and started chatting with me. She was very nice and friendly, but at the end of the conversation, just like that, she invited me to go on a Christian retreat with her. I was very put off by this. She'd maybe talked to me for 2 minutes and proceeded to invite me to a whole weekend activity as if we were old friends. That's kind of how this book made me feel. Just as I'm getting to know the characters and their backgrounds, suddenly t [...]

This is a very moving story!

Wow! A beautiful, heartwarming story. If I hadn't been given this book by a friend I'm not sure I would have ever come across it. I am SO glad it found it's way to me and I randomly picked it up to readsterday. I couldn't put this one down and finished it in 2 days. If you choose to read this one, be prepared to experience an emotional ride. It was full of religion, which I usually avoid like the plague, but surprisingly it didn't bother me as it was what was relevant to the authors' lives. It m [...]

While I enjoyed Denver's passages, Ron's passages left me with an uneasy, almost offended feeling. There is a point where he is talking about enlisting and he speaks of an incident with a woman he smoked pot with. Twice within the same paragraph he refers to her simply as the "fat chick". I was completely taken aback and aghast at such a juvinile and mean spirited statement that he felt the need to reiterate a few sentences later. There is another passage he talks about his $500 European Designe [...]

A recommendation from my daughter's college roommate, an Evangelical Christian who doesn't even like to read, but she was squeezing this book in between Thermal Dynamics and Bio-Chemical Engineering homework, college life, church and a boyfriend. It seemed a high endorsement. Same Kind of Different as Me is a true story about how God likes to bring people together for His own purposes. In this case, we have a former cotton-picker, turned runaway, street man, ex-con, who meets a wealthy art deale [...]

Admittedly the broken english title "Same Kind of Different as Me" piqued my interest and boy did I enjoy this book. It is an autobigraphy of two men and the miraculous events that were orchestrated bringing two vastly different lives and lifestyles to intersect in a purely heavenly moment. Something every reader should get out of this book is a deeper understanding of homeless people and a greater mystery of providence. If you feel you have been given a bad hand and would like to dive into the [...]

The Denver part of the story was very interesting but, I found Ron to be selfish and uninteresting. I could careless about how much he (Ron) was spending on new homes, cars ect. Denver's life was heart-breaking and I really enjoyed reading about his life

I don’t know what it is about my book club picks this year. They seem to be taking a religious, emotional turn at full speed around a curve with no side rail. Perhaps it’s because of the difficult times we are facing. Perhaps people are drawn to inspirational tales of overcoming obstacles and wanting to discuss them in an open forum. So far, 3 of the last 5 books we’ve read have dealt with death on some level and it’s not even Halloween yet. Not Sherlock Holmes solving a mystery type of [...]

A wonderful true story, especially in today's rush-rush world where we barely notice those around us. A truly inspiring story of how one woman's love, motivation and faith connected two very unlikely gentlemen and part of a city. Set mostly in Fort Worth, TX it was especially interesting for me to read something set so close to home. This book was a learning experience for me on so many levels, but it espeically opened my eyes to things I had no idea went on in our recent history. But also to th [...]

This book is a little too self congratulatory. The story unquestionably shows the power of doing good selflessly and the background story of one of the characters is tragic and fascinating. But by the end, the book is nothing more than an evangelical preaching session, losing site of its original message in favor of talking itself up, in the tradition of the old time gospel hour.

I began reading this for one book club but ran out of time. But then the other book club I'm in picked this book too. Guess it is time to start reading this all the way through this time.I'm glad I was presented with another opportunity to read this book. I'm not sure if I would have picked it up to finish again if it hadn't been for the selection to read this with my other book club. It still did not make it into my top book picks but it still served the purpose of a good read and offering thou [...]

I wish I could say I liked the book. I felt ambushed about half way through when it became a cancer story. Perhaps that doesn’t make sense, but having lost one of my sons to cancer and then a few years ago my brother, it is hard to read stuff like that without somehow steeling myself for it first. In any case, I just didn’t care for how it was written, even beyond the cancer part of the story. Maybe a bit too much of patting themselves on the back. I don’t know. I did not feel like it was [...]

I'm not sure what to say about this other than I found myself skimming the last 100 pages. There are certainly a lot of compelling and inspirational pieces to the story, but I have to say I felt like the two main characters were somewhat delusional in their religious beliefs and faith, and that a lot of suffering could have been avoided by a few reality checks along the way. The revelation that seemed to most amaze everyone concerned was that a black man and a rich evangelical white man could be [...]

I think the concept for this book was great. But whoever helped the two main characters tell their stories added so much fluff for "dramatic content" that the story was almost ruined for me by the end. I think if Denver Moore and Ron Hall had just told their story simply it would have been a wonderful book. I had a hard time believing that anyone actually said any of the dialogue by the time I finished.

This was a book that made me think about the people that I come into contact with and what I can, or have, learned from them. It made me ponder if I have ever really added some sort of value to someone else's existence. I have not had an experience like the relationship in the book (coming together with someone from the opposite side of the track), but I do have people in my life that I can't imagine not having met. It is a rare occasion when a book makes me cry but I found myself choked up as I [...]

The bottom line is that this book tells a good tale (a bonafied true story!) about a homeless black guy and rich white guy who become best friends through the pluck and persistance of the latter’s freakin’ angelic wife. The story is remarkable, and it has left a real mark on the city of Ft. Worth, TX. I’m not saying that it’s for everyone, but anyone who ever laid a claim to a hope in The Lawd could use this book as quick test of the state of their soul. (I know mine could use some work. [...]

Very rarely do I give 5 stars to a book, but this one really changed my life. The true story of a homeless black man and a wealthy white art dealer whose paths cross and change each other forever. I cried more throughout this book that any other book, ever.

It’s happened enough that I should know better. When our book group decided to read Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall & Denver Moore, I wasn’t positive I would like it. Needless to say, I did; I really liked it!I’m not certain what I was expecting as the book was described as an unlikely friendship between a homeless man and wealthy art dealer. I just couldn’t get my head around the idea that there was something to say here. Denver Moore, a black man brought up in 50’s Louis [...]

Well, the evangelism sort of worked: I spent the whole book thinking, "Dear God" and "Good Lord" and "Oh Jesus Christ." So that's something.I mean, I can't argue with this book any more than I can argue with a fairy tale. Good Guy (white, rich, super privileged) "saves" Bad Guy (black, poor, super oppressed) and learns some life lessons in the process. There are archetypes, specifically the White Savior and Magical Negro. A subplot tells readers that suffering leads to redemption (most obvious i [...]

An amazing story of an unlikely friendship, and the power of God. I generally don't read non-fiction except for the Bible; in this case, I'm glad I made an exception!

This is the story of the unlikely friendship and spiritual bond between a poor, homeless black man and a wealthy white art dealer. It was so convincingly written that the two men, and the art dealer's wife, who puts the two men together, come across as crystal clear and very sympathetic characters. This is no surprise, given the participation of ghostwriter Lynn Vincent (Heaven is for Real). Ghostwriters rarely get their due. This is my shout-out to Lynn Vincent!Both men tell fascinating stories [...]

When my sweet neice, Kellie, saw on Facebook that I was reading all the time, she commented that I needed to read this book. Considering how estranged she was from our family at the time, I thought it was unusual but sweet that she would take the time to tell me about her favorite book. I had never heard of it. I knew she was a very spiritual young lady, but I didn't focus on what this book was really about. I just added it to my "To Read" list and moved on. A few months later, Kellie chose to e [...]