Word on the Street

I heard today that Deliver Us from Me-Ville is now in print. That's good. I read earlier this week that whole denominations almost never recite the Lord's Prayer, and so (I infer) may never get the joke in the title. That's bad.

Being in print means that the book will soon be on sale at fine booksellers from Amazon.com to Zazzy'z Coffee House and Book Seller. That's good. I also learned that Borders Online lists the title as "Deviler Us from Me-Ville." That's bad; nobody wants to be deviler than they already are.

These are the things bookwriting divas such as myself fret over as their books go from the abstract to the concrete, from being in their heads to being on their shelves. I have never been quite so neurotic as those weeks surrounding the release of my books. So I apologize in advance or at long last, depending on whether I've already worn out my welcome with you, or I'm starting to sound a wee bit obnoxious.

The following people are the final endorsers of my book. They, along with eight other folks whose comments were posted earlier, saw fit to declare publicly that they read the book and didn't throw up. Their endorsements are particularly meaningful to me because I'm fans of each of them; their own writings have been in many cases seminal for me, and their decency has in many cases been arresting and inspiring all at once. I hope you'll check out their books and, if you're so motivated, you'll pick up a copy of mine and let me know what you think.

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David offers a winsome, intelligent, and challenging look at one of the most difficult subjects to address honestly—ourselves. Below the surface of this book is an insightful critique of the self-centered approach to life. For those who are interested in finding a better way, this book offers hope.
—Brian Sanders, executive director of the Underground Network and author of Life After Church

In Deliver Us from Me-Ville, David Zimmerman focuses on the problem we all want to ignore—namely, that we are all stuck on ourselves and that it messes up every relationship we have. I can’t think of a more important problem to address in a new book. (I just wish I had thought of it first!)
—Mike Sares, Pastor, Scum of the Earth Church

With Deliver Us from Me-Ville, David Zimmerman has established himself as a credible social critic, a subversive voice calling for virtue in an age of substance-less posturing, and a humble prophet of hope in an image-driven day of cynicism and self-absorption. His newest book is provocative, imaginative, and full of pointed, yet understated jabs at what Christian community has become. His thoughtfulness regarding over-identification with self is guided by his pithy gems of literary hilarity. Deliver Us from Me-Ville is fresh, innovative, and all that is great about insurrectionism in Christian authorship.
—Christopher L. Heuertz, International Executive Director, Word Made Flesh, and author of Simple Spirituality

Zimmerman’s book is a searching, sober, and at times very funny, analysis of the impact that the culture of narcissism, or excessive self-importance, has on the Christian mind. It even offers escape routes out of Me-Ville—ways to keep the saving knowledge that we matter so much to God, safe from the corruption of mattering too much to ourselves. So read this book and get over yourself!
—Ben Patterson, campus pastor, Westmont College and author of Waiting and He Has Made Me Glad

With light-hearted wit, self-effacing humility and utter seriousness, Dave Zimmerman takes on one of the great idols of our cultural-captivity. Deliver Us from Me-Ville is a warm invitation to leave behind our narcissism to more fully embrace The Way of Jesus.
--Mark Scandrette, author of SOUL GRAFFITI: Making A Life In the Way of Jesus

People Are So Nice!

The irony is not lost on me that I have asked people point-blank to say nice things about my forthcoming book about narcissism, and I am not blind to my own bloated blog-ego in posting those nice words for public viewing. Nevertheless, in addition to the folks whose endorsements have already served as blog posts, I've recently been sent the following kind comments from people who are truly thoughtful in every sense of both words. You would love these people, and you would love their books. So go get em.

“David Zimmerman offers a thoughtful look at what it means to live missionally. His words will help move you to a more God-centric life—the one you were created for.”
—Margaret Feinberg, author of The Organic God and national speaker

“David Zimmerman’s wry and witty Deliver Us from Me-Ville is a wonderfully insightful look into today’s self-consumed society. Never preachy, but always packed with delicious allusions, footnotes, self-deprecating asides, Me-Ville entertains even as it instructs. David knows his Bible. He also knows The Blues Brothers, Thomas Merton, Bob Dylan and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. What’s NOT to like?
—Robert Darden, associate professor of Journalism at Baylor University and author of more than two dozen books, including People Get Ready and the upcoming Jesus Laughed

“As I engaged with this book and began to discover the masterful way that David exposes the veiled, yet heinous human pride residing in all of us, I understood why David is the humble servant of Christ that he is. I found myself laughing at his stories one moment and feeling rightly convicted the next. Deliver Us From Me-Ville continues to whisper its message into my soul months after finishing the book. Reading this book is dangerous to our self-centered schemes and well-managed facades of spirituality.”
—Mike King, president of YouthFront, pastor at Jacob’s Well Church in Kansas City, and author of Presence-Centered Youth Ministry

“Dave Zimmerman offers a timely and challenging guide out of worshipping and serving the contemporary ‘holy trinity’ of me, myself and I, reminding us that our purpose can only be found in the relentless pursuit of Christ and His Kingdom. Deliver Us From Me-Ville challenges our materialistic and selfish American-Dream distortion of Christianity, while providing a road map to the place where we belong.
—Walt Mueller, president, Center for Parent/Youth Understanding and author of Engaging the Soul of Youth Culture

Winn Shows His Witt

Winn Collier, author of several books including the recent Let God: The Transforming Wisdom of Francois Fenelon and a fun guy to hang out with at conferences, sent these very kind words about my forthcoming book.

I just finished Deliver Us from Me-ville. I feel like I´ve
emerged from a brawl, with a fresh shiner to show for it.
But I´m limping away happy. The tough love and artful pen
discovered in these pages forced me to see the small world
I´ve been living in - and I want out. Thankfully, Deliver Us
from Me-ville has shown me a way; and on the whole, the
process wasn´t really even all that painful. Zimmerman´s
funky wit fused with his well-crafted prose to deliver wise,
straight words.

Clever, huh? Winn's got a way with words; made me want to read it, at least.

Ode to Endorsements

Matt Rogers, co-pastor of New Life Christian Fellowship in Blacksburg, Virginia, and author of two forthcoming books: When Answers Aren't Enough (Zondervan, April 08) and Losing God (IVP, October 08), was kind enough to offer the following endorsement of my book Deliver Us from Me-Ville (David C. Cook, June 08):

I would like to say our obsessively self-oriented fame-seeking culture needs this book. (It does.) But more the point, I need it. Dave Zimmerman draws the finest distinction I´ve read between a healthy sense of significance and insidious self-absorption.

I've had the pleasure of editing Matt's book Losing God and, in the process, getting to know him. Great guy with a really sensitive spirit. Both his books are going to be great.

Early Endorsements

Very nice comments from two very cool people about the forthcoming book, Deliver Us from Me-Ville. Don Everts, who's written four-soon-to-be-nine books and is the unofficial posterboy for Likewise books, read the draft and had this to say:

Selfishness has always been subtle and insidious. But Dave Zimmerman, with his keen eye on our culture, on scripture, and even (humorously) on himself, brings selfishness more into the light of day. Deliver Us From Me-Ville, with its wit and brutal honesty, helps me see selfishness as the ugly thing that it is and provides practical steps I can take away from its subtle, far-reaching clutches.
--Don Everts, author of Jesus with Dirty Feet, The Smell of Sin and God in the Flesh

Sean Gladding, copastor of Mercy Street in Houston, Texas, and one of the most delightful people I've ever met, wrote the following endorsement:

With his characteristic wit, Dave Zimmerman knocks on the front door of our comfortable home in Me-Ville. Before we know it he’s sitting in our living room, drinking coffee with us and gently – but insistently – inviting us to consider a move to a new home in the City of God.
--Sean Gladding, Co-pastor of Mercy Street, Houston, TX

They both, of course, had very incisive, insightful things to say about how the content can be improved, but these endorsement are nice pieces of eye candy until the book releases next June. So chew on that for a while, why don't you?

I am, by the way, working on discussion resources for the book, and presentations and retreats based on the book, so if you're looking for special content for some venue next year, let me know. I'd love to come meet your community.