Rare, Medium, or Done Well

October 1, 2018
Pastor and former Arkansas governor Huckabee (God, Guns, Grits, and Gravy) offers up a conversational take on “a life done well.” To him, this means living a life governed by faith in a code that helps one make the right choices in difficult moments, and leaving behind a legacy of love and service to others. Huckabee strongly criticizes those whose code of living leads to what he calls “choices” with which he disagrees—namely divorce, homosexuality, and the consumption of pornography—and argues that these actions harm the broader culture and the government therefore has an interest in forbidding them. Huckabee’s use of NFL player Aaron Hernandez’s life, criminal conviction, and death by suicide to illustrate the results of the “wrong choices,” omitting any mention of mental illness or the brain injuries Hernandez suffered during his football career, is a stark example of his adherence to this perspective. This book is largely an expansion of his 2000 book Living Beyond Your Lifetime, and though much has changed in the intervening years, Huckabee’s central argument has not. As a result, the contemporary additions—particularly a section about “fake news” and the danger of anonymous accusations against elected officials—often feel jarringly disconnected from and even contradictory to Huckabee’s broader narrative and asserted principles. This incongruous book will appeal to his established fans; however, general readers interested in Huckabee’s take on the current political and social climate will be puzzled by his contradictory conclusions.