This Is Awkward

December 14, 2015
Awkward moments are cheerfully repurposed in this wry book of observations and advice from Rhodes, campus minister with Reformed University Fellowship at the University of South Carolina. A mix of anxiety, depression, pop culture, humor, and theology infuses this delightful text. Rhodes shares many of his own personal anecdotes in cringeworthy and often sidesplitting fashion, relating parenting mishaps, his no-divorce policy, the “porn in my side,” and a no “side-hugging Jesus” lifestyle. In each acerbic chapter, Rhodes digs deep into life’s trials and troubles and helps point the way out of the rubble of heartache. His work aims to take the pressure off of the awkward experiences (and the emotional responses they invoke) that seem to be everywhere. Readers will get more than they bargained for in this feel-good book that’s written for times when life doesn’t feel good at all.

May 1, 2016

In this debut, Rhodes (campus minister, Reformed Univ. Fellowship, Univ. of South Carolina) offers a pop culture-inspired rumination on his milieu. After the author crafted a name for himself as a hipster campus minister on Twitter, comedian Patton Oswald publicly accused Rhodes of plagiarism. This uncomfortable interaction became the launching point for this memoir, a self-referential apologia in which the memory of many awkward moments serves as "an invitation to vulnerability, and vulnerability is where intimacy and connection [to God] are found." Fans of Rhodes will enjoy his clever witticisms and pithy self-deprecation. He regularly references the TV series Friday Night Lights and Taylor Swift as spiritual touchstones for some of his paradoxical insights such as admitting his fear of people yet still seeking their approval and embracing the Internet for a sense of identity. VERDICT Those new to the author might find the humor falls a little flat and the narrative gaze is limited. Despite these issues, this breezy book provides insights into the reality of living imperfectly.--SC

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