My Utmost

Starred review from December 12, 2016
In her debut, Halford, a copy editor at the New Yorker, weaves the story of her young adulthood with the history of the popular daily devotional My Utmost for His Highest, which she, her mother, and her grandmother have all incorporated into their spiritual practices. The devotional, assembled from the writings of Scottish preacher Oswald Chambers (1874–1915), was edited and published posthumously by his wife, Biddy, and has remained in print ever since. Halford recounts her quest to learn more about Chambers’s life, faith, and writings, adding her reflections on what the book has meant in her own life. An evangelical raised in the Southern Baptist tradition, Halford attended Barnard College and has worked for many years at the New Yorker—a life far removed from the modern American Evangelical subculture. Chambers’s life and legacy, along with Halford’s own personal journey, prove to be a powerful lens through which to examine the roots of fundamentalist evangelicalism and its rocky relationship with the modern world. Although the book is first and foremost a memoir, neither a full biography of Chambers nor a history of modern evangelicalism, those interested in either topic will appreciate the “Further Reading” essay and select bibliography at the end of the work. Halford’s enlightening memoir is a must-read for those interested in My Utmost for His Highest or evangelicalism in the 21st century. Agent: Zoe Pagnamenta, Zoe Pagnamenta Literary.

December 15, 2016
An exploration of one of Christianity's great devotional works. In her debut book, former New Yorker writer Halford fashions a memoir around a study of Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest (1935). Chambers (1874-1917) was a Scottish evangelist best known for a daily devotional edited from his writings and published posthumously. Utmost, as Halford refers to it, is a bestselling devotional, highly popular with evangelicals--including, as the author learned to her horror, George W. Bush. Halford, a Southern Baptist from Texas who went on to work in New York City, with stints in Paris and the U.K., struggled with the gulf between the world of her youth and that of her adulthood. Having spent years reading Utmost on a daily basis, she set out to study Chambers and more fully understand his motivations and ideals. She couches her study within her own autobiography, an intriguing concept that meets with only partial success. Halford finds in Chambers a kindred spirit in many ways. An avid reader and intellectual, Chambers was deeply shaped by the secular writers of his day; as such, "the book was shot through with the influence of poetry and fiction, those breeds of literature that traffic as heavily in mood as they do in ideas." Halford concludes that the Realism movement was one of Chambers' primary influences. She also learns of his complex spiritual journey, which included a profound moment of sanctification, as well as the effects of World War I on his faith life. Ultimately, however, Chambers' rich, intense, and selfless life and faith journey stand in stark contrast to Halford's 21st-century angst over not fitting in with New York or Parisian intellectuals yet also not being part of the evangelical crowd either. This gulf disrupts an otherwise worthy study. Halford's in-depth look at Chambers is interesting and instructive, but her memoir is thin in comparison. A fine core soured by the writer's own story.

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February 1, 2017

Preacher and teacher Oswald Chambers's devotional My Utmost for His Highest (1935) serves as the framing narrative for this memoir of a young Southern evangelical woman living in the 21st century. Alhough the author of one of the most popular works of conservative American evangelicals, Chambers, who died in 1917, has faded in large measure from contemporary religious discourse, despite Utmost never having been out of print and boasting a current Facebook page. While working for The New Yorker, Halford begins to question why this is so, especially since Utmost was so pivotal to her own upbringing. She leaves New York to trace Chambers's history and spiritual and theological influences. Along the way, she experiences her own journey of spiritual self-discovery, embracing anew her commitment to a faith best expressed by Utmost. VERDICT For insiders who crave a deeper relationship with Chambers's work. However, for those not deeply conversant with Utmost, Halford's writings may read at times like a private conversation.--SC

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2016
Despite its reliance on word-of-mouth advertising, Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest is one of the best-known devotionals among evangelical readers. Written by a Scottish preacher in the early twentieth century, this sometimes obtuse collection of daily readings has captured the hearts of thousands of readers. Utmost, as it is often called, is the narrative fulcrum of this spiritual autobiography. Halford describes growing up in Texas, going to church, and her faith journey as she moves from Texas to New York, and the unsurprising spiritual doubts along the way, but with Utmost as her constant companion. The centrality of the book to her life and her understanding lead her to Paris, to get to know both Oswald and herself better. Throughout her own story, the author deftly adds interesting and relevant historical information about Oswald himself and the broader history of evangelicalism. Self-aware but never self-indulgent, the book provides an edifying look at one person's spiritual journey and the impact an obscure Scottish preacher's musings can have years later.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)