Trespassers Will Be Baptized: The Unordained Memoir of a Preacher's Daughter

Funny and heartwarming memoir about growing up the daughter of a Southern Baptist preacher in Eastern Kentucky. I love it when preconceived notions about what preachers are like at home get smashed -- in a good way. How can you not love a father who hums Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young to his daughter when she's seriously ill?

In Trespassers Will Be Baptized: The Unauthorized Memoir of a Preacher’s Daughter, Harvard graduate and former Miss Massachusetts Elizabeth Emerson Hancock recounts her childhood as the daughter of a Southern Baptist preacher in Kentucky. Set as a series of vignettes rather than a linear narrative, Trespassers reads like a David Sedaris book for the Christian set. Some passages are laugh-out-loud funny–including my favorite, in which her little sister uses a piece of poop to express her dislike for her father’s lunch companions as they sit across the table from her–while others are more touching and introspective. Hancock gets bonus points for not sugarcoating the details or pretending that life as PK was all rainbows and show more daffodils, and her presentation of her father’s struggle to balance his duties to the church with his desire to be a real family man is honest and rings true. Her gentle critiques of some of the “characters” of church life demonstrate an a willingness to recognize that even those of us with the best intentions have weaknesses, and she provides room for the reader to recognize and identify with these characters–and to grow from these recognitions– without feeling bad about it.

Readers need not be Southern or Christian to enjoy this book, though those who share Hancock’s background will surely appreciate and relate to her stories on a deeper level. In my opinion, Trespassers Will Be Baptized (what a great title!) belongs on the biography shelves with other humorous memoirs and should not be hidden away in the “Inspiration” section with the likes of Joel Osteen and Joyce Meyer. Click here to visit the author’s website and learn more. show less

Outstanding. I'm always skeptical of Publishers Weekly giving the coveted star review to a brand newbie, but in this book, I was converted, persuade, baptized into the fold of Miss Hancock.

Hancock effectively captures the voice of a Southern upbringing, but not just any southern upbrining. We're talking way above Georgia, just south of the Ohio river. It's a special place with a twang and weather all its own, where Sundays at church are as ritualistic as the UK basketball game afterwards.

I laugh, laugh, laughed my way through the first few chapters, but then the story opened up at the cemetery chapter, where the writer encountered what she would call the consequences of believing, the way faith, her Daddy's trade, played out in the show more real world, over real lives and deaths (and afterlifes and afterdeaths).

At times the writing is hilarious, infused with local color and drawl, mixed in the observations of childhood that any person -- religious or not -- will appreciate. The memory of that big mean old Sunday School teacher you thought you would not survive, the cousins who almost made you a heathen for life, the church camps, the hymns. But there are moments where the words bloom slowly into intricate passages, wrought at the same time with a fragile naivete.

Elizabeth Hancock wants to believe. In her father, in her family, even in the goofy people who boss her around on Sunday mornings. That believe will be tested. But my belief in this writer is secure. I can't wait to see more. show less

Delightful!

I spent about 2 days trying to figure out a more manly way to sum up this book in one word. Alas, I could not. Is "Wicked Awesome" hyphenated? Wicked-awesome. Yeah...I'll count that. This book was wicked-awesome.

Trespassers Will Be Baptized: The Unordained Memoir of a Preacher's Daughter by Elizabeth Emerson Hancock is a memoir about her life growing up as the daughter of a Southern Baptist preacher in Kentucky. The book tracks her thoughts and emotions as she analyzes everything she experiences through her strong Baptist beliefs. She was a young girl during this book...9 or 10 years old I think. And I knew it was going to be a great book from the first chapter when I read this:

God made the Wildcats, and the Wildcats show more glorified Him through their goal-shattering, soul-shattering play.

That is an awesome line. Just awesome...and I hate the Wildcats! As you can see, Hancock is a spectacular writer and she really draws you in with her conversational style of writing. I really felt like I was listening to her tell me these stories instead of reading them. The style of the book reminded me a lot of Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller...both are conversational and spiritual in nature. Trespassers is not about a spiritual journey like Blue Like Jazz is though.

The thing I liked most about this book was the humor. Hancock made me laugh continually throughout the book. Her descriptions of people and situations are very rich. In the first chapter she describers her little sister in such fantastic detail. In fact, everything she describes is in fantastic detail. Basically, I wish I could write like she does.

Aside from the humor, there are a number of really touching moments...especially as the book winds down. I don't want to ruin the ending of the book for you, but there is a good chance you will get choked up a bit. Not that I did. Because that wouldn't be very manly either.

I HIGHLY recommend that everyone gets a copy of this book and reads it. Hancock is an up and coming writing superstar...and now is the time to get in on the ground floor.

Rating: 5 out of 5
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this review, and others, can be found at www.lettersonpages.com show less

Trespassers will be Baptized tells the story of Elizabeth Emerson Hancock’s early childhood as the oldest daughter of a Southern Baptist preacher living in Kentucky. Miss Em was a precocious little girl who grew up certain that she knew exactly the way it was, only to find out that even her parents weren’t always so sure. It is her experiences coming to learn and understand how her parents, most especially her father, live within the spaces between their holy” (public) life and their “human” (private) life that make this memoir interesting and applicable to almost anyone who once was a child.

Although you should never judge the book by its cover, I really feel as though I got exactly what I was eagerly anticipating from the show more moment I first held the book in my hand. Hancock tells her story in a vivacious manner that pokes fun at her childhood notions and background while honoring it all at the same time. She sheds light on what it is like to grow up in a Southern Baptist home, but also provide insight on girls coming of age in the early to mid-1980s.

The stories she tells specific to her religious upbringing ring true, but so do her experiences as an oldest child. She brought back so many memories for me. I laughed as much at her story about fishing a pair of acid washed Guess jeans out of the Missions box for herself as I did about times when I used my advanced reasoning with my younger siblings to get them to go along with my schemes. Once I convinced myself that what I was setting out to do was okay, I could often easily recruit the rest to go along with me. The tricky part was working it so that they would get the blame if we were caught…

I very much enjoyed my time reading Trespassers will be Baptized. It was well paced and smoothly written. I reminded me of how much I enjoyed reading A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel. It’s nice to read about childhood experiences that weren’t traumatic or abusive. Living in a Southern Baptist area, I am happy now to know a little more about how my neighbors might have been brought up and some of the characters they might have encountered at church. Even still, despite doctrinal differences, growing up in an religious yet open home and regularly attending church is more alike than it is different. I would most definitely recommend this book.

http://literatehousewife.wordpress.com/2008/06/03/76-trespassers-will-be-baptize... show less

Amusing light read, perfect for metro commuting. Beware of over-the-shoulder snoopers who see chapter titles such as "Faithfulness" and think you are reading a Christian inspirational tome. I was reading this one day on the metro, and this guy asked me about it, saying it's so rare to see people concerned with faith. When I explained it wasn't quite about that, he asked if I wanted to hear about Jesus. Thank someone my stop was next!

It was alright. I lost my interest about 1/2 of the way through, but it got better towards the end.