Journal According to John by Sheryl A. Keen

4 Stars
R- 3

John Clarke is a therapist-- with a host of issues of his own.

Now his marriage has fallen apart and he's finally ready to take a good hard look at himself and the choices he's made since the event that nearly shattered him when he was 10. Written as a journal, Journal According to John is an interesting work of introspection.

First let me say, I didn't buy John as a therapist. There were a couple of moments where that worked, but overall, I really didn't see it. It is certainly the ultimate irony-- a therapist who's totally screwed up-- but he didn't act, think or talk like a therapist. That angle just didn't work for me. (Especially when he scoffs at the idea of a man writing a journal. Isn't journal-writing straight out of Therapy 101??)

That said, it was still really an interesting journey of self-discovery. As John faced his demons and grew, you could really see it in the way he wrote and what he wrote in his journal.

Overall, I enjoyed it. There were little nit-picky things that bugged me (gender stereotypes, the casual attitude about how much he drank, a few editing things) but it was quite good. Makes you think about perspective and how we're shaped by how we see things... and vice versa.


This is a Virtual Book Tour book! And you can also learn more on Sheryl Keen's website. (If nothing else, go to Sheryl Keen's site to watch the book trailer! It's really beautiful.)