Spiritual memoirs were once a hot commodity in the Christian book market with reflective but accessible reads like Lauren Winner’s “Girl Meets God” and Donald Miller’s ” Blue Like Jazz” finding a wide audience. Of late, most inspirational memoirs seem to me to have ranged from only mildly uplifting to really self-indulgent. Which is why I was intrigued when I heard about actress and comedienne Susan Isaacs’ just released memoir “Angry Conversations With God: A Snarky But Authentic Memoir”. While the memoir’s premise of using couples counseling as a way to work out her issues with God might seem cutesy at first, the book does have enough humor and heart to give this breezy read some substance.

Isaacs presents herself as a somewhat skeptical, disenfranchised Lutheran who took her creativity to Los Angeles and New York in hopes of reaching her big showbiz dreams. But once she hit L.A., she and Jesus “had a short honeymoon” and over several years Isaacs found herself drifting further and further away from her partner for life, Christ. Isaacs keeps the couple analogy going throughout her book as she talks frankly about losing her virginity, struggling with an eating disorder, and swearing at God over the circumstances of her life.
What makes this memoir a worthy read is that Isaacs understands that no one is really that interested in reading about someone else’s problems unless the problems are being held up as a mirror for a more common human experience. So when she recounts with sardonic humor her failed relationships, failed career moves, failed attempts at addiction recovery, the greater story is really about the spiritual issue most of us deal with– our control of our lives versus God’s control of our lives.
My favorite angry conversation occurs early in the book, on page seven to be exact. Although I can not repeat the profanity Isaacs used here, I admire any woman who has the guts to admit she has actually said that particular profanity to God, and I love her imaginary response from God. And the good news, as Isaacs point out, is that God didn’t dump her for it.