A friend gave me a copy of Nathan Foster's book Wisdom Chaser. I was interested for two reasons. First, he is the son of Richard Foster. While it may not have been the most exciting read, Celebration of Disicipline was a good read. Second, he's a prof at Spring Arbor University, my alma mater.
This book proved to be a quick and easy read with (wait for it) lots of wisdom. In it, Nathan recounts a decade of stories where he climbed mountains in Colorado (the fourteeners) with his dad. As they begin, they do not have the greatest of relationships, but a few fourteeners later, that seems to be well resolved.
The story-reveals-truth style of writing is nice, but the use of shock value I found distracting. Color me prude if you wish, but I found his choice of verbal crassness unnecessary. It took me away from what he was attempting to communicate and left me wondering why he chose to use those words.
Understand that I am not perfect in this area and I truly understand the sometimes scientific effort that writers will go through in order to grab the attention of their readers. But to speak something quickly and without thought seems to be on a different level than writing something down for generations to come.
I suppose my thoughts on cursing aside, the book was well done. I was left curious at a few points that did not seem to fit in the timeline or mood of the book. I also was left wondering how Ziggy the dog did on those mountain journeys. Perhaps these mysteries will be left for another book.
The afterword by his father, Richard, was also interesting to read, since he was the subject matter of most of the book. I would recommend this for anyone that has ever had daddy-issues, though the wisdom is certanly not limited to that. This is worth a read as long as you can look past a few written indiscretions.
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