The Great Good Thing

A Secular Jew Comes to Faith in Christ

By: Andrew Klavan

Narrated by: Andrew Klavan

No one was more surprised than Andrew Klavan when, at the age of fifty, he found himself about to be baptized. The Great Good Thing tells the soul-searching story of a man born into an age of disbelief who had to abandon everything he thought he knew in order to find his way to the truth.

Best known for his hard-boiled, white-knuckle thrillers and for the movies made from them--among them True Crime and Don’t Say a Word--bestselling author and Edgar Award-winner Klavan was born in a suburban Jewish enclave outside New York City.

He left the faith of his childhood behind to live most of his life as an agnostic until he found himself mulling over the hard questions that so many other believers have asked:

• How can I be certain in my faith?
• What's the truth, and how can I know it's the truth?
• How can you think, live, and make choices and judgments day by day if you don't know for sure?

In The Great Good Thing, Klavan shares that his troubled childhood caused him to live inside the stories in his head and grow up to become an alienated young writer whose disconnection and rage devolved into depression and suicidal breakdown.

In those years, Klavan fought to ignore the insistent call of God, a call glimpsed in a childhood Christmas at the home of a beloved babysitter, in a transcendent moment at his daughter's birth, and in a snippet of a baseball game broadcast that moved him from the brink of suicide. But more than anything, the call of God existed in stories--the stories Klavan loved to read and the stories he loved to write.

Join Klavan as he discovers the meaning of belief, the importance of asking tough questions, and the power of sharing your story.

very personal and relatable

I finished this book in only a couple of days. I appreciate how open the Great Klavan is about his successes but most importantly, his struggles.

Made me review my own faith.

This book made me review my own life, and had me drawing parallels and intersections with my own life. Needless to say, it opened my eyes and allowed me to deepen my own faith.

Wonderful.

This is not a flowery, happy-go-lucky, "I love Jesus so much" kinda story, which I appreciate. It's real; it's gritty; it's human. It'll move you to appreciate life, love, beauty, and wisdom better. You'll be led to contemplate your own beliefs and perhaps amend them. You'll want to catch up on your knowledge of classical literature. He won't ever try to convince you or prod you into believing anything. He simply leads you through the story of his life and how God subtly, gradually got Klavan's attention.

Amazing book. Very Raw!

The author has a very sincere faith. I loved this book from front to end.

A great read

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, it's a very entertaining life's story of a very cool guy.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Klavan, of course.

What about Andrew Klavan’s performance did you like?

As always, his voice is smooth and rough at the same time. I could listen to him talk for hours, even if he wasn't saying things I agreed with! I almost always agree with him, however, and he always paints such beautiful word pictures.

Any additional comments?

I was really anticipating his conversion, and to be honest, it was anticlimactic for me. It's been a few months, but if I recall correctly, he didn't talk much about the realization that I assume (and hope) he must have had, of being a wretched sinner who has sinned against a Great God. Without that, what is the point of Christianity?

Inspiring and and makes you think

This is a book everyone must read
Makes you think about your whole life. It talks about a man who was live in one lifestyle and change to another and the strength encourage he had. This is why he stopped is the most original author by Stephen King. On my opinion he's the greatest author of all time

Finally, a Testimony as Complicated as mine!

Coming to faith in Christ is not a 5 minute conversion for anyone, even for those who percieve their sincere faith conversion to be so. As a philosopher I have felt alienated by those right and left who simplify our magnicigent Lord. Or ( to be more truthful ) those who don't have the problem I have of wrestling with God then wanting a repeated rematch. With this author I feel a kinship. His literary and reading aloud voice held me still, listening intently.

It is also heartening to hear such a thoughtful and investigatively thorough look into anti-Semitism, void of any easy dismissal of it's sheer evil. Equally refreshing was that such query into the topic was without misplaced blame on Jesus or St. Paul, and without resentment for the triumphs of the West.

Buy this Book!

PAX
Jeff Winkowski,
Get Hih Fanzine
@posijeff

What a truly inspiring story. 5 STARS!

I started listening to Andrew Klavan on his podcast at the Daily Wire. However, I had never read any of his books. As time went on and he kept talking about his book “the great good thing”, I decided to give it a read or listen. As a recently converted Christian myself, I was both stunned and inspired by Klavan’s journey to faith, and how closely it resembled my own. I am not an emotional man, very rarely do I cry. But listening to this book had me, at times, very emotional and weeping tears because I too have dealt with loss and doubt, fear and ostracism. Expertly written and eye opening into the man, myth, and legend that is Andrew Klavan, I highly encourage anyone to read or listen to his story.

Couldn't stop listening

Drew has such a great riding voice. So clear and precise. His personal story is so relatable and familiar. I may find my way back to God yet.

A Great Good Book

Andrew Klavan, a wise and deeply humane man, is master of many genres. My recently deceased nonagenarian father and I listened to his podcast driving to medical appointments during the COVID period and around town in better days. We especially enjoyed his mailbag advice. My dad even listened to Another Kingdom with me. Andrew (and Michael, too) has a wonderful voice and speaks the truth even in fiction. In this book he tells his own story, beautifully. I only wish the pain he suffered earlier in life had been less. His story echoes in some respects that of a devout Hasidic rabbi and professor I met three decades ago. Son of a confirmed atheist, he would study religious tomes in a tent of blankets in his room when the household slumbered. Caught by his father, he would be beaten. He ran away as a teen, was taken under the wing of the Vizhnitzer Rebbe, and became a master of song and joy. Like Andrew he built a loving family. Seeing him bless his grown son on the Sabbath and then each kissing the hands of the other made tears flow. I feel the same way listening to Spencer on Andrew’s podcast and his own. God knows what we need and deserve. Andrew got Ellen, their marriage, Faith, Spencer, a voice, and a platform to share wisdom and love. And we got Andrew and all his works. Thank you, God.