I love this book and, in fact, I'm buying copies to give to friends. The story of the ongoing conversion of the author is an example of the journey of any seeker of God: great awakenings, stumbles, doubts, reassurances, understanding.
The first portion of the book is compelling and hard to put aside. The other chapters, however, are so rich with material from additional sources that I found them best to meditate on, think of as you live your life, and then dip into once again. This is perfect as a devotional for the liturgical seasons of advent and lent.

When I pick up a book on spirituality, that is nearly 600 pages long, I find myself flipping back and forth, counting the number of pages I still have to read (yawn). Having admitted that, I will add that "religion" is probably my first choice when searching for new books. Conversely with this book, I found myself counting the pages to see how many pages were left, because I didn't want it to end. Straub takes us along on his spiritual pilgrimage. In his "Thoughts Scribbled While walking," we can almost chart his spiritual growth (like an ascending line on graph paper). This book will inspire you to follow his lead by pursuing a deeper relationship with God. I was skeptical upon reading his background as a TV/soap writer, but I found it (along with his honesty and humility),to lend credibility to his personal transformation . I have never read a book that inspired me to write the author to tell him how much his writing touched me. This is one author I would like to thank.

This is a book to be savored. As a resident of Southern California, I found his personal observations on the cultural values of Americans right on target. It's too bad this book may never make the N.Y. Times Best Sellers' List, it could change the world.

As St. Francis is a man for all Ages, This book can be read on so many levels. As a straightforward biography of Sts. Francis and Clare it offers a modern no nonsense rendering of the lives of Assisi's greatest progeny. The chapters on Francis and Clare have a spiritual depth that would enhance the formation and understanding of any inquirer into the lives and spiituality of these two great saints.

Straub's honesty and openness in describing his own personal journey from being an atheist to a believer with a special evangelical vocation, the insightful musings of his Pilgrim's Diary, the history of the churches of Assisi all add up to a tour de force. I believe this book will have a great appeal to the general reader in addition to those with a special love for Franciscan and spiritual themes.

Certain parts of the book radiate incandescently. The rule of synergy states that the "whole is greater than the sum of it's parts." And yet, there are so many "parts" in this book that seem to stand alone in excellence at least equal to the power and depth of the whole. The treatment of Francis' timeless elegy to his God's creations, The Canticle of the Creatures, is truly inspired. The poem's majesty is wonderfully underscored by Staub's personal reflections and those the of other writers quoted in praise and awe of St. Francis' spiritually poetic genius. In closing his reflection on the canticle with Fr. Eloi Leclerc's The Language of the Soul's Night, Straub poignantly illustrates how St. Francis was as relevant in elevating souls in the rawest and most dire moments of the twentieth century as he was in the past and, most assuredly, will be in the future.

A specific charism of the Franciscan is to be able to shed the layers of meaningless diversions, vanities and preoccupations that restricts us from either confronting or exposing the truths and essential realities of our lives. Straub is able, in the most literary and articulate fashion, to expose his spiritual (human) doubts and shortcomings as he grapples with the profound search for meaning in his life. His "inner life" is shared with the reader in the most intimate terms without apology or embarrassment. I felt priveleged to become a part of Straub's journey and reveled in the awareness of how much we humans have in common with each other.

I read Salvation for Sale while trying to understand why in the world a missionary with whom I was working had such a low opinion of Pat Robertson. Her husband had been murdered in the Children's Home her husband founded and she alleged three of Pat Robertson's Middle Television employees were responsible for instigating her husband's murder. I thought pain was clouding her perception of Pat Robertson, of whom she was highly critical but I had never researched his work, ministry etc. until compelled to do so. That led me to write Call to Courage! a book about my own conclusions. My perceptions are different than Gerald Straub's as mine are Biblical evaluations but they are no less critical. I sympatized with Gerald Straub's struggles to make sense out of his experience. Few things in life are more unsettling than a major spiritual upheavel.

I can add very little to the long review below, and the shorter all-caps review had a good point in that the more moderate and decent religions don't seem to attract many converts.

The main part of the book is the author's attempt to come to grips with his own experience and conversions. However, the paperback edition was released with an update in which the author refuses to mince words about Pat Robertson. The author discovered a recording of Pat Robertson declaiming with relish over the holocaust to come in 1982. The author was outraged not only at Robertson for the speech, but also at himself for having listened to the speech years earlier without noticing anything wrong.

Now, it would be wonderful if more people who listen to talk about apocolypse and mass slaughter with joyous rapture and thrills would suddenly wake up and wonder with horror what they were thinking. Also, note that Robertson is a False Prophet.

I couldn't help but to be moved when I read this book. I was once a conservative Christian, and I cringe when I remember how I once defended people like Robertson. Fortunately, this period of my life was confined to my early teens, and by nineteen I had abandoned my belief in Christianity. I suppose that I now have a "won't get fooled again" attitude towards religion in general and Christianity in particular.

But, as this book shows, it can happen to anyone. The author was once caught in the fundamentalist quagmire. His formerly agnostic wife is apparently still a Robertson employee. Even Bob Dylan became a pulpit-basher for a while. It can truly happen to anyone.

Salvation For Sale allows us to see the inside of Robertson's fundamentalist multimedia empire. As would be expected, Robertson rules his fiefdom with an iron hand and twitching paranoia. Any setback is attributed to the Devil and his satanic henchmen (i.e. liberals). The Bible is the literal word of God and must be obeyed to the letter; unless, of course, you're speaking of those parts about turning the other cheek. Like nearly all of his tele-evangalist contemporaries, Robertson is a militant who sees Satanic conspiracy in everything. And, unlike his religion's namesake, Robertson seems to feel no moral conflict as the financial elite (to which he belongs) hoard the wealth and the poor scrape by. After all, social programs create a dependent society and are the work of the Devil.

Salvation For Sale doesn't dwell entirely on Robertson, however. A good part of the book deals with Straub's own questions and conflicting emotions with his faith and beliefs. He no longer adheres to literal interpretations of the Bible, and he apparently no longer believes in Hell or divine retribution. Like most of us, he accepts that life doesn't consist of black-and-white certainty. It's incredibly confusing and more rewarding if you accept it as such.