Good Apple

Tales of a Southern Evangelical in New York

Elizabeth Passarella

• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781400218820
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

"For a woman who thinks of herself as a New Yorker at this point, I buy a lot of clothes from companies named things like Shrimp & Grits. Why? Because identity is complicated."

Elizabeth Passarella is content with being complicated. She grew up in Memphis in a conservative Republican family with a Christian mom and a Jewish dad. Then she moved to New York, fell in love with the city--and, eventually, her husband--and changed. Sort of. While her politics have tilted to the left, she still puts her faith first, and argues that the two can go hand in hand, for what it's worth.

Whether you have city lights or starry skies in your eye, Good Apple will show you that:

• God pursues each of us, no matter our own inconsistencies or failures
• There's beauty in the gray areas of our lives
• We can all embrace the absurdity, chaos, and strange sacredness of life that brings us together

In this sharp and slyly profound memoir, Elizabeth upends stereotypes about Southerners, New Yorkers, and Christians, making a case that we are all flawed humans simply doing our best.

Praise for Good Apple:

"With sly humor, ecumenical warmth, and disarming frankness, Elizabeth Passarella builds bridges between red and blue and North and South. Good Apple makes a strong case for New York City as the kingdom of God--and for handwritten thank-you notes."

--Ada Calhoun, author of St. Marks Is Dead, Wedding Toasts I'll Never Give, and Why We Can't Sleep

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: The Virgin Surprise
• Chapter 2: How I Became a Democrat: Part 1
• Chapter 3: The Breakup
• Chapter 4: Naked Family
• Chapter 5: Fighting Outside
• Chapter 6: Lions
• Chapter 7: How I Became a Democrat: Part 2
• Chapter 8: Let’s Talk about Miscarriages
• Chapter 9: 1,241 Square Feet
• Chapter 10: To All the Jews I’ve Loved
• Chapter 11: Songs of Deliverance
• Chapter 12: El Shaddai, El Shaddai
• Chapter 13: Southern Manners: An Identity Crisis
• Chapter 14: To My Work Colleagues, Re: November 9, 2016
• Chapter 15: You Get What You Get, and (Over the Course of a Few Years and the Persistent Work of the Holy Spirit) You Don’t Get Upset
• Chapter 16: There was a Rat in My Bedroom, and Then I Got Stuck in an Elevator
• Chapter 17: The Devil Works Overtime on Sunday Mornings
• Chapter 18: Let There Be Ice
• Chapter 19: Un-Comfort Zone
• Chapter 20: They Got Lost and Were Never Seen Again
• Chapter 21: Jesus and the Radio City Rockettes
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author