Book Review: Mosaic - Pieces of My Life So Far by Amy Grant

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Inspiring and moving vignettes from Amy's life
Cons: A bit disjointed; too light at times; could have told more about the lyrics featured
The Bottom Line:
This fan wanted more
But did enjoy what was here
Glimpse at Amy's life

Snapshots of Amy's Life

I've been an Amy Grant fan since high school.  Since I listen almost exclusively to Christian music, I still find it ironic that I started listening just about the time her career hit the secular market in full force.  Anyway, I still pull out her stuff on a regular basis because I enjoy songs on all her CDs.

So when she wrote a memoir, I was naturally interested.  Mosaic: Pieces of My Life So Far is a combination of vignettes about people and experiences and lyrics to songs.  Most of the songs quoted here are from her career with an emphasis on the last 15 years.  But a few older songs and unrecorded snippets sneak in as well.

Now if you are looking for a complete autobiography, pass right on by.  These chapters are organized in a more train of thought pattern.  In fact, it almost feels like Amy is telling you these stories as she is chatting on the back porch over some lemonade.  One chapter might be in 2003, while the next is from the early 80's.  At times, it makes things seem a bit disjointed.  At other times it works beautifully.

Likewise, you will find no details about her divorce here.  In fact, first husband Gary Chapman is hardly mentioned.  When he does show up, it is often as "my children's father."  I will admit I find it odd to see a 17 year marriage reduced to this.  On the other hand, I do respect her keeping the details of her divorce private.  There is no reason we need to know the details, a fact I had to remind myself often while she was going through it.

Second husband Vince Gill does play a much more prominent part in the book.  There is even one story about them meeting one of his fans that is very touching.

Really, "people" is the biggest theme of the book.  The impact that various people have had on Amy and her relationship with God shows up over and over again.  We get stories about her rather large extended family.  There's the uncle she never knew, a great aunt that moved to California, and of course her parents, sisters, and kids.  While we do get a little about her music career and life on the road, it always comes back to someone she met along the way or something that happened to teach her something about God.  She even records a chance encounter with a homeless man in Santa Monica.

At just over 200 pages, including a life timeline and discography at the end, this is a fasts read.  Each chapter is only a few pages long, tells its own story, and is almost always followed by a song lyric.  I breezed through it in about two and a half hours.

And yet I was very touched and challenged by it.  When she talks of a friend diagnosed with cancer, it is hard not to be moved.  And I was reminded constantly just how important people are.  They touch our lives, make us into who we are.  Yet we touch them, too.  It's a beautiful symmetry.

I appreciated the fact that the book was a light read.  And yet that was one of my biggest complaints as well.  At times, I felt like just as Amy was beginning to really open up and show a vulnerable side, she glosses over to what she learned from it.  I didn't have a problem with the lesson; I just would have enjoyed the journey a little more.

When I realized just how many of her lyrics were in the book, I was hoping a bit more for the inspiration behind the songs.  We got that a few times, but not quite enough for me.  That's a more minor complaint.

Those looking for gossip or confession won't be interested in Mosaic: Pieces of My Life So Far.  But anyone who wants to know a bit more about Amy Grant will enjoy it.