Kevin Roose was a journalist at Brown University when he decided to transfer to Liberty University, a very conservative Christian college founded by Rev. Jerry Falwell. Kevin was raised Quaker by pretty liberal parents, has a lesbian aunt and fit right in at Brown, so it was culture shock when he transferred. But Kevin figured out that students at Liberty aren't that different than the students at Brown. In fact, the students at Liberty seem happier, even with the strict rules enforced by the RAs. Nothing beyond short-term hand-holding. No revealing clothes, etc. Kevin leaps into the evangelical college with an open mind and doesn't spend the book bashing conservatives, which I appreciated. Instead, he pretty fairly notes the positives and the negatives of the college and the people who go there. In the end, he interviews Jerry Falwell (the last interview before Falwell's death) and he is greatly impacted by the Rev.'s death. Falwell was "complicated, " Kevin tells his father. Even back at Brown, Kevin still prays occasionally, so the semester at the holy university definitely influenced him. And even though I really enjoyed the first third of the book, the middle and end took me forever to read. I just couldn't breeze through it and I found myself putting the book aside to find something else to read.
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