One of the pivotal figures at the 1888 Minneapolis General Conference sessions, he did not plan to follow his father into ministry but when he did he tragically followed his example.  Woodrow W. Whidden’s E.J. Waggoner: From the Physician of Good News to Agent of Division follows not only the life of the Adventism’s most controversial figures, but also the developments of his theological thinking which both contributed to Seventh-day Adventist thinking and to his separation from Adventist doctrines.

Whidden brought the most out of limited sources available to detail Waggoner’s life beginning with the troubled family life of his troubled Adventist minister father and egotistical, uncaring mother.  Waggoner’s family were encouraged and rebuked by Ellen White throughout the young E.J.’s childhood and his home life might have led to heartbreak later in his life.  Not wanting to follow his father into the ministry, Waggoner studied medicine and became friends with John Harvey Kellogg as he began his career in medicine which came to an end after a “vision” at a campmeeting in which Waggoner was impressed by Christ on the cross and began his lifelong theological study of justification and sanctification.  Upon entering the ministry, Waggoner became was prolific in preaching, lecturing, writing, and in editorial work for the next two decades in both the United States and Great Britain but that would later result in have no time to nurture his marriage resulting in a scandalous divorce after his family’s return to the United States.  The lead up and aftermath of the 1888 Minneapolis is hinge of the biography and Whidden analyzes Waggoner’s role thoroughly.  Yet the most interesting aspect of the biography was Whidden’s analysis of Waggoner’s theology on justification and sanctification throughout his life divided into four time frames by Whidden.

The difficulty of finding sources to chronicle Waggoner’s life did not deflect from Whidden’s achievement in revealing the numerous facets of his subject’s life especially in the lead up to the “biggest” scandal in Adventism at the time with Waggoner’s divorce.  The most important aspect of the book was Whidden’s in-depth discussing of Waggoner’s evolving theological beliefs, especially justification and sanctification, and how his bent towards mysticism as well as his slow moving away from distinct Adventist doctrines.  Another important aspect is Whidden’s analysis of Ellen White’s interactions with Waggoner both in encouragement and concerned rebuke as well as if Waggoner’s later theological beliefs takeaway his emphasis on his Christ-centered message before, during, and after 1888.  If there is on serious drawback is that Whidden’s study of Waggoner’s theology is very deep and can be a tad mindboggling.

E.J. Waggoner is an insightful look into the life of one of the most important second generation figures in Adventism.  Woodrow Whidden’s expert work on getting out the most from the few primary sources available as well as his theological analysis is a great asset for any reader in Seventh-day Adventist biography and history.

Some people have all the luck—the bad luck. And in this book, they find each other. The writing is so good and the characters so engaging, it didn’t matter in the long run that I occasionally wondered if that many bad things could really happen to people in close proximity with each other. Oddly enough, in such a feast of disasters, there’s also humor—not funny incidents, but perspectives on life and events as seen through the characters’ eyes. I loved teenaged Regina (Reggie) Chase, the ultimate plucky, spunky kid, but not a stereotype. I’d have followed her anywhere, no matter what the plot.

A couple of aspects of the mystery felt a little loose or not quite realistic. There was the matter of one man having another's driver’s license and not his own after nearly dying in a train crash. No one follows up on his missing credit cards or license for a long time. I kept thinking, “What about his credit cards?” and felt relieved when someone finally thought of it. A final twist in one of the layers of the romantic subplot struck me as impossible to pull off in the 21^st century, though it probably could have been done fifty years ago, and an aspect of the mystery plot was deliberately left unexplained, something for the reader to figure out, with only a hint as to how it might have happened. Figuring it out would have meant going back through the book and piecing together the timelines of events and clarifying where the affected characters were at various times. The book was due back at the library, so I didn’t do this. (Maybe I’m dense and other readers got the explanation right away.) I wonder if the author felt the book was getting too long and decided the only way to tie up this thread was to dangle a hint about it, or if the unfinished, unexplained aspect was intentional, a secret one of the characters successfully kept from the police.

A narrative device that I had mixed feelings about was showing a scene in one character’s point of view, ending it, and then switching to a short recap from another POV as the transition to the next scene. I understand the urge to do that, but there are ways to suggest conflicting perceptions without retelling. I don’t mean omniscient head hopping, but choosing the POV of the person with the most at stake and then letting subtle details of expression or behavior on the part of the non-POV character imply what they might be thinking and feeling. This transition technique was not done too often, but it jumped out at me as something a writer would have to be famous and well-established to get away with. Others would be advised to pick up the pace.

Five stars for characters, dialogue and setting and three stars for plot=four.

Genre:  Animals / Comedy / Friendship

Year Published: 2012

Year Read:  2016

Publisher: Chronicle Books

I have read many children’s books that have like one or two words on each page to narrate the story. But, I had never read a children’s book quite like “Good News Bad News” by Jeff Mack that not only has four words on each page, but also conveys so much emotion and humor in this simple children’s story!

The story starts off with Rabbit pronouncing “Good News!” to Mouse as he shows him the picnic basket that they are going to eat out of for their picnic. Mouse then pronounces “Bad News” when it starts to rain, but then Rabbit says “Good News!” when he produces an umbrella for Mouse to use. Mouse then says “Bad News” when the umbrella is blown away, along with him on it, but Rabbit then says “Good News!” when the umbrella and Mouse ended up in a tree. But then Mouse says “Bad News” when the apples started falling from the tree, hitting him…

You see where this story is going?

How much can Mouse and Rabbit handle with all of this misfortune happening to them on their picnic?

Read this book to find out!

Jeff Mack has done an excellent job at writing this book as the story is mainly told through the four words “good news, bad news” and these words convey the humor and the emotion in the story extremely well! I loved the way that Jeff Mack wrote both Rabbit and Mouse as Rabbit is portrayed as being the more optimistic of the two as he is the one who constantly says “Good News!” throughout the story as he tries to look on the brighter side of things. Then we have Mouse who is portrayed as being more negative than Rabbit and he is the one who is always saying “Bad News!” when bad things start happening (especially to him). It helps give the story two different perspectives on the situations at hand and it gives the story a balance between being optimistic and being negative. Jeff Mack’s artwork is both cute and hilarious to look at as Rabbit is shown as having a constant wide grin on his face no matter how bad things get as the story progresses. Mouse meanwhile is shown to be snarling on every page and seems to have a torn up ear and a bandaged tail that indicates all the bad things happening to him throughout the story.

Overall, “Good News Bad News” is a cute and hilarious children’s book about the importance of friendship and how it can survive even through the worst situations. I would recommend this book to children ages three and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book and the narrative is easy enough for smaller children to read through.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

The first few Atkinson books I read I was kind of "meh" about. I didn't really love them, but I liked her writing enough to keep trying. Then she published the first two Jackson Brodie books and I enjoyed them enormously. And then, although I kept adding all her new books to my TBR list, somehow none of them ever made it to the top. Don't be like me. Put Atkinson at the top of your list. [I've got A God in Ruins standing by as soon as I finish this other book, and the others are at the top of the queue]. The Brodie books in particular hit that sweet spot of examining the after effects of a crime like Barbara Vine, or Laura Lippman, while also being a compelling read, an entertaining mystery, and a Literary Novel.

Good stuff.

Library copy

Reported by Nate Scott in  USA TODAY

The caption reads ...

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