Review: Oh What A Day

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Cover image of Oh What A Day" by John B. Hatch, with Phil Keaggy

Oh What A Day

Oh What A Day, John B. Hatch with foreword and commentary by Phil Keaggy. Palmetto Publishing (ISBN: 9798318835919), 2026.

Summary: The background, composition, recording, and impact of Phil Keaggy’s debut solo album, a milestone in Christian music.

I come at this review from a unique perspective. Phil Keaggy and I both grew up in the Youngstown area. In 1970, he came to faith about the same time as I started following Christ. While I had heard of Glass Harp, the rock group of which he was lead guitarist, our paths first crossed at a Jesus rally on the front lawn of my church that might have been the launch of the local manifestation of the Jesus Movement in our area. On that Sunday afternoon, I spoke publicly about my faith in Christ for the first time. And Phil sang a song titled “The Answer” about how Christ is indeed the answer to all our searching.

Subsequently, he rented half of a duplex owned by an elderly woman from my church who lived at the other end of our street. I cut her grass and shoveled her drive and walks, which gave me a chance to make Phil’s acquaintance. This was about the time that he was leaving Glass Harp to go on his own. In the foreword to this book, Phil mentions recording the songs that would become “What a Day” on his Sony recorder. He played some of those recordings for me. I was in awe of both his guitar artistry and the beauty of the music. When the album came out, I snapped it up immediately. I still have it 52 years later and am listening to it as I write.

John B. Hatch, a retired communications professor and church mission also loved this album. This book is part of a larger project, a case study of Phil Keaggy’s career as an analysis of using music to “communicate spiritually and theologically.” But his study of “What a Day” was lengthy enough that he turned it into a book of its own.

As alluded to above, “What a Day” was Phil Keaggy’s first solo album, recorded in 1973. The ten tracks on the album were recorded at a cost of $1800, paid by a generous donor. Phil Keaggy plays all the instruments on this album. An interesting side note was that Gary Hedden, the recording engineer for the album came to faith in the process. After being rejected by several Christian labels, it was released in 1974 under New Song, a label launched by Christian disc jockey and leader of the Love Inn ministry in upstate New York.

John B. Hatch has researched the background of this album and the musical influences evident in the recording. Furthermore, he devotes a full chapter to each of the ten tracks on the album. Each chapter consists of three parts. First, Hatch gives us an initial description of the track and the musical elements and lyrics and how they work together. Then he offers a “Musical Deep Dive” walking through the track, looking in detail at key changes, providing transcriptions of interesting details, and other elements of Phil’s compositions and how they were recorded. Hatch also includes a helpful glossary of musical terms that he uses throughout the book. Finally, Phil offers his own reflections on the inspiration of the song, how he wrote it, recorded it, and its impact in performances. Hatch recommends listening to each track before and after reading each chapter, which I found helpful.

I’ve listened to this music for over fifty years. Yet Hatch helped me appreciate details of Keaggy’s musical genius I had missed. For example, in the opening track, he notes the acoustic and electric guitar octave descents that open “That is What the Lord Will Do for You” and how octave descents and ascents convey the joy of new life in Christ in the same way as the octave descent in “Joy to the World.” He writes:

“The timbre of acoustic guitars creates an intimate feel, while the regally marching low notes and briskly dancing high notes evoke majesty and celebration together, foreshadowing the sublime yet accessible music to follow. What a perfect introduction for a song (and album) about God who graciously ‘gives life to all mankind.’ “

The “deep dives” identify influences as diverse as Bach and The Beatles, including classical guitarist Julian Bream, whose records Phil played for me.

Hatch also helped me see two things about the album as a whole. While not conceived as a concept album, there is a seamlessness of flow from one track to the next, yet the tracks were only sequenced after the recording process was complete. He says the album “functions less as a collection of songs than a deeply immersive experience, a cohesive journey through the Spirit-saturated world of a young artist….” He also notes how the two sides on a vinyl recording focus on witness (side A) and worship (side B).

Hatch also addresses something I notice as I listen fifty years later. The lyrics are actually quite simple. However, what Keaggy manages to convey through the sheer musicality of the album transcends what the lyrics look like on paper. For example, “Hallelujah” consists of just that word, and yet leads the listener into exultant praise.

From my own background, I felt John B. Hatch characterized both Phil Keaggy and “What a Day” as I remembered them. But he also deepened and renewed my appreciation for music I hadn’t listened to for some time. There are both YouTube and a special 50th Anniversary recording available if you missed out on buying the album. If you love Phil Keaggy’s music, it will only enhance your appreciation. It certainly did for me.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: Guards! Guards!

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Cover image of "Guards! Guards!" by Terry Pratchett

Guards! Guards! (Discworld 8)

Guards! Guards! (Discworld, 8), Terry Pratchett. HarperCollins (ISBN: 9780063373761) 2024, first published in 1989.

Summary: When a secret society summons a dragon to get rid of Ankh-Morpork’s Patrician, the Night Watch gains a new sense of purpose.

Carrot Ironfoundersson is an orphan raised by dwarfish parents. But he’s human, even though he has tried to fit into the society of the dwarves. So they send him off to become a guard in the Night Watch. He’s a strapping young man with high ideals who has learned the laws of Ankh-Morpork. But his idealism is quickly put to the test. The Night Watch consists of just two officers and Captain Vimes. They have reduced the job to announcing all is well and avoiding trouble, as well as copious drinking.

Meanwhile. a secret criminal society has plotted to replace the Patrician, who runs Ankh-Morpork with a figurehead they can control. To do so, they have stolen a book from the library of the Unseen University, incensing its orangutan Librarian, who goes to the Night Watch. The book is about summoning dragons. The first hint of the secret society’s success comes when some criminals go up in smoke, leaving a pile of ashes. Captain Vimes connects these events to the theft of the book, concluding a dragon is on the loose. So he consults Ankh-Morpork’s resident expert on dragons, Lady Ramkin. She raises swam dragons, a miniature form. She even bestows the runt of the litter, Errol on the Captain. Errol proceeds to eat everything in sight.

But the big dragon is wreaking extreme havoc on the city and the Patrician asks his neglected Guards for help. But help comes in the form of a young champion, who gestures to do battle with the dragon and, poof, it is gone. They lock up the Patrician while they prepare to crown the champion as king. But Captain Vimes is suspicious. Dragons don’t just go poof. As it turns out, the conspirators are poor wizards and leave a way for the dragon to return. And it does with a vengeance. It makes itself king and demands a hoard.

The Night Watch, once lackluster, now has a renewed purpose. And Carrot’s idealism gradually infects the others. But how does one defeat a dragon when the odds are a million to one against them? It turns out those are the right odds. And Errol, the odd little swamp dragon plays a starring roll.

And the moral of the story: don’t summon dragons unless you are very sure of what you are doing and read all the instructions!

Review: The Black Agenda

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Cover image of "The Black Agenda" edited by Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman

The Black Agenda

The Black Agenda, Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman, ed. Foreword by Tressie McMillan Cottom. St. Martin’s Press (ISBN: 9781250276872) 2022.

Summary: Black thinkers in various fields make recommendations to combat racism and promote needed societal change.

The year of 2020 brought COVID, which had a disproportionate impact on Black communities, and the demonstrations following the death of George Floyd, asphyxiated by a Minnesota police officer. Despite the election of a Black president, it was clear that the structures of a racialized society endured. In the wake of that, this book was written, an effort of Black scholars and leaders in a wide array of fields. These included climate, healthcare and wellness, education, technology, criminal justice, the economy, and public policy. In all, thirty scholars contributed essays framing in brief proposals to address the impacts of racism in their area of work. The contributors did not aim for exhaustive nor bandage solutions. Rather, the book represents the thought of Black experts to offer ways forward from within the Black community that honor Black identity.

The essays on climate focus on the special vulnerabilities of Black communities to extreme weather as well as integrating climate concerns with other pressing issues. Also, the special vulnerabilities of Black communities argue against an #alllivesmattering approach to the environment. Finally, a representative of the Black Queer community advocates for greater visibility for the sustainability efforts that have characterized that community.

Under healthcare, essays focus on public health efforts that reflect racial awareness as well as recruitment of more Blacks to work in the health system. On a different note, the concluding essay advocates for the formal recognition and support of careworkers, many unpaid. The essays on wellness focused on interventions that promoted preventive wellcare. This includes prenatal and infant care, disability initiatives, and mental health services. Finally, the cofounder of Health in Her HUE writes about technology focusing on the health needs of Black women.

The essays under the education section were among the most wide-ranging. Specifically, topics included COVID educational environments, expectations for Black girls, and the representation of Blacks in children’s books. Advanced education included consideration of the effects of automation on students at HBCUs and student debt on wealth building.

Under technology, one of the essays discusses bias against Blacks in facial recognition and other technologies. In addition, there is the matter of algorithmic discrimination. Finally, there are ways artificial intelligence is defined and implemented that harm marginalized groups.

The opening essay under the criminal justice section argues for increasing diversity of police departments and other measures to diminish the contentious relationship police have with Black Americans. One essay argues for alternatives to our system of incarceration, the largest such enterprise in the world. Then, the following essay considers the impact of incarcerating Black men on women and families. The final essay focuses on the particular relationship between queer Blacks and the police.

The section on economics begins with an essay on the monetary policies of the Federal Reserve and how they impact Black workers. The next essay recommends the use of stratification economics to best understand Black economic realities. Finally, two women advocate a framework that pursues economic recovery through uplifting Black women.

The public policy section opens with advocacy for voter mobilization. This is complemented in the next essay by advocating the role of policy wonks alongside activists and organizers. The next essay argues we can ino longer neglect the Black rural South in the pursuit of justice-centered policies. The final essay argues for an Economic Bill of Rights.

The political climate in 2026 is very different from 2022. But this, to me underscores the importance of the book. By and large, these people are not often at the table. Often, the “table” doesn’t even recognize there are Blacks with expertise to contribute. My hope is that a more enlightened day will come, when decisions are not made for Blacks but with them, listening to what they would contribute. This book represents an example of the scholarship, expertise, and insight that this community brings.

Review: Christians Reading Classics

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Cover image of "Christians Reading Classics" by Nadya Williams

Christians Reading Classics

Christians Reading Classics, Nadya Williams. Zondervan Academic (ISBN: 9780310171072) 2025.

Summary: A reading guide to the Greek and Latin classics and why Christians should read them and how they may benefit.

There has been a renewed interest in the Greek and Roman classics, fueled in part by Great Books programs, homeschoolers, and private classical education. The recent Christopher Nolan rendering of Homer’s Odyssey, and the associated sales of The Odyssey in translation have further fueled that interest. It seems that there is an awakening to a cultural heritage of which many of us are ignorant.

But why should Christians read these works, written by writers who were mostly nonbelievers? And if we choose to do so, what benefit may we hope for? Furthermore, is there a guide Christians might use to selecting, reading, and reflecting upon these works? Nadya Williams’ Christians Reading Classics is that guide. And she offers good reasons for why we might read and benefit from such reading.

Here are three that Williams proposes.. Firstly, reading these texts will enhance our joy in scripture. As we see the challenging questions these writers beautifully address, we come to appreciate the ways scripture address those deep questions. Secondly, when we read these texts we understand the world of thought and art of the first Christians. And thirdly, many of these texts were used in character formation, and we may benefit, enrich by the gospel and the Spirit.

Williams organizes the book more or less chronologically into five parts. “Longing for Eternity” considers that longing in the works of Homer, Hesiod, the Odes of Pindar, and in historians like Herodotus and Thucydides. “The Formation of Virtuous Citizens” explores the ever present tension between the individual and the state. Williams reflects on how this parallels our striving for autonomy versus trusting God. She introduces us to Aeschylus, Sophocles, Aristophanes, Euripedes, Plato and Aristotle.

“Words of Power and Power of Words” develop the classical focus on training in rhetoric, used for everything from manuals to politics, as well as the love poets. We meet Cicero, Caesar, and Ovid, among others. Then Williams turn to “Heroes and Role Models.” She introduces us to Cato, Livy, Vergil, Tacitus, Suetonius, and Petrarch. Finally, “Virtues and Vices in the Age of Anxiety” consider those writing in the wake of Rome’s decline and fall. Here we encounter not only Marcus Aurelius and Apuleius, but also the response of Christians including Augustine, Prudentius, and Boethius.

Throughout, Williams offers background, synopses of books and reflections on themes. At the conclusion of each chapter, she offers brief reflections her perspective as a Christian on the particular classic works. Each chapter concludes with recommended translations and several reflection questions.

While scholarly, Williams relates topics to contemporary life and sometimes with a bit of tongue in cheek, as in this description of Ovid, the love poet:

“While reading these poems, we can imagine Ovid as an immature emo youth of a very modern sort who lives in his parent’s basement, mooched meals and snacks off them, plays the dating scene, and refuses to get a job, all while he tries to catch a break in his writing career.”

She also describes her husband as an example of a successful courtship letter, an example of rhetoric well-used!

She concludes with comments on the joys of re-reading, with the hope that these works become friends. But what she also does is introduce many to our first readings in the classics. Finally, she suggests that as we do so and make these works our friends, we, like C.S. Lewis may be “surprised by joy.”

The Weekly Wrap: August 2-8

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The Weekly Wrap: August 2-8

The Neuroscience of Unread Books

The joke is that we will finish reading the books on our TBR piles in 329 years. Except that for many of us, it is no joke. I celebrated another birthday this past week. It’s also a reminder that the years I have left for reading the books on that TBR pile are ever diminishing. But the piles aren’t (notice the plural?).

Is it a kind of insanity? Maybe, but “The Neuroscience of Why You Can’t Stop Buying Books You Don’t Have Time to Read” suggests another possibility for this illogical behavior. It comes down to the human ability to take pleasure in the anticipation of future pleasurable events. The author notes that this is why planning vacations is as pleasurable as going on them.

The author summarizes it like this “The brain experts have spoken: your book-buying obsession is rooted in long evolved processes and helps spot good opportunities and add a steady drip of joy to your life.” I like that last phrase, “a steady drip of joy”! It rings true and explains why we booklovers describe buying books and reading books as two distinct pleasures.

Perhaps there is a third and a fourth. Winston Churchill urged us not to feel guilty about unread books but to “fondle” them. Between the initial pleasure and the reading, there is looking at the pile and thinking about the reading delights ahead. There is also the afterglow, as you look at books read, and recall the pleasure they gave you. And now you understand why booklovers love reading so much–it comes down to pleasure start to finish.

Just don’t break your budget, your marriage or your floor joists!

Five Articles Worth Reading

People seem to either love or hate the author of A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn. Adam Hochschild considers the controversial life of Zinn in his review of The People’s Historian by David Zirin. The review appears in The New York Times under the title “America’s Most Divisive Historian Gets a New Biography.” This is on my list.

JSTOR excels in collecting articles into incredible online posts. “The Many Lives of Libraries” is just the latest example. It features libraries, famous librarians, articles on libraries and social change, and even an op-ed from Bernie Sanders.

Then, “In Search of the Consolations of Age” by Theodore Dalrymple is an extended and poignant reflection on Malcom Arnold’s poem Growing Old. Can you tell I just celebrated a birthday?

However, it is never too late as long as we are living to take on a new reading challenge. Seth Kaplan writes of one example of this in “Why My 85-Year-Old Friend Has Devoted the Last Years of Her Life to Reading the Ancient Classics.”

Finally, if you still wonder about the arguments of left and right about reading the Great Books, ancient or modern, Nadya Williams summarizes those arguments and her own case for reading these books in “The Great Books for You and for Me.” It also just so happens that I will be reviewing her Christians Reading Classics on Monday. Let’s put it this way, when I see something written by her, I try to read it as soon as I can.

Quote of the Week

Garrison Keillor, the humorist, was born August 7, 1942. He hit the nail on the head for me when he said,

“I think the most un-American thing you can say is, ‘You can’t say that.’ “

What I particularly fear in the age we are in is self-censorship. How many good and important things have been suppressed by the threats, often implied, of the powerful?

Miscellaneous Musings

I just renewed the domain name of bobonbooks.com for another year. So, Lord willing you will have to endure me talking about books for another year!

Because I also have a dedicated email account for the blog, I have had a first hand exposure to what appear to be literary scammers, perhaps bots. People will write me about my book (often one I’ve reviewed!) or by an author with a similar website. What strikes me is how stupid and lazy these attempts are. Five minutes on my website would tell them I am not their audience. Publishers have been warning their authors about these scammers. Yet another way people too lazy to do real work try to scam the rest of us!

Finally, while on the subject of the blog, one of the things people have tried to sell me on is monetizing the blog. I have no objection to those who do so. But I feel I’ve been tremendously blessed in life and love sharing the blessing of books I’ve loved and think important. It is a joy to give with no strings attached. However, it does bother me when I come across evidence my copyrighted material is used by AI agents without my permission. This speaks to my fundamental contention that AI in the publishing world is founded on theft of intellectual property.

Next Week’s Reviews

Monday: Nadya Williams, Christians Reading Classics

Tuesday: Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman, ed. The Black Agenda

Wednesday: Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!

Thursday: John B. Hatch, Oh What A Day!

Friday: Jarvis J. Williams, Paul’s Gospel in Romans

So, that’s The Weekly Wrap for August 2-8.

Find past editions of The Weekly Wrap under The Weekly Wrap heading on this page.

Review: Whistler

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Cover image of "Whistler" by Ann Patchett

Whistler

Whistler, Ann Patchett. HarperCollins (ISBN: 9780063511637) 2026.

Summary: When Daphne Fuller runs into the stepfather she hadn’t seen for forty years, they reconnect, understanding the bond between them.

It was supposed to be a day for Daphne and Jonathan Fuller to enjoy being together at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Then Jonathan notices that an older man is following them. And they are unable to elude him. Finally, they talk to him to discover that the man is Eddie Triplett, Daphne’s stepfather. It has been over 40 years since she last saw him. She’d more or less put the brief time her stepfather was in her life away in a box. He’s now in his seventies but still working as an editor at a major publishing house.

And yet we discover that there is a deep bond, forged in a traumatic accident. Between meetings in the present, the story flashes back to the accident and the events that unfolded that winter night. While Daphne’s sister Leda was in the hospital for appendicitis, Eddie picked up Daphne after school on a cold wintry evening. Before taking her home in their big Chevy station wagon, he wanted to take her to out to a raspberry farm at the top of a hill. However, he missed a turn and they slid off the road into the woods. Eddie injured his left ankle, trapped under the emergency brake, as well as his left shoulder. Daphne, in her seat belt, only had a bad facial cut.

During their time in the car, we learn the story of Whistler, a horse in a story Eddie never published. The author never submitted it for publication. The horse rescues its owner and the story was so powerful that Eddie had a rendering of Whistler in his office. We come to see there is more than one Whistler in the story.

Jonathan, a hospital administrator Daphne met while caring for her dying father, Buddy Zabriskie, is away in Wisconsin, cleaning out his parents home. He’s also reconnecting with the past. In fact, reconnecting and understanding is an important part of this book. When she and Eddie go to meet Skip and Polly Hotalling, she learns the real reason her mother divorced Eddie. It wasn’t because of the accident. She comes to a reckoning with all three men who had been “fathers.” And she comes to understand more of her mother, with whom she hadn’t been close.

Most of all, as Daphne revisits the events of forty years ago, she recognizes qualities that have been part of who she is–with Eddie, with Jonathan, with the girls she teaches. She also learns lessons about life’s impermanence from Eddie and how accepting that can yield happiness.

Acceptance of life’s givenness seems to be a quality of Patchett’s most recent books. There is a maturity here that I can’t help but thinks reflects a maturity in Patchett. As always, Patchett writes with exquisite beauty. Added to this are the deepened insights of coming to terms with one’s past, one’s people, and one’s self.