One Call Away: Brenda Warner's Memoir

Short & Sweet OverView Review

• Stars - 4 out of 5
• Genre - Christian Life / Inspirational
• Who should read - I recommend for anyone who appreciates a memoir - football fan or not. 
• Would I read again - Yes, but not anytime soon
• Likes - It's a life story in 351 pages. Though the memoir focuses in on Brenda's many personal tragedies, it also includes needed anecdotes to provide comic relief. 
• Dislikes - It seemed that in the book, Brenda Warner only mentions God in relation to her needing Him in the midst of hardship. I felt {keyword: felt} that the Brenda was sending the message, most likely unintentionally, that we only seek God when we need him.

The Review

         A successful memoir requires a fascinating life, with enough gripping material and anecdotal content to keep the reader captivated. Brenda Warner, wife of NFL quarterback, Kurt Warner, has lived a life that makes the cut.

         In her memoir, One Call Away: Answering Life's Challenges with Unshakable Faith, Brenda Warner lays her tragedies, her struggles, and her fallen humanity before the literary world. She was Marine. A mother of a special needs son. A betrayed wife. A single mom of two, getting by on food stamps. She lost her parents in a devastating tornado. She remarried, to rising football star, Kurt Warner, who would later take three different teams to the Superbowl. She went from welfare-recipient divorcee to celebrity-status wife of a multi-millionaire sport's hero.

        She shares the frustrations of being a wife to a NFL super-star: it's not always glamorous, it easily destroys relationships, and kills any sense of normalcy. She also openly regrets many of her impetuous actions {anybody remember that infamous radio call-in from a furious NFL wife?}.

        An authentic memoir will allude, whether intentionally or not, to the memoiree's fallen nature. Throughout the book, Brenda admits various regrets - most of which resulted from the pressure of being married to an NFL star. However, from my reading it also appears that Brenda Warner greatly values her strength and self-sufficiency. More than once, Brenda makes claim to how secure she is in who she is. But, the security doesn't appear to spring from the love and grace of Jesus Christ, but from her ability survive great hardship, her beautiful looks {which she addresses throughout the book}, and status. It's not overkill, but this subtle theme is present. This may bother some, but I realized that when it comes to memoirs, I care to see the heart-thoughts and soul-feelings of the individual, and if the individual is human, and if the individual shares the truth, then it follows that the sinful humanity of the individual will be perceived without too much difficulty.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255