United States of Grace: A Memoir of Homelessness, Addiction, Incarceration, and Hope

In this passionate memoir, Lutheran pastor and social justice advocate Duncan (Dear Church) shares his unconventional life journey in order to illustrate the beauty and horror of life in the United States and the possibilities of God’s grace. Duncan, a Black man, begins with his harrowing childhood, during which he coped with the manifold traumas of racism, poverty, abuse, and family addictions. In his teenage years, he lived as a homeless “queer Black teen on the streets of America,” and as a young adult struggled with addiction and served time for a low-level drug offense. Duncan’s narrative dwells not on the salacious details of what he terms “poverty porn,” but instead on what his experiences say about the country that created his circumstances. He is fierce in both his criticism of America’s institutions and his love for its people. He also traces his interactions with God, who he encountered as a young person in the kindness of strangers and now finds in the fight against America’s evils: “There seems to be some force in the universe—I call it Grace or God, but whatever it is for you is cool with me—that is highly interested in... saving our collective asses.” This lyrical testament to life as “a blind date with mercy” will challenge and inspire. (May)