Book Review: Stumbling on Open Ground: Love, God, Cancer, and Rock 'n' Roll, by Ken Mansfield

“Stumbling on Open Ground: Love, God, Cancer, and Rock ‘n’ Roll,” by Ken Mansfield was a journal like look into Mansfield’s battle with cancer over the span of sixteen years. Ken relates his feelings upon learning his cancer diagnoses and takes us into his thought process on his relationship with God while dealing with these trials. It’s the story of his private journey made public because of the public/celebrity nature of which Mansfield is, a former member of the Beatles production company. Having become accustomed to being in the public eye, it makes sense for Mansfield to share his personal thoughts on a public level. There are also small letters from Mansfield’s wife about Mansfield’s condition at the beginning of each chapter, which lends another view of his trial and journey through.

The book as a whole is inspirational for anyone who has struggled with their own faith before. Certainly his trials with two different kinds of cancer and the knowledge that he will never be truly healed until he reaches the other side make most people’s trials pale in comparison. But his steadfast ability to return to faith through his slips into doubt make this story something anyone struggling with their own faith during a trial can hold on to and lean on for encouragement and support.

This book would probably be better read as a devotional type book over a period of time, instead of sitting down and reading it all at once. The chapters become a little monotonous after awhile. First he has a physical trial, he relates it to something spiritual, talks about how hard it is for him to hold on, but then tells us how he pulls through and his faith becomes stronger in the end. After reading about the half the book, it was a little taxing to finish it, but reading it over a longer period of time, days, weeks, etc, would make it a little easier to make it through.

Mansfield uses alliteration and word comparisons to paint a picture of what he feels in a way that makes it fun to read. His book overall was uplifting and something that should be shared with anyone who has faith or who needs a pick-me-up.

disclosure: the publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book through BookSneeze®.