PositiveThe MillionsThe opening chapter holds in growing tension the threads we will follow as This Is My Body unfurls with a narrative propulsion that is sustained throughout ... Wandering through...contemporary wilderness, Hammon displays a knack for memorable scenes and wry observations ... [The] misogyny—in churches that allow women to \'speak\' but not \'preach\'—should not come as a surprise to readers, but the particularities of Hammon’s experience bring the effect of these slights, big and small, to life ... Though This Is My Body is described as a spiritual memoir, the heart of Hammon’s searching often centers around faith’s container—whether it comes in the form of a synagogue, a church, or a group therapy session. As a preacher’s kid, I empathized with Hammon’s sense of being chronically out of place; too God-haunted for secular circles and too skeptical for any church she tries to make her home. But sometimes I wondered whether Hammon might be searching for a perfect fit in inherently—and often deeply—flawed spaces ... It is this longing for participation, for membership that animates Hammon’s search for a faith community that will affirm her call to ministry—not despite her gender, her talents, and her flaws, but because of them.
