The Church of 80% Sincerity

by David Roche, Anne Lamott (Preface by)

Overview

The Church of 80% Sincerity shares the inspiring, poignant, wickedly funny, and sometimes heartbreaking story of motivational speaker David Roche's journey from shame to self-acceptance. Born with a severe facial deformity, David has had a life that's been anything but easy. Still, over time he's learned to accept his gifts as well as his flaws, and to see that, sometimes, they are one and the same.

In this compelling book, he shares his hard-earned lessons, providing an irresistible and unforgettable glimpse of his (and everyone's) inner beauty and worth, and offers profound encouragement in dealing with whatever life brings.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780985279608
Publisher:	David Roche
Publication date:	04/19/2012
Pages:	142
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.30(d)

About the Author

As an inspirational humorist and motivational speaker, David Roche has appeared throughout the United States and Canada, and in England, Russia, New Zealand and Australia. He also has performed at the White House and headlined at the Sydney Olympics Arts Festival. David has been featured in four films, including Shameless, a feature-length documentary from the National Film Board of Canada, and has spoken to many universities, organizations, and corporate clients. His first book, The Church of 80% Sincerity, is based on his signature one-man show of the same title.

David was born in Hammond, Indiana, the eldest of seven children. His sixteen years of Roman Catholic education included four years studying to be a priest at Saint Lawrence Seminary in Wisconsin. David graduated magna cum laude from Saint Joseph's College with a BA in philosophy. He and his wife, Marlena Blavin, live on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia and in Marin County, California.

Editorial Reviews

Inspirational humorist David Roche can't pretend to be handsome. Born with a facial disfigurement, he learned to adjust to people's negative responses and his own self-doubts. In The Church of 80% Sincerity, he explains what his personal journey to self-acceptance can teach us all about ourselves and the roads to happiness. His book is both uplifting and down-to-earth.

The church of the title is not a formal organization but a concept-"the church of choice for recovering perfectionists," Roche writes in a powerful little book that's part memoir, part inspirational handbook. "You can be 80 percent sincere 100 percent of the time, or 100 percent sincere 80 percent of the time. It's in that 20 percent area where you get some slack and you can be yourself." For Roche (now in his 60s), being himself has meant coming to terms with a face so severely disfigured by a benign congenital tumor that he's been spat at and called a monster. He was rejected from a seminary because, he was told, his appearance meant "people would not respect you as a priest." The loss of the fathers of the Holy Cross is the general public's gain. A performer and motivational speaker, Roche is frank and witty and incapable of resorting to sentimental pap. He's used to people staring at him, and he admits he's been tempted to respond to pestering, obnoxious boys by saying, "Well, my face is like this because when I was a little boy like you, I touched my wee-wee." He's well aware that people find him inspiring, but he doesn't try to hide his flaws, and that makes him more inspiring. (Feb.)

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