Same Kind of Different as Me - A Must Read

Trina, my across the hall buddy, asked if I had heard of a book called Same Kind of Different as Me and recommended that I read it. We have shared many books over the years.  We are both avid readers who like the smell of the pages,  so when she brought it to me I began reading it immediately.  And what a book it turned out to be. Same Kind of Different as Me is a book that is factual but could just as easily be fiction.  It tells the unlikely story of the unlikeliest of friends--Ron Hall and Denver Moore. This book is written in one of my least favorite ways...it is told in two voices.  The book alternates between telling the story from the perspective of Ron and Denver. So who are these men?  Ron Hall is a wealthy international art dealer who travels the world buying and selling rare and expensive works of art. He has grown rich but has also grown selfish and has grown away from his family. When Ron Hall reluctantly volunteers at a homeless shelter (at the insistence of his wife) he soon comes into contact with Denver, a man his wife is convinced is going to change the city. Denver grew up as a sharecropper in Louisiana, living a life that seemed little different from the life of his ancestors one hundreds years before. He eventually walked away from the cotton fields and found that, while life on the streets of Fort Worth was difficult, it was easier than being a sharecropper. It was here, in a homeless shelter, that the two men met, one serving food and the other being a reluctant recipient of this charity.
At first Jim is unable to crack Denver's stony personality, but Hall eventually prevails and strikes up a friendship with a man worlds apart. They become fast friends who endure a tragedy together and who soon grow in their love, respect and admiration of each other. Each man teaches the other about life and faith. Somehow the story of the relationship between these two men is fascinating and inspiring. It offers a glimpse into two worlds that are nearly opposite and shows what happens when these worlds come into contact with each other. I can still hardly believe this was not a novel.  Same Kind of Different as Me is not necessarily a book I'd recommend for its theology, it is a book that I'd recommend for a stirring and unforgettable story, and for the pure joy of reading it. This one caught me by surprise and I enjoyed every minute of it. Thanks Trina for the warm life lessons I was shown in this book.....and oh....if you DO read this book...don't follow it with Eat, Pray, Love.  The selfless lessons in the first dampened the "all about me" lessons in the second. Here is to good reading!  BTW....I liked it so much...I bought my own copy....and the second book too!