We welcome each and every critique of Hi, My Name Is Jack. If you wish to make a submission, email us at review@himynameisjack.net. Be sure to provide your first name. We will place many on the website, but we will change the names and cities to maintain your anonymity.
Now I need to know the rest of the story!
I’ts crazy that just a very short year ago when I was sitting at the other end of the room. You were working on our Academic catalog, and this was going on in your life…..it’s nuts!
No One would have ever guessed, you always carried a smile. You must be like Peter…...The Rock….
Debbie C.
Account Manager
What a story! I am surprised and blown away and amazed. I remembered snippets of things you’d said through the years at meetings about events that were taking place in your life – your daughter who embezzled money, business ups and downs. I had no idea the depth and breadth of the drama. Jack – the book is great.
It took a little while to get into it; just a little while. But once it got rolling I was hooked and wanted to know where the story, and you, were headed. The foreshadowing was terrific throughout. I knew the tip-offs before they were tip-offs.
What graphic evidence that history is doomed to repeat itself until someone stands up and says – THIS IS IT - OUR FAMILY LEGACY OF TRAGEDY AND PAIN ENDS RIGHT NOW, RIGHT HERE. What we don’t feel we don’t heal, and what we don’t heal gets passed on to our children. Thank God we got sober so we could rewrite family history going forward.
Carey S.
Former Alcoholic
Jack, each week I lead a small group of men in Bible study. I’ve never taught a group of guys who were as hungry for solutions to their life problems. Our Bible study is like many others except ours is held in jail. Almost all of these men have struggled with substance abuse of some kind. Daily, they have nothing to do to pass the time but read. One mother I met, whose son was incarcerated for drug related charges, took a few chapters of your book Hi, My Name Is Jack each week to her son. The flow of reading material is very restricted so the weekly delivery of a few chapters of your book was a welcomed sight to this inmate.
Your message is about personal discovery, a discovery of what the underlying problem is, and a discovery of hope. It can serve as a motivation to those who are ready to face up to their situations and do what is necessary to change. Witnessing your success, in the face of some formidable circumstances, offers encouragement to those who may feel all hope has vanished.
Ernest
Georgia
I am much moved by “hi, my name is jack”. I am up to Chapter 34. Thus, far I have had to put it down and dry my eyes several times…I rejoice that there is more to come….
Carl K.
Member of AA
Just finished it, wow, talk about baring your soul? Cant wait to get together and discuss the book, it was weird reading a book about a guy I’ve known for a fairly long time, it was also impressive to know that a guy could be so honest.
Bill F.
Business Owner
Well, I’m through the book. Wow. I have so many emotions going through me right now.
I know that writing this book was a real catharsis for you. It is an amazing tale of God’s faithfulness even when we aren’t listening. On a light note… really Jack, you didn’t need AA. You need WA – Women Anonymous. You are never going to be allowed to date again… or maybe the rule should be that you need to know the lady for 10 years and have the CIA do a complete background check before you are allowed to even think about marriage.
That said, I think your book can really minister to people. You are right, it is a little too graphic for the Christian world. Sadly. Because most Christians would buy it, just not at a religious bookstore… emphasis mine.
Jack, one of the emotions that surfaces for me – is one of sadness. Sadness that those of us around you, who really have counted you as a friend, weren’t able to see what you were going through. I’ve always known you to be transparent… but just with the things you wanted to let us in on. I really hurt for where you have been – and I rejoice that you are in a much better space now. I simply cannot imagine going through what you have in the last 40 years. Thank you for allowing me to read the book. I really want to reflect more on what you have written – this is just a first glance.
You are an amazing blessing in my life and I am blessed to be your friend.
Bill
I buzzed through 13 chapters last night of a fantastic delightful, funny read. And I think you captured the innocence of the era in which we grew up. Just fantastic. I loved it. Great cast of characters—both family and others. It’s great. I’m looking forward to the rest of it. It really is a delightful, breezy piece of work. I love it.
Carl
sixty-year-old lawyer
Hi,
I would like your opinion as to how to help my friend, Jack Reagan.
He has written a compelling autobiographical work that reads like fiction. To say he’s led an interesting life is an understatement. Jack is a marketing consultant and somewhat of a marketing genius. I’ve known him for 20 years and know him pretty well, but not nearly as well as I do since reading his book, Hi, My Name Is Jack.
I think this is very publishable and would like to help him find a home for it. It doesn’t fit our house because of some of the graphic language, which, I feel, needs to stay in. I told him I would send it to the best agent I know at William Morris and see if he could offer some wise counsel.
Thanks for any suggestions.
David
Christian book publisher
P.S. If you start reading it, make sure you clear your calendar for a day or so. It’s that good!
Jack:
I finished your book last night and was filled with so many emotions. You have overcome so many unimaginable hurts and violations of your soul, Jack. It had to be incredibly difficult for you at the time, but I bet you feel a tremendous sense of pride when you look at all you have accomplished in your life and know you did it right—especially with so many odds against you.
The most important thing about your book for me was the simple message: you don’t have to use if you choose not to. It doesn’t matter who you are, how far down you’ve gone in your addiction, how weak or strong you think you are or how much damage you’ve done in your life. It’s about making a choice and living differently and taking responsibility for your own life and actions. If you take some control of your life, take responsibility for past actions and choices, and make an honest, concerted effort to do better, you can. It’s ultimately your choice. And I love this book for that message of personal strength and triumph alone!
Jack, your book was an inspiring and empowering story of one man’s spiritual journey. Jack Reagan offers a look at intimacy, spirituality, and personal transformation from a man’s point of view.
June R.
Retired
YOUR autobiography is causing serious sleep problems! I’ll have you know, Jack Reagan, because I am eight months pregnant, I am serious about getting my sleep. The last time I looked at the clock last night it was going on 3 a.m. And, no kidding, since this morning around 9 a.m., I’ve been reading your book page by page. I even just bailed on a shopping trip with my mom because I wanted to stay at home and read your book. HOW TRIPPY is that?
And I’m not even a reader! Give me more than twelve sentences and I usually want to run far, far away. I had NO idea that I would be captivated by you! I found a copy of your book and was curious, so I read a page and then another page and voila here I am writing you an email to tell you how much I’m enjoying your story. REALLY really good.
I’m going to put on another pot of coffee and finish it up.
Melanie P.
Artist and Illustrator
This is a wonderful story—it’s tragic; it’s comic; it’s ultimately both satisfying and edifying. It gets right down to the molecular level of human experience, and it does so in a thoroughly captivating way.
Joel M.
Editor of numerous N.Y. Times best-sellers
I randomly picked up a memoir at the library the other day: The End of the World As We Know It: Scenes from a Life, by Robert Goolrick. It was a quick read, dealt a lot with addiction, dysfunctional family, child abuse. I read it, it shocked me, and I didn’t feel very warm and fuzzy when I got done.
I say all of this, because I thought the book reminded me of yours in some ways, but it was FAR inferior to what you have written. Don’t get me wrong, it was well written, and it carried a message, but there was no sense of hope in it, no sense of closure, and certainly, no sense of a belief in God.
In short, yours is better. This guy did it; it was published; written up in the NY Times, all that jazz, but YOURS IS BETTER. Just wanted to tell you that.
Allison M.
Graduate Student—Harvard