Bøker av Thomas Mark Zuniga

Sometimes life falls apart. Sometimes it's worth running away; running to something, however, is far better.Inspired by the likes of Donald Miller, John Steinbeck, and Jack Kerouac, Tom Zuniga hit the road in his Mitsubishi Galant, criss-crossing the continent in search of "home" - an elusive concept unrealized since his youth.After publishing his first book of "messy memoirs," Tom received countless emails from readers around the world saying two things: "me too" and "come visit." He set out to meet as many of his readers as possible, and as he traveled he heard similar stories of loss, longing, and wrestling with issues of faith and sexuality.For nearly a year, Tom's journey took him from the cities to the prairies, the mountains to the oceans, and solitary campouts to intentional community. Breaking from his safe Christian bubble, he came face-to-face with Mormons, ponytailed cult members, and a friendly nudist, reuniting with old classmates and campmates and meeting total strangers on Couchsurfing.Somewhere along the course of 26,000 miles, Tom learned he's not as much of an introvert as previously thought. The longer he wandered, the more he pondered this notion of "home."Perhaps true home couldn't be found this side of Eternity - or, perhaps it could.

After an Eden's upbringing in eastern Pennsylvania, twelve-year-old Tom Zuniga's world suddenly gave root to an alien existence of struggle. Initiated by an 800-mile move from the only home he'd ever known, he started warring in unforeseen ways: isolation at a Southern Baptist church and bullying at a Christian high school, all the while fiercely determined to conceal sexual secrets spanning his entire childhood. It wasn't until after college with a fresh start in a new state and two pivotal summer excursions that a foreign thread of redemption started spinning among the struggle. Struggle Central tells the quarter-life quest of an introverted Christian's desperate cross-country search for purpose and belonging, both inside the Church and out. Brimming with tears of heartache and euphoria alike, Zuniga's candid collection of "messy memoirs" follows life's arduous journey through endless valleys and perilous climbs, reveling in the breathtaking peaks to be discovered along the way. The 10-year-anniversary edition features a new afterword from Tom as he comes to greater grips with trauma and shame, his sexual identity within his faith, his "central struggle" in life, and his regrets and joys from writing this book a decade ago, along with all the other consequences in between.