Author Andrew Beaujon chronicles his discovery of Christian music

THE BOOK Body Piercing Saved My Life by Andrew Beaujon, published in the US by Da Capo Press in May, is receiving considerable comment in Christian media. The book is an account of how the writer, a senior contributing writer for Spin magazine, spent a year touring the Christian music world and at the end had, in his own words, "become a fan, not just of the music, but of Christians and of Jesus himself."

Writing in Christian Retailing magazine, Andy Butcher wrote, "He's not uncritical, questioning some of the commercialism and the crassness he saw (to which, a hearty amen), teasing out the ongoing dialogue about art-versus-evangelism and exploring the frustrations of the growing numbers who don't want to be defined as 'Christian' artists. But he also offers a sympathetic appreciation of the scene and succinctly skewers one of the most common criticisms of Christian music - that, frankly, much of it simply isn't very good - by agreeing.but going on to point out that the same is equally true of the mainstream music world."