ISBN-13: 9781463711122 / Angielski / Miękka / 2012 / 296 str.
What do you do when your entire core belief system collapses around you? This is what Ricky Sharp has dealt with for the better part of his life. Adopted into a Christian family of means, Ricky's life should have been grand. It was not to be. His mother, whose life outwardly appeared to be righteous, imposed her strict version of Christianity on him from birth, manipulating him with scripture and / or money on a near-daily basis. He was sent to Christian schools where he soon learned that people don't practice what they preach. In the course of his life, Ricky would suffer emotional, physical, spiritual, and even repeated sexual abuse by outwardly and fine Christian folks. His appeals to people in positions of authority, who could have intervened and helped him were met with indifference. Quite frankly, they were "sticking their heads in the sand," refusing to see, believe, or deal with the problem. The cognitive dissonance he suffered as a result of all this was, at times, overwhelming. His one refuge was his music, and in the course of his life, he became an accomplished concert pianist, organist, and choral director. The adulation of the concert audience was short lived, however, as it did nothing to relieve the pain in his heart and soul that was brought about by the conflict of the principles he had been taught and the apparent rejection of these principles by the very people who had taught them to him. In desperation, he turned to alcohol, which would only numb the pain for a short time. Ricky eventually came to terms with the course his life had taken through a long process of soul searching and intense counseling. "Ostrich In The Bedroom" was written in the hopes that people who have suffered similar abuses would find comfort in knowing that there is a light at the end of their tunnel of misery and angst. It took a lot of courage for Ricky to write this book. As anticipated, "Ostrich In The Bedroom" has already fiercely angered the principle characters in the book, in spite of the fact that no real names were used unless they were deceased. It has been incredibly cathartic for Ricky to write his life's story and will give hope and comfort to many readers. "Ostrich In The Bedroom" is a true, soul-wrenching read. You will not be disappointed.