"Freedman's vivid, wonderfully affecting book . . . is journalism of the highest order, a compassionate account of a year in the life of an extraordinary man, a charismatic Brooklyn preacher named Reverend Johnny Ray Youngblood, . . . . A sharply focused, triumphant hymn-shouting wonder of a book documenting the spiritual and worldly struggles of a people grappling with everyday realities that would test the convictions of a saint." —Entertainment Weekly (A)

"Upon This Rock provides a route back to hope for all readers." —Christian Science Monitor

In this widely acclaimed bestseller, Samuel Freedman, the author of Small Victories, tackles another explosive issue, this time race in America, by taking an in-depth look at the pastor of a thriving Black church in one of New York's most desperate slums.

  In this widely acclaimed bestseller, the author of Small Victories tackles another explosive issue, this time race in America, by taking an in-depth look at the pastor of a thriving black church in one of New York's most desperate slums. "An important book. . . . Its existence is an ostensive definition of the secular miracles we need to discover if we are to survive as a nation of honor."