Review: Amish Confidential

I love to read. I was so disappointed in the book I recently finished reading that I felt compelled to put my review here. The other day, I finished reading the book Amish Confidential. I had enjoyed watching the television series on Discovery Channel but, I believed from the very first episode that I watched that many of the events on this show were scripted. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed watching the show. The last episode of the series promised that Lebanon Levi Stoltzfus was writing a "tell-all" book. I am disappointed that his definition of "tell-all" and mine are quite different.

I was mildly interested in the biographical information on Stoltzfus that was written in the book. He was one of seven children. His father died due to a farming accident when Levi was 2. Levi's mother remarried a widower with 8 children. Levi went a little "wild" during rumspringa drinking and received 2 DUIs. That may not be the norm but it's not surprising since many teenagers test boundaries and try their wings as they are entering adulthood especially when the strict rules they live by are suddenly eased.

The book also did a rundown on crimes the Amish were involved in or committed such as the shooting of Amish students at the West Nickel Mine School. Another big emphasis in the book was about a politician bashing the Amish and Stotlzfus bashing the politicians. This wasn't a surprise because the last few episodes of the show placed a huge emphasis on these events.

When we were promised a "tell-all" I expected to get the low-down on the Smucker family whose father was in charge of Amish Aid before Stoltzfus was. I was anxious to learn of the ties between Esther Smucker and Levi. I was disappointed to not read of any of this. The final episode showed that Levi had a baby with an "English" woman and there was no mention of this in the book.

My opinion of this book--Not worth your time or money if you had watched the show. This book read like it was just thrown together to make a buck and keep interest alive in the show. Don't waste your money; get it from the library if you still want to read it.

Star rating: 2 out of 5

Hope y'all are okay.

Hugs,

Sharon