What I'm reading right now is Kathryn Davis's The Thin Place: A Novel.

Body Piercing Saved My Life is well worth reading if you, like me, are puzzled by why Christian rock exists, why people actually listen to it, and if you were under the impression that all of it was uniformly awful. It apparently is not. And the book is fair; it doesn't shy pointing out the absurdities and inconsistencies of a music genre that is, in some regard, no genre at all, but rather a whole bunch of rampantly appropriated mainstream flavors of music (punk, rock, etc.) to serve a niche market. The book does manage to build a case for the music, and--most surprising--provides a portrait of musicians whose opinions are less dogmatic and narrow, and far more aware and interesting, than one would think.

All that said, the best parts are the ones that skewer (this is often reserved for "worship" music, which isn't actually christian rock proper; it's music meant to be played in church services):

...folks in the audience started lifting their hands in the air.

This gesture is probably the characteristic of evangelical services that looks the most unusual for outsiders. Some call it a "hug from God," and as the music that morning lifted in intensity, more and more hands popped up till the ballroom looked like a psychedelic classroom in which a lot of students had questions. (152)

Christian culture's strong preference that young people marry rather than date has not just resulted in a divorce rate nhighter than the national average, it's produced a bumper crop of chunky singers. It's a sad fact that once men are freed from the fear that each woman they meet may be their last chance at happiness, they tend to scarf that third hot dog without reflection. (165)