Leaving the Witness: Exiting a Religion and Finding a Life
(OverDrive MP3 Audiobook, OverDrive Listen)
Published:
Books on Tape 2019
Status:
Available from OverDrive
Description
"À la Tara Westover's Educated, Scorah's pensive, ultimately liberating memoir chronicles her formative years as a Jehovah's Witness...and captures the bewilderment of belief and the bliss of self-discovery."—O, The Oprah Magazine, Named one of "The Best Books by Women of Summer 2019"
"Scorah's book, the bravery of which cannot be overstated, is an earnest one, fueled by a plucky humor and a can-do spirit that endears. Her tale, though an exploration of extremity, is highly readable and warm."—The New York Times Book Review
A riveting memoir of losing faith and finding freedom while a covert missionary in one of the world's most restrictive countries.
A third-generation Jehovah's Witness, Amber Scorah had devoted her life to sounding God's warning of impending Armageddon. She volunteered to take the message to China, where the preaching she did was illegal and could result in her expulsion or worse. Here, she had some distance from her community for the first time. Immersion in a foreign language and culture—and a whole new way of thinking—turned her world upside down, and eventually led her to lose all that she had been sure was true.
As a proselytizer in Shanghai, using fake names and secret codes to evade the authorities' notice, Scorah discreetly looked for targets in public parks and stores. To support herself, she found work at a Chinese language learning podcast, hiding her real purpose from her coworkers. Now with a creative outlet, getting to know worldly people for the first time, she began to understand that there were other ways of seeing the world and living a fulfilling life. When one of these relationships became an "escape hatch," Scorah's loss of faith culminated in her own personal apocalypse, the only kind of ending possible for a Jehovah's Witness.
Shunned by family and friends as an apostate, Scorah was alone in Shanghai and thrown into a world she had only known from the periphery—with no education or support system. A coming of age story of a woman already in her thirties, this unforgettable memoir examines what it's like to start one's life over again with an entirely new identity. It follows Scorah to New York City, where a personal tragedy forces her to look for new ways to find meaning in the absence of religion. With compelling, spare prose, Leaving the Witness traces the bittersweet process of starting over, when everything one's life was built around is gone.
"Scorah's book, the bravery of which cannot be overstated, is an earnest one, fueled by a plucky humor and a can-do spirit that endears. Her tale, though an exploration of extremity, is highly readable and warm."—The New York Times Book Review
A riveting memoir of losing faith and finding freedom while a covert missionary in one of the world's most restrictive countries.
A third-generation Jehovah's Witness, Amber Scorah had devoted her life to sounding God's warning of impending Armageddon. She volunteered to take the message to China, where the preaching she did was illegal and could result in her expulsion or worse. Here, she had some distance from her community for the first time. Immersion in a foreign language and culture—and a whole new way of thinking—turned her world upside down, and eventually led her to lose all that she had been sure was true.
As a proselytizer in Shanghai, using fake names and secret codes to evade the authorities' notice, Scorah discreetly looked for targets in public parks and stores. To support herself, she found work at a Chinese language learning podcast, hiding her real purpose from her coworkers. Now with a creative outlet, getting to know worldly people for the first time, she began to understand that there were other ways of seeing the world and living a fulfilling life. When one of these relationships became an "escape hatch," Scorah's loss of faith culminated in her own personal apocalypse, the only kind of ending possible for a Jehovah's Witness.
Shunned by family and friends as an apostate, Scorah was alone in Shanghai and thrown into a world she had only known from the periphery—with no education or support system. A coming of age story of a woman already in her thirties, this unforgettable memoir examines what it's like to start one's life over again with an entirely new identity. It follows Scorah to New York City, where a personal tragedy forces her to look for new ways to find meaning in the absence of religion. With compelling, spare prose, Leaving the Witness traces the bittersweet process of starting over, when everything one's life was built around is gone.
Formats
OverDrive MP3 Audiobook
Works on MP3 Players, PCs, and Macs. Some mobile devices may require an application to be installed.
Need Help?
If you are having problem transferring a title to your device, please fill out this support form or visit the library so we can help you to use our eBooks and eAudio Books.
If you are having problem transferring a title to your device, please fill out this support form or visit the library so we can help you to use our eBooks and eAudio Books.
More Copies In LINK+
Loading LINK+ Copies...
More Details
Format:
OverDrive MP3 Audiobook, OverDrive Listen
Edition:
Unabridged
Street Date:
06/04/2019
Language:
English
ISBN:
9781984889454
Reviews from GoodReads
Loading GoodReads Reviews.
Citations
APA Citation (style guide)
Amber Scorah. (2019). Leaving the Witness: Exiting a Religion and Finding a Life. Unabridged Books on Tape.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)Amber Scorah. 2019. Leaving the Witness: Exiting a Religion and Finding a Life. Books on Tape.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)Amber Scorah, Leaving the Witness: Exiting a Religion and Finding a Life. Books on Tape, 2019.
MLA Citation (style guide)Amber Scorah. Leaving the Witness: Exiting a Religion and Finding a Life. Unabridged Books on Tape, 2019.
Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
Copy Details
| Library | Owned | Available |
|---|---|---|
| Shared Digital Collection | 3 | 2 |
Staff View
Grouped Work ID:
78b400f7-ac39-66db-2276-75fd6a3bac08
Needs Update?:
No
Date Added:
Jul 01, 2019 17:02:43
Date Updated:
Dec 07, 2020 07:15:06
Last Metadata Check:
Apr 14, 2024 12:56:58
Last Metadata Change:
Apr 06, 2024 11:06:47
Last Availability Check:
Apr 14, 2024 12:57:06
Last Availability Change:
Mar 23, 2024 16:50:31
Last Grouped Work Modification Time:
Apr 19, 2024 02:10:42
OverDrive Product Record
- images
- cover:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/1191-1/{420510D3-D2B6-4CD0-A724-171A262829D4}Img100.jpg
- type: image/jpeg
- thumbnail:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/1191-1/{420510D3-D2B6-4CD0-A724-171A262829D4}Img200.jpg
- type: image/jpeg
- cover150Wide:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/1191-1/420/510/D3/{420510D3-D2B6-4CD0-A724-171A262829D4}Img150.jpg
- type: image/jpeg
- cover300Wide:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/1191-1/420/510/D3/{420510D3-D2B6-4CD0-A724-171A262829D4}Img400.jpg
- type: image/jpeg
- cover:
- formats
- identifiers:
- type: 8
- value: penguinrandomhouse_audio#9781984889447
- type: ISBN
- value: 9781984889454
- name: OverDrive MP3 Audiobook
- id: audiobook-mp3
- identifiers:
- identifiers:
- type: 8
- value: penguinrandomhouse_audio#9781984889447
- type: ISBN
- value: 9781984889454
- name: OverDrive Listen
- id: audiobook-overdrive
- identifiers:
- mediaType
- Audiobook
- primaryCreator
- role: Author
- name: Amber Scorah
- title
- Leaving the Witness
- dateAdded
- 2019-07-01T18:33:00-04:00
- contentDetails
- href: https://link.overdrive.com/?websiteID=141&titleID=4384952
- type: text/html
- account:
- name: Sacramento Public Library (CA)
- id: 1151
- sortTitle
- Leaving the Witness Exiting a Religion and Finding a Life
- crossRefId
- 4384952
- subtitle
- Exiting a Religion and Finding a Life
- id
- 420510d3-d2b6-4cd0-a724-171a262829d4
- starRating
- 3.6
OverDrive MetaData
- isPublicDomain
- False
- formats
- duration: 06:59:38
- fileName: LeavingtheWitness_9781984889447_4384952
- partCount: 6
- fileSize: 200009304
- identifiers:
- audience: retailer
- type: 8
- value: penguinrandomhouse_audio#9781984889447
- audience: library
- type: ISBN
- value: 9781984889454
- rights:
- type: PlayOnPC
- value: 1
- type: PlayOnPCCount
- value: -1
- type: BurnToCD
- value: 1
- type: BurnToCDCount
- value: -1
- type: PlayOnPM
- value: 1
- type: TransferToSDMI
- value: 1
- type: TransferToNonSDMI
- value: 1
- type: TransferCount
- value: -1
- type: CollaborativePlay
- value: 0
- type: PublicPerformance
- value: 0
- type: TranscodeToAAC
- value: 1
- name: OverDrive MP3 Audiobook
- isReadAlong: False
- id: audiobook-mp3
- onSaleDate: 6/4/2019
- samples:
- source: Part 1
- formatType: audiobook-mp3
- url: https://excerpts.cdn.overdrive.com/FormatType-425/1191-1/4384952-LeavingTheWitness.mp3
- source: From the book
- formatType: audiobook-overdrive
- url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=420510d3-d2b6-4cd0-a724-171a262829d4&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
- duration: 06:56:38
- fileName: LeavingtheWitnessAJourneyOutofFaith-66790
- partCount: 0
- fileSize: 199986151
- identifiers:
- audience: retailer
- type: 8
- value: penguinrandomhouse_audio#9781984889447
- audience: library
- type: ISBN
- value: 9781984889454
- name: OverDrive Listen
- isReadAlong: False
- id: audiobook-overdrive
- onSaleDate: 6/4/2019
- samples:
- source: Part 1
- formatType: audiobook-mp3
- url: https://excerpts.cdn.overdrive.com/FormatType-425/1191-1/4384952-LeavingTheWitness.mp3
- source: From the book
- formatType: audiobook-overdrive
- url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=420510d3-d2b6-4cd0-a724-171a262829d4&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
- creators
- role: Author
- fileAs: Scorah, Amber
- bioText: AMBER SCORAH is a writer living in Brooklyn, NY. She works as an editorial producer at Scholastic and her articles have been published in the New York Times and Believer Magazine. She is also a contributing writer and podcast producer at Gothamist.com. Prior to coming to New York, Amber lived in Shanghai, where she was creator and host of the wildly popular podcast Dear Amber - The Insider's Guide to Everything China. This is her first book.
- name: Amber Scorah
- role: Narrator
- fileAs: Scorah, Amber
- bioText: AMBER SCORAH is a writer living in Brooklyn, NY. She works as an editorial producer at Scholastic and her articles have been published in the New York Times and Believer Magazine. She is also a contributing writer and podcast producer at Gothamist.com. Prior to coming to New York, Amber lived in Shanghai, where she was creator and host of the wildly popular podcast Dear Amber - The Insider's Guide to Everything China. This is her first book.
- name: Amber Scorah
- imprint
- Penguin Audio
- publishDate
- 2019-06-04T00:00:00-04:00
- edition
- Unabridged
- isOwnedByCollections
- True
- title
- Leaving the Witness
- fullDescription
- "À la Tara Westover's Educated, Scorah's pensive, ultimately liberating memoir chronicles her formative years as a Jehovah's Witness...and captures the bewilderment of belief and the bliss of self-discovery."—O, The Oprah Magazine, Named one of "The Best Books by Women of Summer 2019"
"Scorah's book, the bravery of which cannot be overstated, is an earnest one, fueled by a plucky humor and a can-do spirit that endears. Her tale, though an exploration of extremity, is highly readable and warm."—The New York Times Book Review
A riveting memoir of losing faith and finding freedom while a covert missionary in one of the world's most restrictive countries.
A third-generation Jehovah's Witness, Amber Scorah had devoted her life to sounding God's warning of impending Armageddon. She volunteered to take the message to China, where the preaching she did was illegal and could result in her expulsion or worse. Here, she had some distance from her community for the first time. Immersion in a foreign language and culture—and a whole new way of thinking—turned her world upside down, and eventually led her to lose all that she had been sure was true.
As a proselytizer in Shanghai, using fake names and secret codes to evade the authorities' notice, Scorah discreetly looked for targets in public parks and stores. To support herself, she found work at a Chinese language learning podcast, hiding her real purpose from her coworkers. Now with a creative outlet, getting to know worldly people for the first time, she began to understand that there were other ways of seeing the world and living a fulfilling life. When one of these relationships became an "escape hatch," Scorah's loss of faith culminated in her own personal apocalypse, the only kind of ending possible for a Jehovah's Witness.
Shunned by family and friends as an apostate, Scorah was alone in Shanghai and thrown into a world she had only known from the periphery—with no education or support system. A coming of age story of a woman already in her thirties, this unforgettable memoir examines what it's like to start one's life over again with an entirely new identity. It follows Scorah to New York City, where a personal tragedy forces her to look for new ways to find meaning in the absence of religion. With compelling, spare prose, Leaving the Witness traces the bittersweet process of starting over, when everything one's life was built around is gone. - popularity
- 565
- links
- self:
- href: https://api.overdrive.com/v1/collections/v1L1B3gEAAA2d/products/420510d3-d2b6-4cd0-a724-171a262829d4/metadata
- type: application/vnd.overdrive.api+json
- self:
- id
- 420510d3-d2b6-4cd0-a724-171a262829d4
- starRating
- 3.5
- images
- cover:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/1191-1/{420510D3-D2B6-4CD0-A724-171A262829D4}Img100.jpg
- type: image/jpeg
- thumbnail:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/1191-1/{420510D3-D2B6-4CD0-A724-171A262829D4}Img200.jpg
- type: image/jpeg
- cover150Wide:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/1191-1/420/510/D3/{420510D3-D2B6-4CD0-A724-171A262829D4}Img150.jpg
- type: image/jpeg
- cover300Wide:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/1191-1/420/510/D3/{420510D3-D2B6-4CD0-A724-171A262829D4}Img400.jpg
- type: image/jpeg
- cover:
- isPublicPerformanceAllowed
- False
- languages
- code: en
- name: English
- subjects
- value: Biography & Autobiography
- value: Religion & Spirituality
- value: Nonfiction
- publishDateText
- 06/04/2019
- mediaType
- Audiobook
- shortDescription
- "À la Tara Westover's Educated, Scorah's pensive, ultimately liberating memoir chronicles her formative years as a Jehovah's Witness...and captures the bewilderment of belief and the bliss of self-discovery."—O, The Oprah Magazine, Named one of "The Best Books by Women of Summer 2019"
"Scorah's book, the bravery of which cannot be overstated, is an earnest one, fueled by a plucky humor and a can-do spirit that endears. Her tale, though an exploration of extremity, is highly readable and warm."—The New York Times Book Review
A riveting memoir of losing faith and finding freedom while a covert missionary in one of the world's most restrictive countries.
A third-generation Jehovah's Witness, Amber Scorah had devoted her life to sounding God's warning of impending Armageddon. She volunteered to take the message to China, where the preaching she did was illegal and could result in her expulsion or worse. Here, she... - sortTitle
- Leaving the Witness Exiting a Religion and Finding a Life
- crossRefId
- 4384952
- subtitle
- Exiting a Religion and Finding a Life
- publisher
- Books on Tape
- bisacCodes
- code: BIO018000
- description: Biography & Autobiography / Religious
- code: BIO022000
- description: Biography & Autobiography / Women
- code: REL096000
- description: Religion / Christianity / Jehovah's Witnesses
