Between Wyomings is Ken Mansfield’s memoir of his life and times in the music industry and his reflections of God based upon those experiences. Mansfield is a former record executive and producer who has worked with some of the largest names in the music world, most notably The Beatles. Mansfield set out on a year-long road trip with his wife to revisit the places of his past and, in some ways, bring closure to the storylines that those places represented. In Between Wyomings, Mansfield swings like a pendulum between recounting the stories of his past and giving an almost stream of conscious play-by-play of his thoughts with God.
Between Wyomings is at its best when Mansfield is telling stores and anecdotes from his past, discussing bands that he helped form and artists that he produced. It is interesting to read the reflections of a now devoted Christian on the excesses of his past. And even though Mansfield drops names, he never does it to simply drop names; all of his stories serve a purpose, even if that’s just to gain insight into his life that was and how it has affected his life that is.
However, when the pendulum swings to the other end, to the somewhat rambling interactions with God, Between Wyomings loses some steam. There are not a lot of these sections in the book, most of them appear in the first half, but when they came, I would find myself wishing Mansfield would get back to the stories. As a journey of self discovery, though, I can see how these sections are vital and important to his process. Mansfield needed to wrestle with some rambling thoughts in order to arrive at his goal of a more complete, more whole person.
Midway through the book, the stories and the ramblings begin to meet in the middle as they both gain more purpose: the stories cease to be simple anecdotes and become life altering events while the ramblings gain more focus and begin to highlight ways we can practically connect with God. That may be the greatest treasure of Between Wyomings, the journey in which we participate with Mansfield. He is honest and opens himself to his audience, not holding back his failures or his successes. And, in the end, we learn with Mansfield what it means to be a whole person, where our past, our present and our God help pave the way for our future.
Purchase Between Wyomings here.
Just finished reading this book. Very good summation of the book.
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