Itemize Containing Books Father Joe: The Man Who Saved My Soul
| Title | : | Father Joe: The Man Who Saved My Soul |
| Author | : | Tony Hendra |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 304 pages |
| Published | : | May 31st 2005 by Random House Trade Paperbacks (first published January 1st 2004) |
| Categories | : | Autobiography. Memoir. Nonfiction. Biography. Religion. Spirituality. Biography Memoir |
Tony Hendra
Paperback | Pages: 304 pages Rating: 3.76 | 1743 Users | 232 Reviews
Description Concering Books Father Joe: The Man Who Saved My Soul
A key comic writer of the past three decades has created his most heartfelt and hard-hitting book. Father Joe is Tony Hendra’s inspiring true story of finding faith, friendship, and family through the decades-long influence of a surpassingly wise Benedictine monk named Father Joseph Warrillow.Like everything human, it started with sex. In 1955, fourteen-year-old Tony found himself entangled with a married Catholic woman. In Cold War England, where Catholicism was the subject of news stories and Graham Greene bestsellers, Tony was whisked off by the woman’s husband to see a priest and be saved.
Yet what he found was a far cry from the priests he’d known at Catholic school, where boys were beaten with belts or set upon by dogs. Instead, he met Father Joe, a gentle, stammering, ungainly Benedictine who never used the words “wrong” or “guilt,” who believed that God was in everyone and that “the only sin was selfishness.” During the next forty years, as his life and career drastically ebbed and flowed, Tony discovered that his visits to Father Joe remained the one constant in his life—the relationship that, in the most serious sense, saved it.
From the fifties and his adolescent desire to join an abbey himself; to the sixties, when attending Cambridge and seeing the satire of Beyond the Fringe convinced him to change the world with laughter, not prayer; to the seventies and successful stints as an original editor of National Lampoon and a writer of Lemmings, the off-Broadway smash that introduced John Belushi and Chevy Chase; to professional disaster after co-creating the legendary English series Spitting Image; from drinking to drugs, from a failed first marriage to a successful second and the miracle of parenthood—the years only deepened Tony’s need for the wisdom of his other and more real father, creating a bond that could not be broken, even by death.
A startling departure for this acclaimed satirist, Father Joe is a sincere account of how Tony Hendra learned to love. It’s the story of a whole generation looking for a way back from mockery and irony, looking for its own Father Joe, and a testament to one of the most charismatic mentors in modern literature.
From the Hardcover edition.
Details Books In Pursuance Of Father Joe: The Man Who Saved My Soul
| Original Title: | Father Joe: The Man Who Saved My Soul |
| ISBN: | 0812972341 (ISBN13: 9780812972344) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Rating Containing Books Father Joe: The Man Who Saved My Soul
Ratings: 3.76 From 1743 Users | 232 ReviewsCriticize Containing Books Father Joe: The Man Who Saved My Soul
This book cant quite seem to make up its mind as to whether it wants to be a spiritual autobiography or a spiritual biography, and thus it never quite satisfies as either. As the former, its a sort of spiritual autobiography in reverse, a story of losing, rather than gaining, faith. Or perhaps its more a story of gaining and then losing and then partially re-gaining faith, which is the pattern of most spiritual journeys, I suppose. The author is not likeable, but nor does he take pains to be. HeSubtitle: "The Man Who Saved My Soul" I so beg to differ. What did Fr. Joe do for Tony but send him out into the world to mess up so many lives? His wife, his daughters. Satire may be clever, but his part in the destruction of what others have built is despicable. Satire is easy, chaotic, entropic. This book is going in the garbage. I wouldn't want anyone else to read it.
My in-laws insisted that I read this book. Seeing that it was written by Tony Hendra, I readily agreed. As soon as I could, I dove right into the story, but it was not the type of tale that is characteristic of Henra and his sharp, sardonic wit. Growing up on a steady diet of Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, and Jim Belushis style of Saturday Night Live, as well as the edgy comedic style of National Lampoon, I was certain that Father Joe was going to be a memoir that both pokes fun and shines a light
Perhaps one of the worst books ever written - so bad that the only reason I'm reviewing it is to make sure no one wastes their time on this one. The writer is self-important and uses his "faith" as a platform to name drop, fabricate, and exaggerate. I wish I had this time back.
Enjoyable story of a life with learning and reflection along the way, led by a mild mannered Catholic monk. While I am not a Catholic, I liked the description of the thought processes involved in choosing a monastic life, then being denied. Hendra isnt afraid to describe in detail. The alternative calling in the middle of the book was really out of left field and not explained in as much depth. Or at least that explanation didnt feel complete it was too different from expectations. Maybe thats
I had never heard of Tony Hendra and didn't realize he was famous until I listened to his narration of this book. But the title intrigued me so I decided to give it a go. What I found though, was that this book titled 'Father Joe' was much less about Father Joe than it was about Tony Hendra. Hendra was ego-centrical, obsessive, self-absorbed, and never missed the chance to do some name dropping. I was fascinated with Father Joe, however. A Benedictine Monk from the age of 17, he knew more about
My vicar gave this to me to read, I found the first half a bit hard going, but the second half really made up for it and even found myself bawling my eyes out at the end.
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