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Being Catholic Now: Prominent Americans Talk About Change In The Church And The Quest For Meaning (2008)

by Kerry Kennedy(Favorite Author)

3.55 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0307346846 (ISBN13: 9780307346841)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

Crown

review 1: Easy read--it was comforting to read the thoughts and beliefs of other (mostly) like-minded, liberal people who remain in the Church and why they do. I also found it interesting how many of the people interviewed are no longer practicing or converted to another faith--and yet still chose to participate in a book reflecting on Catholicism, seeming to prove "Once a Catholic, always a Catholic." That said, this was a pretty fluffy piece of work. Each contributor's segment/chapter was essentially a verbatim transcript of an interview with Kennedy and thus had all the random digressions and interruptions of a typical conversation. This was very awkward in writing since the editing seemed minimal. This was disappointing, since so many of the contributors are writers/authors... more themselves (Anna Quindlen, Bill O'Reilly, Frank McCourt, Cokie Roberts) and could likely have contributed much better pieces on this subject than a short phone interview. Or Kennedy could have written about the interviews and interviewees herself, providing her own impressions of and reactions to her subjects. Either or both of these would have made for a more rigorous and compelling book.
review 2: Surprised by this book. Did not agree with most of the points of view expressed therein. Compilation of essays written by some famous people: Catholics, lapsed Catholics and ardently NOT Catholic. If you are Catholic, some of these will make you MAD, just a warning. Definitely a slant in the choice of included essays, author's pro-choice attitude featured throughout. Surprisingly quite a few of them wrote in favor of the ordination of women to the priesthood. As I said, if you are a practicing Catholic, be forewarned, this might not be the book for you. less

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