Customer Reviews

How to Be Pope: What to Do and Where to Go Once You're in the Vatican

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
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Right. Well, yes, I'm biased, but I found it a bloody good read -- many facts and details about Popes -- as well as perfectly sound advice for incoming popes, all written in pithy little nuggets of information. Learn about the VC and all of its peculiar charms, become acquainted with the daily duties and responsibilities of the office, find out (extremely) hard-to-find details about the Pope's day-to-day living. Who does his laundry? What does he eat for breakfast? Who makes the Popemobile? And what's the deal with exorcisms, anyway? I don't need to tell you this would make a perfect gift this holiday season do I? I do? Well, then, there you are. Enjoy!

What a fun little book this is! I came across it by accident, read it from cover to cover in less than an hour, and couldn't have had a more enjoyable time.

The conceit of the book is that the reader has just been elected pope. What are the essentials that a new pope with no background would have to know about being pope and living in Vatican City? Mr. Marchant has gathered together the basics (clothes, buildings of the Vatican, staff, rituals, duties, travel, recreation and much more) and outlined them in a pleasant, easy-to-read fashion.

As a Catholic, I was particular pleased that the book is completely factual and unoffensive. Unless you are bothered by the idea of imaging yourself as pope, there is nothing here but history, geography and a light touch. Nothing to get angry about. So read it and enjoy!

When I saw the title of this book, I expected it to be a book that was attacking my Church while "trying" to be funny. I have to say my expectations were proven to be wrong. It is a great little book that answers questions about the everyday life of the leader of my Church that I didn't even know I had! I learned a lot, laughed a lot, and was humbled. Kudos to the author.

Although I think the intent is comedy--and there a more than a few chuckles here--it is done in a format that sticks to the factual. I learned more about Papal customs and Vatican operations from this than I had ever even thought about. That being said, I am from a Jewish home, so take that with a grain of salt. Recommended.

How To Be Pope: What To Do And Where To Go Once You're In The Vatican by Piers Marchant is a humorous approach to informing the reader of everything to do with being the Pope, and knowing the Vatican City. As a highly informative and instructional reference for the holy city and positioning, How To Be Pope is well written to cover every imaginable detail of being elected Pope, including the answers to questions like: who does my laundry?; can I keep a pet?; how do I make phone calls?; which hat do I wear when?; do I have a special wave? and many more interesting and fun facts. How To Be Pope is very highly recommended to all visitors of the Vatican City, as well as to those expecting to become elected as the next Pope.

Great fun, especially if you are Catholic. I enjoyed it.

We're planning a trip to Rome and thought this would an interesting read before visiting the Vatican. I haven't read it yet but have had a pretty good preview through browsing it and through our 13 year old son's reading. He couldn't put this book down and read it in less than a day during which he was constantly and excitedly talking to us about incredible insider facts and historical notes about the Pope and the Vatican. His enthusiasm has made me look forward to it's rotation in my reading schedule. In short, we've already more than gotten our money's worth from this book and highly recommend it to other families.

Being a Catholic who is highly sensitive to material that is offensive, this book passed with flying colors. Actually, anyone would enjoy reading it. It has such a great premise, and totally delivers. I particularly got a kick out of reading that the Vatican City ATM machines are the only ones in the world whose primary language is Latin.

Okay, unlike evidently every other reviewer... I am not Catholic (but am married to one), but I bought the book anyway because I've been preparing myself for everything. This was located in the Humor section of my local Barnes & Noble but really shouldn't be. I'm securing my survival versus zombies, robot uprising, surviving the apocalypse, alien invasions, etc... and now I can save mankind as Pope. This is not a funny or hilarious book but rather it is really quite informative on your pope-ly/papal duties. This book takes into account that you've actually been named as the Pope and is full of trivia and facts about your new position such as: decorating the office and apartments, clothing needs, writing doctrines, appointing cardinals and bishops, canonizing saints, recognizing miracles, overseeing Vatican City, performing exorcisms, and what to do for rest & relaxation. It's quite interesting the Pope gets his own railroad, granted it's only 2600 feet long; has a decent selection of Pope-mobiles; has a massive hidden library; can wear sunglasses on his garden walks, and gets to wear red shoes without anyone laughing at him.

Overall, great little trivia filled book regarding the perks of Pope-ness.

I bought this book for my brother, and he read through it very quickly because he though it was so funny!