Living with Saints [Paperback]

Mary O'Connell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 14, 2003

Mary O'Connell's wonderfully inventive debut collection takes dusty icons down from the shelf and sets their spirits loose in the modern world. The result is nothing less than "an extended hagiography of the everyday ... where the sacred and secular blur gloriously into one another" (Los Angeles Times). Praised for her "gift for mordant wit, which at its best is reminiscent of Lorrie Moore" (The New York Times Book Review), O'Connell draws upon the lives of the saints to show the divine at work in even the most mundane lives. Saint Anne, patron saint of mothers, sits on the corner of a bed offering words of wisdom while a woman, driven to desperate measures to avoid leaving her baby in day care, has sex with her reptilian boss in exchange for time off. A woman left by her glam-rock musician boyfriend tosses and turns in her bed one night only to find that her pillow, stained with his mascara, has become a modern Turin shroud. From the ineffable bonds between fellow sufferers of grave illness, to the mystery of an immaculate pregnancy, to the more quotidian heartbreak of balancing work and motherhood, O'Connell's stories tackle complicated themes with humor that is "biting but never malicious" (Library Journal ). Readers of all faiths (or none) will be delighted by these savvy and highly original modern visitations. "It isn't necessary to be Catholic, religious, or even a woman to enjoy these stories." -- The Hartford Courant "Living with Saints is funny, shocking, and inspirational-a regular book of revelations." -- Time Out New York "Clever, confident and witty." -- Chicago Tribune

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this wickedly clever debut collection, O'Connell places female saints in contemporary settings and reinterprets their stories. Sassy in tone from the opening sentence of the first story, "Saint Dymphna" ("Holy shit, thought Dymphna, The Women's Center has hired a moonie"), the collection is full of saints who are just as likely to offer up smart-mouthed remarks as they are to provide comfort. Dymphna, a Catholic school girl who has an abortion, later experiences the "true heart of another" in a surprising modern twist on her namesake saint's martyrdom. In "The Patron Saint of Girls," Saint Agnes hovers over a high school biology class and tries to explain how even in her moment of martyrdom, she was most worried about impressing a boy. Saint Catherine Laboure is a tattoo artist, and Veronica is a 34-year-old singleton in New York City. But O'Connell isn't interested in easy irreverent swipes at Catholicism; serious topics are addressed in every story teenage pregnancy and abortion, sexual abuse, debilitating illness, losing a loved one and the links between myth and life are tight and always unexpected. O'Connell has an uncanny ear for dialogue and an otherworldly communion with the hearts and minds of adolescent girls in particular. Whether offering a new version of the Immaculate Conception, testing the influence of St. Christopher on two young female travelers in 1980s London or depicting a cigarette-smoking Saint Anne offering bedside counsel to a single mother who is trying to make ends meet by sleeping with her loathsome boss, the bottom line here is an examination of faith. Traditionalists may be shocked, but everyone else (nonreligious readers included) will be delighted with these well-crafted, inventive and highly original modern-day visitations. (Oct.)Forecast: Strong reviews should move this charmer. The saint-worshiping market probably won't cross over, but those with a yen for Catholic kitsch will be delighted.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Though living in Italy and Canada may have helped Spencer shed her reputation as a regional Southern writer, her literary vision has always been free of geographical constraint. This collection offers selections from the Mississippi native's earlier short fiction together with several new stories. Best known of the earlier fiction is her stunning novella, The Light in the Piazza (1960), the deceptively simple tale of an American mother and daughter in Florence. The new stories include First Child, the misadventure of an unmarried couple and the child they take on a weekend trip, and The Weekend Travellers, a chilling tale of newlyweds who follow a Pottery sign down a deserted road, where the husband disappears. Spencer published her first story in 1944 and has since published over a dozen books of fiction; this is her first new collection in 15 years. Unlike much episodic short fiction being written today, Spencer's narratives always tell a story. In this she follows the tradition of Henry James and Katherine Mansfield, to whom she has previously been compared. For all public libraries.Mary Szczesiul, Roseville P.L., MI
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press (January 14, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802139264
• ISBN-13: 978-0802139269
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #801,597 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars miraculous book!, April 6, 2004

By 

dakota lane (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Living with Saints (Hardcover)

This is an inspired work, with a singular voice--O'Connell brings so much heart, poetry, grittiness and spirituality to her characters. There's a nearly supernatural energy in her prose, blessing every detail of the every day world with fresh perspective, whether she's describing a particular pain, a scent or the specific color of the shadows beneath the eyes of a neglectful mother. She has compassion for even her most hateful characters, making them that much more believable. This is more than a collection of stories--it's a transformative fable, telling tales of ultimate redemption with humanity and fine wit. Hope she gets the attention she deserves!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hallelujah!, October 11, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Living with Saints (Hardcover)

This is a superb collection of stories about the everyday women, the everyday saints, whom we might encounter on the edges of everyday life. The prose is amazing: powerful and immediate, it is sharply contemporary and colloquial, and often ascends to moments of insight, clarity, glory. You should read these stories especially if you're Catholic, and more especially if you're not. This book shows us how we are surrounded by saints, by the raw fire, faith, and courage that is no less than those of the miraculous ones; and how these women, too, have their own small (and not-so-small) miracles.

Read this book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars blasphemous, November 2, 2010

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I'm no saint - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Living with Saints (Paperback)

What little I raed ... I found this book very blasphemous, condemning of the church and all ... shocking really given its title.

I returned it, but I wish I'd read a bit more of it to better determine what it is about and has to say. Anyone able to offer me a summary are welcomed to do so.