Men and Brethren [Paperback]

James Gould Cozzens (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1989

The Reverend Ernest Cudlipp, almost 45, urbane and intelligent, is vicar of a prominent Fifth Avenue church in New York. Men and Brethren follows him through a singularly eventful summer weekend, his dealings with parishioners and friends, his professional and personal relationships. His solutions to the problems he confronts are characteristically forthright, often unorthodox, a product of the struggle between his beliefs and his experience. Mr. Cozzens has written a deceptively powerful novel, filled with ironical intelligence, incisive portraiture, and onrushing action. "Altogether vivid, exciting and unusual…it makes a deep impression."—Cyril Connolly, New Statesman. "A remarkable portrait…The plot is so suave and sophisticated as to be completely beguiling…Cudlipp himself, no matter how much you may dislike him, and perhaps because of that dislike, is virulently alive."—New York Times. "A brilliantly integrated and authentic characterization…Mr. Cozzens deserves almost special praise for creating a clergyman as real as Ernest Cudlipp."—Louis Kronenberger, The Nation. “It’s a perfect gem and should be a must on the list of everyone involved in the church and in the modern novel at its best.”—Churchman.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

James Gould Cozzens (1903–1978) was born in Chicago and studied at the Kent School in Connecticut and at Harvard University. He left Harvard to devote his full time to writing, and over time his career was distinguished by critical and popular success. His novels include Men and Brethren, The Just and the Unjust, and Guard of Honor, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize.

Product Details

• Paperback: 191 pages
• Publisher: Ivan R Dee (January 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0929587081
• ISBN-13: 978-0929587080
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,064,649 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars one busy summer weekend, September 9, 2000

By 

james w. betts (honolulu, hawaii USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Men and Brethren (Paperback)

....One busy summer weekend at his Manhattan Episcopal church the Rev. Ernest Cudlipp is forced to deal with urgent pressures of a multitude of unrelated episodes. We see the workings of a church as Cudlipp deals with abortion,suicide, natural death etc. Cudlipp takes responsibility for his actions-displaying the qualities of a sensible,practical, and experienced man with a keen sense of duty. He considers resignation when he is slowed by his clerical superior, Doctor Lamb, and the awareness of powerful church politics. Cudlipp is the hero one expects from Cozzen. First published in 1936 this intellectually exciting novel remains contemporary-a conflict of ideas and solutions.The contents of this attractive and affordable paperback reprint compares favorably to the writing quality of Cozzen's Guard of Honor and By Love Possessed.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic by James Gould Cozzens, November 6, 2009

By 

Paul A. Spengler "Senex" (Rochester, New York United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Men and Brethren (Paperback)

This is one of James Gould Cozzen's especially good novels. Written in 1936, it describes a weekend in the life of the Rev. Ernest Cudlipp, the vicar of an Episcopal chapel in Manhattan. For readers unfamiliar with the what clergymen do when they are not preaching or conducting services, the writer does a fine job of portraying the every day working life of a parish priest or minister. Throughout the book, Fr. Cudlipp is called upon to help people with problems. Among the people he encounters are an older clerical colleague undergoing a crisis of faith, a young clergyman struggling with issues of faith and social justice, parishioners, as well as people only loosely associated with the church, who come to him with marital, relationship, sexual and addiction problems. I found this book very appealing because Fr. Cudlipp, while caring and tolerant, consistently takes a realistic, rather than a sentimental, view of life. He talks frankly to people about their problems. He does not water down the transcendent mysteries of faith to make his religion more assimilable for people seeking what Dietrich Bonhoeffer once called "cheap grace." Throughout the book, one can see the chain-smoking, sometimes brusk, but always caring and committed Fr. Cudlipp as an instrument of God's grace.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ecclesiastical rarity, December 26, 2010

By 

Richard I. Pervo - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Men and Brethren (Paperback)

Cozzens understood a great deal about the Episcopal church of the era before WWII. Few outside of the clergy, at that time, had so much insight into the nitty-gritty. This book could be read for its historical value alone. One clear contrast is the matter of homosexuality, referred to only obliquely. In many other matters, the principle of plus ca change rules.
As a work of characterization M&B is first rate. The priest is not likeable, certainly not idealized, but the initial temptation to dismiss him as an aesthetic snob dissipates through the discovery of his compassionate realism. This vicar is a veteran of the ecclesiastical trenches.
Since most ecclesiastical novels resemble tracts or deal with issues of church politics, M&B is a rare and valuable exception. Admirers of a good novel who have no interest in religion or theology are likely to admire this book.