Patience of a Saint [Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

Andrew M. Greeley (Author)

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Random House Audio (July 19, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394298020
• ISBN-13: 978-0394298023
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,224,877 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A native of Chicago, Father Andrew M. Greeley, is a priest, distinguished sociologist and bestselling author. He is professor of social sciences at the University of Chicago and the University of Arizona, as well as Research Associate at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. His current sociological research focuses on current issues facing the Catholic Church-including celibacy of priests, ordination of women, religious imagination, and sexual behavior of Catholics.Father Greeley received the S.T.L. in 1954 from St. Mary of Lake Seminary. His graduate work was done at the University of Chicago, where he received the M.A. Degree in 1961 and the Ph.D. in 1962.Father Greeley has written scores of books and hundreds of popular and scholarly articles on a variety of issues in sociology, education and religion. His column on political, church and social issues is carried by the Chicago Sun Times and many other newspapers. He stimulates discussion of neglected issues and often anticipates sociological trends. He is the author of more than thirty bestselling novels and an autobiography, Furthermore!: Confessions of a Parish Priest.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A typical Greeley story, but nonetheless, a good read, July 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Patience of a Saint (G.K. Hall Large Print Book Series) (Hardcover)

"Patience of a Saint" is a typical Greeley story. It contains some excellent images and metaphors of the Catholic Church, some good mystery, some sex, and some violence. It fits Greeley's perfect equation of what to include in a sell-able story. But even with all the expected story parts, it remains one of his better stories, delving into a person's growth as an adult. It is reminiscent of the Biblical story of Saint Paul's conversion, set in modern-day Chicago, with some contemporary images thrown together to show us what Paul may have gone through if he had lived in our time. An interesting idea, a good read, and if you take the time, a thought-provoking way to approach the Bible story as well as middle age.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Summary of the story from the dust jacket, June 5, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Patience of a Saint (Hardcover)

This is the story of Red Kane, a man caught in a dilemma of Love. After twenty years of marriage plagued by misunderstanding and bitter resignation, Red finds himself falling in love with his wife all over again - and at the same time, pursued by an implacable, attractive God.

Redmond P. Kane, a popular Chicago newspaper columnist and Pulitzer prize winner, smokes and drinks too much, neglects his kids, enjoys a mistress, is feared and hated by his colleagues, and has shared nothing but a bed with his wife for much too long. At 53, Red is an unhappy, disgruntled cynic. But soon, all that changes. On a Chicago street corner a speeding car, almost runs him down, and a moment of divine grace - one in which God and Red's green eyed wife are somehow identified with each other - almost knocks him unconscious. An then Red';s real troubles begin. They start with evil- plan old fashioned wickedness in the person of aging politico Harv Gunther. Red has come up with evidence that links Gunther to the disappearance of a newsman 20 years earlier and the recent murder of a teenage girl, but proving it can cost Kane his career. He's almost ready to close his files, go out for a drink and forget it all. Yet since his brush with death Red finds himself inexorably drawn down the path of saintliness and driven to always do the right thing. Being a good husband to his wife Eileen is at the top of Red's list. Without realizing it, he's whistling "You're Irish and You're beautiful and dreaming of going home, taking her in his arms, and making up for all the sins of omission accumulated over 20 years of their on-again, off-again marriage. But what happens when he does? Beautiful Irish Eileen think's he's having a breakdown, just as his newsroom co-workers are sure he's finally gone over the edge. Soon, a psychiatrist is trying to have him committed. God has turned Red's whole existence upside down. Must he choose between his wife and his god? Or have they joined in a plot to try the patience of a saint. As Red probes the depths of his new emotions and renewed commitments with the help of Msgr Blackie Ryan, he also digs into the dirty business of Harve Gunther and in the process gravely endangers the lives of everyone he loves.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite Greeley story., May 14, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Patience of a Saint (Paperback)

This is a wonderful book. The author suggests wonderful possibilities of grace and love for our lives. It is a book that restores faith and replenishes the soul. Oh, and it's a great love story. Not your typical boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back; this is a wonderful tale about a man who discovers the true depth and meaning of his love for his wife--with no small assistance from God. In a "cynical" age this book is a rare, complex, affirmation of true love and grace. This is my favorite Greeley story.