Star Bright!: A Christmas Story [Hardcover]

Andrew M. Greeley (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Forge Books (2004)
• ASIN: B0029EEGKU
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,240,825 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

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A True Little Spiritual Classic, December 6, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Star Bright: A Christmas Story (Hardcover)

Greeley's Irish Chicago meets sexy lay Russian Orthodox women's Christian mysticism somewhere between Boston College and Harvard Yard. Its improbability viz the Greeley corpus actually helps him compress a short, simple, yet spiritually sublime plot-and-reflections. (No Ryan family-tree to keep straight in your head!) If Odessa/Tatiana doesn't "seduce" you in many different (good!) ways, get your head, heart, spirit, and hormone-levels examined!

This book is little, but read it nice and slow, sometimes a page a day when herself is showing boyfriend Jack, his disgruntled family, and us a truer world-next-door spiritually. And read it over and over...maybe every December during the crush of the holidays. (Deeper than that Christmas pageant story they put on TV back in the '80s.) You'll find more than one new gem each time through--'pearls of great price,' for no great price! And it might just improve your life...and that of your significant others! Give it to a friend or two, too.

Profound, fun, cross-cultural, sexy but not "steamy" (Darn!), not a murder mystery but that's OK; further developments in Greeley's study and reporting of 'normal' Christians' approach to life. Technically, some typos and words missing, but it's usually clear what it is, so you lose no meaning. And stay with the meaning, because it's overflowing with it! And hardback is OK because it'll get used over and over for years to come. Sounds like he's working on a series of compressed, reflective, theological Christmas-y novels; great idea!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lovely Christmas gift, December 7, 2004

By 

L. L. Holmes (Butte, MT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Star Bright!: A Christmas Story (Mass Market Paperback)

I'm a sucker for a Christmas story, and an admirer of Greeley's work. No one makes family dynamics more fascinating, or has a greater appreciation for women. This is an offbeat little love story, with love being the operative word. Tatiana, the Russian student Irish Catholic Jack takes home to meet the folks in Chicago for Christmas, is a magical heroine who brings joy and hope to a dysfunctional family. It leaves you smiling and believing in the wonder of the season.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant!, December 19, 2005

By 

Donna K. "bookcrosser" (Long Island, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Star Bright!: A Christmas Story (Mass Market Paperback)

Wow! A wonderful immersion into both the Irish-American Catholic and the Russian Orthodox cultures, this little book is full of Christmas spirit! While taking a class over at Harvard University, Boston College student Jack Flanigan meets an enchanting beauty named Tatiana. The two strike up an unlikely but sweetly romantic friendship. Jack reluctantly invites her to Chicago to spend Christmas with his large and quite boisterous family, fearing that the deeply religious Tatiana will be turned off by the commercialism and overwhelmed by the dysfunctional crowd. But as Tatiana has found a way into confirmed bachelor Jack's heart, she also manages to win over his family.

There are no words to describe how much I loved this story. It was very well-written, with wonderful characterizations, descriptive settings, and positive dialogue. This couple, who personify true love, as well as the irresistable Flanigan family, will stay with me long after I put this book down.