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I Alone Have Escaped to Tell You: My Life and Pastimes Hardcover – March 1, 2006

by Ralph McInerny (Author)

7 customer reviews

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With I Alone Have Escaped to Tell You, Ralph McInerny—distinguished scholar, mystery writer, editor, publisher, and family man—delivers a thoroughly engaging memoir. In the course of his recollections, McInerny describes his childhood in Minnesota; his grammar school and seminary education, with his decision to leave the path toward ordination; his marriage to his beloved Connie and their active family life and travels; and his life as a fiction writer. We learn of his career as a Catholic professor of philosophy at Notre Dame, his views on the Catholic Church, his experiences as an editor and publisher of Catholic magazines and reviews, his involvement with the International Catholic University, and his thoughts on other Catholic writers. Part homage to his academic home for the last half century and part appreciation of the many significant friendships he has fostered over his life, McInerny's reminiscences beautifully convey his lively interest in the world and his gift for friendship and collegiality.

Written in his characteristically elegant style, by turns charming, poignant, humorous, and revealing, I Alone Have Escaped to Tell You will delight McInerny's many devoted readers.

“Here is a memoir that is more than a chronicle of a full life lived within a Catholic intellectual milieu. With unique literary skills and the wisdom of seventy-five years, McInerny enlivens and interprets the major intellectual events of his time, delving into the past to understand the present. The result is the kind of book that future historians of culture will regard as a primary source. Modest and unassuming, McInerny fails to do justice to his own role in the intellectual life of the Church, a role as important as that of Chesterton and Belloc in a previous generation." --Jude P. Dougherty, Dean Emeritus, School of Philosophy, The Catholic University of America and Editor of the Review of Metaphysics

"I picked this book up during a spare hour—and hours later have scarcely been able to get back to anything else. This is a charming, bittersweet, witty, evocative, even romantic reminiscence of a wonderful life, teeming with children, penury, wild trips to Europe, sudden (and immense) success in writing (after many, many rejections), the love of a good woman—and her common sense, besides—and an incisive record of an amazing stretch of years from the Depression and World War II through Vatican Council II, and on into our own new century. Be prepared to weep a little, and laugh a little—it ought to be a movie. McInerny's masterpiece!" —Michael Novak, George Frederick Jewett Scholar, American Enterprise Institute

I Alone Have Escaped to Tell You: My Life and Pastimes

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Editorial Reviews

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“What makes Mr. McInerny’s autobiography worth reading . . . are all his other careers. A professor at Notre Dame for fifty years, he has published academic works from his 1961 Logic of Analogy to his 1990 Handbook for Peeping Thomists, making him the nation’s most prominent scholar of medieval philosophy. Along the way, Mr. McInerny was a leader in the movement that turned Catholics into vital intellectual figures for modern conservatism.” —The Wall Street Journal

“McInerny relives a world very familiar to a generation of educated Catholics who found rational and emotional support for every social and moral challenge that life in America presented. He is the Catholic Huck Finn, guided through an adventurous intellectual life by the clear and unfailing light of reason as presented so clearly by the philosophy that supports his faith.” —American Catholic Studies

“McInerny describes his studies in philosophy and provides a lucid explanation for lay people of how modern philosophers have lost their way. He discusses the great work done by Vatican II and how it has, in some sense, lost its way by an emphasis on the ‘spirit,’ ignoring the texts themselves. . . . This book is recommended to all readers, especially those interested in the paths taken by Vatican II and modern philosophy.” —Catholic Library World

About the Author

RALPH McINERNY (1929–2010) was Michael P. Grace Professor of Medieval Studies and director emeritus of the Jacques Maritain Center, University of Notre Dame. He was the author of numerous works in philosophy, literature, fiction, and journalism, including The Very Rich Hours of Jacques Maritain, A First Glance at St. Thomas Aquinas, and Characters in Search of Their Author, all published by the University of Notre Dame Press.

Hardcover: 192 pages
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press; 1st Edition edition (March 1, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0268034923
ISBN-13: 978-0268034924
Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.7 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 7 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,562,603 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #871 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Educators
- #2614 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Journalists
- #9134 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > Authors

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Wendell B. Phillips

May 30, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Not surprisingly, this brief autobiography is written in a style reflective of the way Ralph McInerny speaks, which makes it a most enjoyable read. Highly recommended, especially for those toiling in the realm of higher education, and/or budding writers, who are seeking a role model for their efforts in blending their writing with other professional pursuits.

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Stephanie K. Swee

A Riveting Account

February 14, 2007

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Ralph McInerny has only gained skill as a craftsman as he ages. This account is tightly written and carries the reader along through a remarkable life, but manages to be self-depracating in the process.

As a wordsmith, McInerny is unparelleled and having a dictionary in this journey might be wise. However, his style and grace makes the occasional unfamiliar term non-threatening.

I would recommend this to anyone who loves the academic life or the life of the spirit.

Stephanie Swee

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Barbara Mcatee

The Real Ralph McInerny

December 4, 2012

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

After reading all of the Father Dowling mysteries, I wanted to see "who" Ralph McInerny really is. Met him at Notre Dame a couple of summers back in the early 90's and miss his clever wit! This book reads like McInerny is speaking. It's great!

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William H. Bruening

In Praise of a good, but not perfect, human being.

February 3, 2016

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Ralph was my dissertation director in the 60s. He was brilliant, funny--a very dry sense of humor. He told philosophical jokes in class. This book puzzles me because the McInerny of this book is not the McInerny that I knew 50 years ago. His disposition has changed--he almost sounds bitter. That is a shame.. He seems to have soured on the Philosophy Department at Notre Dame because it became a more pluralistic department and moved away from Thomism. I disagree with him on that issue, but that is OK between friends. I was very saddened when he died. I remember him saying that a proved God is no god at all. That comment captures him perfectly. If his bitterness haunted him as he grew older then that flaw is a tragic flaw--he would understood that characterization, even if he disagreed with it. Rest in peace, my friend and teacher.

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David A. Heskin

I Alone Have Escaped to Tell You: My Life And Pastimes

December 30, 2008

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

As a graduate of ND from the 60's, I knew of McInerney as a professor. More recently, I've learned of him as a popular and scholarly author. Both of these personnas come through in the book. In the words of another ND professor, this is "a good read".

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Daniel L Pratt

Delightful

September 7, 2006

Format: Hardcover

A delightful autobiography -- one can only wish it were longer. The author's life has been full of adventures that most of us can experience only second-hand. Of particular interest may be the chapter on Vatican II and its aftermath, or the chapter delineating the problems of modernist philosophers and the Scholastic antidote. For many readers, especially those of the author's multitudinous mysteries, the chapter titled "Author" will be the best. It refers to several of McInerny's early novels, which though sadly out of print are well worth the trouble of tracking down in libraries.

One would think that Notre Dame could employ a scholarship student to do the proofreading. Apparently only a spell-checker is used, as words occasionally appear under the guise of other words' spellings, but misspellings that coincide with no other word do not. This book deserved better. The upshot is that a few sentences have to be read several times over in order to be degarbled. But there are many more sentences worth rereading for their intrinsic interest -- I think you'll be glad to have read this book.

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R. N. Besser

I Alone Have Escaped review

July 24, 2008

Format: Hardcover

Ralph McInerny is best known for his Father Dowling series of mysteries. In his memoir, I Alone Have Escaped to Tell You he goes beyond a mere story about his life. He talks about his life, yet offers advice to aspiring authors on getting started, persevering in the face of rejection and handling success. He explains how to write a mystery story.
His discussions on life and philosophy, a subject he teaches at Notre Dame, gives the readers reason to pause and think. And in some cases, a desire to look at some of the other books he mentions.
Despite being a relatively short book, and a quick read, the information presented makes you go back and reread some sections looking for a different perspective.
Well worth the time to read. I highly recommend it for writers, philosophers and people looking for a good story about an amazing life.

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