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Patrick M. Garry

Goodreads Author

Born

Fairmont, Minnesota, The United States

Website

https://sites.google.com/view/patrickgarry

Genre

Fiction

Member Since

July 2011

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Whenever she could find a few spare moments, usually late at night, my mother read. She loved books. To her, reading was both a staple and luxury of life. Because of her example, we all became avid readers. And I became a writer.

My mother was my one consistent reader...and editor. She compiled the indexes for my early law and history books. I didn't even know how to construct an index, but my mother figured it out.

She supported all my writing, but she seemed particularly pleased when, after years of publishing books on law and history, I began writing fiction.

My first novel, "A Bomb Shelter Romance," involved a comedy about an eccentric family in a small town in the Midwest. After she read the manuscript, I could see the questioning look on Whenever she could find a few spare moments, usually late at night, my mother read. She loved books. To her, reading was both a staple and luxury of life. Because of her example, we all became avid readers. And I became a writer.

My mother was my one consistent reader...and editor. She compiled the indexes for my early law and history books. I didn't even know how to construct an index, but my mother figured it out.

She supported all my writing, but she seemed particularly pleased when, after years of publishing books on law and history, I began writing fiction.

My first novel, "A Bomb Shelter Romance," involved a comedy about an eccentric family in a small town in the Midwest. After she read the manuscript, I could see the questioning look on my mother's face. Perhaps she worried that the family in the novel represented her own family--and maybe it did. It was then that she gave me some advice: try to write about things that really matter.

It took me 13 novels to fully follow that advice, which I think I finally did with my latest, "The Encounters of Quintas Livius." This novel combines history, faith and fiction. It presents a story of an agnostic Roman tax clerk caught up in the miracles of Jesus as he makes his way to Jerusalem.

Faith plays a vital role in many people's lives. But faith involves mysteries; and comprehending mysteries requires imagination, not facts. Consequently, our imagination can be a valuable tool in strengthening or understanding faith. "The Encounters of Quintas Livius" shows just how that tool might be used.

Mom, I hope I finally got it right.

* *

The host of a national book review radio program has called Patrick Garry the best undiscovered writer in America. But Patrick is unique in another respect. He writes about themes and ideas that are often absent in the works of contemporary American novelists.

Garry’s novels reaffirm life and the struggle of individuals to live their lives in ways that rise above mere materialism and the stranglehold of destructive temptations. In A Bridge Back, he writes about characters who never quite lose their desire for redemption, no matter how much guilt they feel for the mistakes of the past. Confronting the past can lead to a discovery of truth, which can then lead to the only true freedom. And once the enslavement to fear is ended, a rediscovery of love becomes possible.

Life can be simpler, and yet more heroic, than is often portrayed in the modern media, which can immerse us in a flood of all that can go wrong with life, rather than clarify for us what lies at the core of life—what defines it and makes it worth living. Garry's novels seek to rescue us from that confusion. ...more

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Patrick M. Garry’s books

Average rating: 4.25 · 132 ratings · 71 reviews · 28 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Encounters of Quintas Livius it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 30 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Power of Gratitude: Charting a Path toward a Joyous and Faith-Filled Life by Patrick M. Garry (Goodreads Author), Peter Brandenhoff (Foreword) 4.74 avg rating — 19 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Blind Spots 4.25 avg rating — 12 ratings — published 2015	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The False Promise of Big Government: How Washington Helps the Rich and Hurts the Poor 3.92 avg rating — 13 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Price of Guilt 3.82 avg rating — 11 ratings — published 2011	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	In the Shadow of War 4.33 avg rating — 9 ratings — published 2006 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Bridge Back 3.86 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 2008	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Finding Flipper Frank 4.33 avg rating — 6 ratings — published 2014	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Bomb Shelter Romance 2.80 avg rating — 5 ratings — published 2008	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Illusion 3.50 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2016	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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The Arsonist

by Sue Miller

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Feb 04, 2017 08:47AM

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Quotes by Patrick M. Garry (?)

“Unless people have a vision of something beyond the bounds of their own natures, they cannot transcend their self-interest.”
― Patrick M. Garry

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“Don’t be afraid of finishing a book and putting it out there for the world to see. If you’re waiting for perfect, your wait will never end.”
― Patrick M. Garry

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