Furthermore! Memories of a Parish Priest

by Andrew M. Greeley

The beloved author and sociologist recalls his prior life as a parish priest with his customery wit and candor, in an insightful memoir that also explores the controversial recent history of the Catholic Church. Reprint. 50,000 first printing.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Religion

304 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1999

About the author

Andrew Greeley was a Roman Catholic priest, sociologist, journalist, and author of 50 best-selling novels and more than 100 works of nonfiction. For decades, Greeley entertained readers with such popular characters as the mystery-solving priest Blackie Ryan and the fey, amateur sleuth Nuala Anne McGrail. His books typically center on Irish-American Roman Catholics living or working in Chicago.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/andrew...

Reviews

[Mike Zickar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, I must have bought this at a library book sale and had it on my shelf for a decade and then my two-year old daughter started rearranging all of my books and this one landed on top of the pile and so I decided to read it. . . it seemed like a pandemic thing to do. I have no idea why I bought this in the first place. I'm no longer Catholic and have never read anything by Greeley, but I think I was curious about what it's like to be a Parish Priest.

Spoiler alert: This book has nothing to do with being a parish priest. Greeley, at the time he wrote this, was a highly published sociology scholar who had written many best-selling novels and hadn't served as a parish priest in what was probably three decades. In a sense, he was a celebrity priest who hung out with the Daleys, the royal family in Chicago.

But I really enjoyed the book. Greeley is obnoxious in a way that all of us are probably obnoxious in that we have a few pet peeves that come out in extended conversation and throughout the book Greeley's pet peeves and insecurities come through loud and clear. But he was an intelligent person who stood in a unique nexus of several different arenas and his essays spoke loud and clear to me, and I enjoyed following the bent of his unique mind.

[Cat. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting. Obviously a bit self-justifying (methinks he doth protest too much, at times), but since I don't know all the political crap behind the scenes in the Catholic Church, that could just be me being clueless. His discussions about the rift between the clergy & laity sound right on, not just about the Catholics actually. He's pretty funny, and he has lived a pretty bizarre life. Reading this book made me want to read more of his novels, so I guess he succeeded there!

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was just like having a conversation with Fr. Greeley as he reminisced about his life, thoughts, and observations. I actually did e-mail him afterward with a few of my thoughts, and he actually answered me. So sad that he had the awful accident and traumatic brain injury that took him out of interaction with all of us.

[Earl · Rating 4 out of 5]

The good thing about Father Greeley is the fact that he knows where to stand while having a different view of things. And in fact, through his insights and writings, we are invited to think differently not just of priests and the Church, but with the world that we move in as a whole and how events in our life define the way we see things. That, I believe, must be the way a parish priest is.