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Matt Talbot
"On a pitiful dry day, in the city of Dublin, Ireland, in the year 1884, a seedy young workman with a hang-over decided to quit drinking...There was nothing remarkable about Matt not then. And there was nothing remarkable in his taking the pledge. Nothing is easier to take nor harder to keep. But, one thing leading to another, a sinner can call on a priest, and a sot can become a saint.
It was only after Matt quit drinking that he became remarkable in any way. It was only after his death that he became, not only remarkable and famous all over the world, but even an object of veneration.
Some day, in your parish church, you may see a strange statue maybe standing near that of the Little Flower or St. Anthony or even St. Patrick himself. And then again maybe you won t. The Church hasn t canonized Matt yet, and may never do so. But it permits him to be called the holy servant of God ; and that is tantamount to calling him the Venerable Matt Talbot."
Excerpt from the beginning of Matt Talbot
Though Matt Talbot s life is an encouraging success story particularly for addicts, his meaning in the modern world extends far beyond being the patron of recovering alcoholics. There is something in his story for everyone worker, sinner, Christian, skeptic, apostle a glimmer of greatness, humility, and charity that cannot fail to inspire and amaze.
It was only after Matt quit drinking that he became remarkable in any way. It was only after his death that he became, not only remarkable and famous all over the world, but even an object of veneration.
Some day, in your parish church, you may see a strange statue maybe standing near that of the Little Flower or St. Anthony or even St. Patrick himself. And then again maybe you won t. The Church hasn t canonized Matt yet, and may never do so. But it permits him to be called the holy servant of God ; and that is tantamount to calling him the Venerable Matt Talbot."
Excerpt from the beginning of Matt Talbot
Though Matt Talbot s life is an encouraging success story particularly for addicts, his meaning in the modern world extends far beyond being the patron of recovering alcoholics. There is something in his story for everyone worker, sinner, Christian, skeptic, apostle a glimmer of greatness, humility, and charity that cannot fail to inspire and amaze.
- GenresBiography
231 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2001
8 people are currently reading
40 people want to read
About the author
Eddie Doherty
47 books1 followerEdward J. "Eddie" Doherty (October 30, 1890–May 4, 1975) was a famed American newspaper reporter, best-selling author, Oscar-nominated screenwriter, co-founder of the Madonna House Apostolate, and later ordained a priest in the Melkite Greek Catholic Church.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 13, 2023
This was the second volume I have read about Matt Talbot. After I finished the short volume The Holy Man of Dublin: or the Silence of Matt Talbot by Alice Curtayne I knew I wanted to learn more. The subtitle of this volume is: ‘Fighting addiction, poverty, and the turmoil of Irish life at the turn of the century, Matt leads us humbly to the Mother of God.’. and even after reading this volume I want to read more about this holy man. Both Sir Joseph Glynn and Mary Purcell have written two volumes on Matt, one a shorter booklet, and a longer book version. Reading about the spread of the devotion to this man around the world in short order in the days before internet, and social media is fascinating. And it is incredible to read about a man humble and unassuming who changed his life and after his death was discovered to be an extremely holy and devote man is deeply moving. The version of this book I read is marked as a second edition. But there is not an indication of the changes, additions or subtractions from the previous version. The description of this volume is:
““On a pitiful dry day, in the city of Dublin, Ireland, in the year 1884, a seedy young workman with a hang-over decided to quit drinking...There was nothing remarkable about Matt—not then. And there was nothing remarkable in his taking the pledge. Nothing is easier to take—nor harder to keep. But, one thing leading to another, a sinner can call on a priest, and a sot can become a saint.
It was only after Matt quit drinking that he became remarkable in any way. It was only after his death that he became, not only remarkable and famous all over the world, but even an object of veneration.
Some day, in your parish church, you may see a strange statue—maybe standing near that of the Little Flower or St. Anthony or even St. Patrick himself. And then again maybe you won’t. The Church hasn’t canonized Matt yet, and may never do so. But it permits him to be called “the holy servant of God”; and that is tantamount to calling him the ‘Venerable Matt Talbot.’”
– Excerpt from the beginning of Matt Talbot
Though Matt Talbot’s life is an encouraging success story particularly for addicts, his meaning in the modern world extends far beyond being the patron of recovering alcoholics. There is something in his story for everyone—worker, sinner, Christian, skeptic, apostle—a glimmer of greatness, humility, and charity that cannot fail to inspire and amaze.”
I myself come from a long line of Irish Catholics with a fondness for the drink, and my youngest brother and I have commend on the family history of addictions, we had one brother overdose, my youngest brother is addicted to board games, and for me it is books. But Matt’s story gives home for those who struggle with substance addictions, and for all of us who would grow to become ‘the best version of ourselves’ to strive to become saints. I highlighted several passages while reading this volume, some of them are:
“On a pitiful dry day, in the city of Dublin, Ireland, in the year 1884, a seedy young workman with a hang-over decided to quit drinking. His flesh was crawling with the need for alcohol. His throat was as parched as a long-neglected desert. His eyes were blood-shot and weary through searching the streets for the sight of a friend with a bob or a bottle. And his hands were shaking—even in the depths of his coat pockets. Yet he took the pledge. And if things all over the world haven’t been the same from that day to this, maybe Matt Talbot’s decision had something to do with it. Who can deny that?”
“It was only after Matt quit drinking that he became remarkable in any way. It was only after his death that he became, not only remarkable and famous all over the world, but even an object of veneration.”
“Matt never spilled a drink nor skipped a day’s work on the job. He took the pledge for three months, even though he felt he couldn’t keep it for three hours. He kept it forty-one years.”
“Some of the links in those chains were found embedded in his flesh the day he dropped dead on his way to Mass. Some of them had rusted. It was the links binding him to Mary and her Son that freed him from the chains of alcoholism. It was those links that gave him to Christendom as a possible patron of all helpless drunks.”
“He was the average man. The average—God help us—Catholic. Why God chose him especially, and no one else, to lead thousands of people into sobriety, and perhaps from sobriety into sanctity, is another mystery.”
“What a fool a man was to waste his God-given time in a barroom when he could spend it in prayer before the altar of God! What a fool a man was to sell his soul and his body to the demon of drink when he could drive a much better bargain with the one who would come to judge the living and the dead!”
“Matt Talbot undoubtedly learned something of the Catholic religion, the religion of love, in the Christian Brothers’ school in Dublin. He undoubtedly learned, also, that Britannia ruled the waves, that there was little hope in life for any boy who was both Catholic and Irish, that there was nothing ahead of such a lad but unending work, unending poverty, unending drink.”
“The habitual drinker does not contribute much, if anything, to the family’s support. It was only after he quit drinking that Matt was of any help to his father and mother—or to anybody else.”
“Matt must have missed the companionship of his fellow drinkers almost as much as the drink itself, after he took the pledge. He must often have been tempted to return to his pet oasis just to hear the voices of his friends, the stories, the arguments, the songs.”
“Sir Joseph Glynn, in his matter-of-fact way, states that Matt went to confession before he took the pledge, and that afterward he returned home “and on Sunday morning attended the 5 a.m. Mass at St. Francis Xavier’s church,” and went to Communion.”
“It was a Saturday evening in June. The air was chill, and an ill-natured sky was trying to make up its mind to drench the Irish with cold rain. It was about seven o’clock, and still light outside. But it was dark and gloomy inside, despite all the candles and electric lights. This church is one of the grimmest in Europe, one of the most bleak, and perhaps the most drafty. It is a big bare structure containing a lot of altars, and a lot of fat, round, tall, dark pillars that shut out most of the altars from one’s vision. Its floor is stone, cold and relentless. Its wooden pews are old fashioned, uncomfortable, and ungracious. Its doors keep opening and closing constantly, letting people in or letting them out, and giving the drafts a chance to rush madly everywhere. There are many confessionals, and on this evening there were long lines of men and women stretching toward each of them. Most of the people were on their knees. They moved slowly, up a dark aisle, around a pillar, toward a narrow bench. They moved a few inches at a time, not more than the width of the penitent who had moved first. There was a patience in these Irish men and women the visitor thought remarkable. They were so still! There was so little fidgeting among them! There was so much reverence in them!”
“It was not in the Pro-Cathedral that Matt had gone to confession that day in 1884. He went to the chapel of Holy Cross College—where a relic of the True Cross was kept. But in any church or chapel in Ireland, a visitor will see much the same thing on a Saturday night—great lines of penitents moving with the slowness and inevitableness of glaciers toward the wide warm Sea of Mercy.”
This was a fascinating read. I doubt the taking of the chains would be approved today, and a different discipline would be encouraged. But Matt’s life of prayer, fasting, and giving is an incredible example.
The book begins with the Prayer for the canonization of Matthew Talbot:
“O Jesus, true friend of the humble worker, Who hast given us in Thy servant, Matthew, a wonderful example of Victory over vice, a model of penance and of love for Thy Holy Eucharist, grant, we beseech Thee, that we Thy servants may overcome all our wicked passions and sanctify our lives with penance and love like his. And if it be in accordance with Thine adorable designs that Thy pious servant should be glorified by the Church, deign to manifest by Thy heavenly favors the power he enjoys in Thy sight, Who livest and reignest for ever and ever. Amen.
100 days’ Indulgence each time. Permissu Ordinarii Dioec. Dublinen., die 15 Junii, anno 1931.”
I added this prayer to my daily prayers as soon as I read it. This volume was hard to put down once I started. I kept trying to sneak in a little more reading time. Devouring the book on my coffee breaks, lunch, and in the evening once the kids were in bed. Matt’s story is one that as the end of the description of the book states:
“…Matt Talbot’s life is an encouraging success story particularly for addicts, his meaning in the modern world extends far beyond being the patron of recovering alcoholics. There is something in his story for everyone—worker, sinner, Christian, skeptic, apostle—a glimmer of greatness, humility, and charity that cannot fail to inspire and amaze.”
This is a book any Catholic could benefit from read. It will inspire and challenge readers of all ages. I can easily recommend this volume. And I have a few other books about Matt I plan on reading. An excellent biography and story of faith, overcoming addition, and living for God.
This book is part of a series of reviews: 2023 Catholic Reading Plan!
““On a pitiful dry day, in the city of Dublin, Ireland, in the year 1884, a seedy young workman with a hang-over decided to quit drinking...There was nothing remarkable about Matt—not then. And there was nothing remarkable in his taking the pledge. Nothing is easier to take—nor harder to keep. But, one thing leading to another, a sinner can call on a priest, and a sot can become a saint.
It was only after Matt quit drinking that he became remarkable in any way. It was only after his death that he became, not only remarkable and famous all over the world, but even an object of veneration.
Some day, in your parish church, you may see a strange statue—maybe standing near that of the Little Flower or St. Anthony or even St. Patrick himself. And then again maybe you won’t. The Church hasn’t canonized Matt yet, and may never do so. But it permits him to be called “the holy servant of God”; and that is tantamount to calling him the ‘Venerable Matt Talbot.’”
– Excerpt from the beginning of Matt Talbot
Though Matt Talbot’s life is an encouraging success story particularly for addicts, his meaning in the modern world extends far beyond being the patron of recovering alcoholics. There is something in his story for everyone—worker, sinner, Christian, skeptic, apostle—a glimmer of greatness, humility, and charity that cannot fail to inspire and amaze.”
I myself come from a long line of Irish Catholics with a fondness for the drink, and my youngest brother and I have commend on the family history of addictions, we had one brother overdose, my youngest brother is addicted to board games, and for me it is books. But Matt’s story gives home for those who struggle with substance addictions, and for all of us who would grow to become ‘the best version of ourselves’ to strive to become saints. I highlighted several passages while reading this volume, some of them are:
“On a pitiful dry day, in the city of Dublin, Ireland, in the year 1884, a seedy young workman with a hang-over decided to quit drinking. His flesh was crawling with the need for alcohol. His throat was as parched as a long-neglected desert. His eyes were blood-shot and weary through searching the streets for the sight of a friend with a bob or a bottle. And his hands were shaking—even in the depths of his coat pockets. Yet he took the pledge. And if things all over the world haven’t been the same from that day to this, maybe Matt Talbot’s decision had something to do with it. Who can deny that?”
“It was only after Matt quit drinking that he became remarkable in any way. It was only after his death that he became, not only remarkable and famous all over the world, but even an object of veneration.”
“Matt never spilled a drink nor skipped a day’s work on the job. He took the pledge for three months, even though he felt he couldn’t keep it for three hours. He kept it forty-one years.”
“Some of the links in those chains were found embedded in his flesh the day he dropped dead on his way to Mass. Some of them had rusted. It was the links binding him to Mary and her Son that freed him from the chains of alcoholism. It was those links that gave him to Christendom as a possible patron of all helpless drunks.”
“He was the average man. The average—God help us—Catholic. Why God chose him especially, and no one else, to lead thousands of people into sobriety, and perhaps from sobriety into sanctity, is another mystery.”
“What a fool a man was to waste his God-given time in a barroom when he could spend it in prayer before the altar of God! What a fool a man was to sell his soul and his body to the demon of drink when he could drive a much better bargain with the one who would come to judge the living and the dead!”
“Matt Talbot undoubtedly learned something of the Catholic religion, the religion of love, in the Christian Brothers’ school in Dublin. He undoubtedly learned, also, that Britannia ruled the waves, that there was little hope in life for any boy who was both Catholic and Irish, that there was nothing ahead of such a lad but unending work, unending poverty, unending drink.”
“The habitual drinker does not contribute much, if anything, to the family’s support. It was only after he quit drinking that Matt was of any help to his father and mother—or to anybody else.”
“Matt must have missed the companionship of his fellow drinkers almost as much as the drink itself, after he took the pledge. He must often have been tempted to return to his pet oasis just to hear the voices of his friends, the stories, the arguments, the songs.”
“Sir Joseph Glynn, in his matter-of-fact way, states that Matt went to confession before he took the pledge, and that afterward he returned home “and on Sunday morning attended the 5 a.m. Mass at St. Francis Xavier’s church,” and went to Communion.”
“It was a Saturday evening in June. The air was chill, and an ill-natured sky was trying to make up its mind to drench the Irish with cold rain. It was about seven o’clock, and still light outside. But it was dark and gloomy inside, despite all the candles and electric lights. This church is one of the grimmest in Europe, one of the most bleak, and perhaps the most drafty. It is a big bare structure containing a lot of altars, and a lot of fat, round, tall, dark pillars that shut out most of the altars from one’s vision. Its floor is stone, cold and relentless. Its wooden pews are old fashioned, uncomfortable, and ungracious. Its doors keep opening and closing constantly, letting people in or letting them out, and giving the drafts a chance to rush madly everywhere. There are many confessionals, and on this evening there were long lines of men and women stretching toward each of them. Most of the people were on their knees. They moved slowly, up a dark aisle, around a pillar, toward a narrow bench. They moved a few inches at a time, not more than the width of the penitent who had moved first. There was a patience in these Irish men and women the visitor thought remarkable. They were so still! There was so little fidgeting among them! There was so much reverence in them!”
“It was not in the Pro-Cathedral that Matt had gone to confession that day in 1884. He went to the chapel of Holy Cross College—where a relic of the True Cross was kept. But in any church or chapel in Ireland, a visitor will see much the same thing on a Saturday night—great lines of penitents moving with the slowness and inevitableness of glaciers toward the wide warm Sea of Mercy.”
This was a fascinating read. I doubt the taking of the chains would be approved today, and a different discipline would be encouraged. But Matt’s life of prayer, fasting, and giving is an incredible example.
The book begins with the Prayer for the canonization of Matthew Talbot:
“O Jesus, true friend of the humble worker, Who hast given us in Thy servant, Matthew, a wonderful example of Victory over vice, a model of penance and of love for Thy Holy Eucharist, grant, we beseech Thee, that we Thy servants may overcome all our wicked passions and sanctify our lives with penance and love like his. And if it be in accordance with Thine adorable designs that Thy pious servant should be glorified by the Church, deign to manifest by Thy heavenly favors the power he enjoys in Thy sight, Who livest and reignest for ever and ever. Amen.
100 days’ Indulgence each time. Permissu Ordinarii Dioec. Dublinen., die 15 Junii, anno 1931.”
I added this prayer to my daily prayers as soon as I read it. This volume was hard to put down once I started. I kept trying to sneak in a little more reading time. Devouring the book on my coffee breaks, lunch, and in the evening once the kids were in bed. Matt’s story is one that as the end of the description of the book states:
“…Matt Talbot’s life is an encouraging success story particularly for addicts, his meaning in the modern world extends far beyond being the patron of recovering alcoholics. There is something in his story for everyone—worker, sinner, Christian, skeptic, apostle—a glimmer of greatness, humility, and charity that cannot fail to inspire and amaze.”
This is a book any Catholic could benefit from read. It will inspire and challenge readers of all ages. I can easily recommend this volume. And I have a few other books about Matt I plan on reading. An excellent biography and story of faith, overcoming addition, and living for God.
This book is part of a series of reviews: 2023 Catholic Reading Plan!
April 26, 2016
The venerable servant of God Matthew “Matt” Talbot is a unique figure in the lineup of candidates for Catholic sainthood. An unmarried blue collar reformed alcoholic turned Irish ascetic and mystic of the Dublin loading docks, he is a larger-than-life cutout figure that one would not normally equate with holiness and supernatural miracles, an honor normally associated with pious priests and nuns who founded religious orders or who were martyred for their faith. Rather, it was his struggle and holy victory against intense alcoholism that brought him his global renown. More compelling is the heavenly grace that befell him and which enabled him to quit, a gift that came as rejection from his drinking buddies and which thus resulted in shame and humiliation on his spirit.
Considered a full-blown hopeless alcoholic by the age of twelve and thirteen, Matt Talbot lived solely for hootch and went about getting the necessary cash by any means possible in order satiate that unrelenting dependence, not limiting himself to theft, starvation and sacrificing his own physical and mental well being. The mental discord that he left in his wake towards those who tried to help him was just the tip of the iceberg, all this while he was not even a fully developed teenager, a youth with potential who tossed it aside to gulp his life away. He wanted to die by increments. And alcohol of all types was his weapon of choice. However, they weren’t just weapons, they were also his conferrers, his saviors and chums all rolled into one. He could not turn away from his addiction, because it was not solely his enemy, it too was his friend and comforter.
When his friends and work mates headed off to the pubs after a day’s hard labor but were short on cash, Matt Talbot always gave what little he had left to help his buddies drink, igniting the buzz and living only in the “glorious” stupor. He did so, however, with the expectation that his charity would be reciprocated when he himself was low on funds and shaking and in dire need of booze to “stabilize” him. But when he found himself in just such a situation, thirsting and feeling the pangs of withdrawal, he was ignored by his buddies who only politely smiled and dismissed his outstretched hand for the payback that was reasonably enough due to him. Like the Lord on the Cross, the only thing he received was the taste of gall, and it was bitter and transformative. For people who do not see grace in the unpleasant, read a Flannery O’Connor short story and read the guises that blessings can take!
Humiliated and dejected, Matt Talbot turned away at aged 28 from what was most comforting and familiar to him and took the pledge against drink. While he never looked back, his first seven years were ones of agonizing withdrawal and ceaseless struggles against the tantalizing power that liquor had over him. Imagine this without Alcoholic’s Anonymous (AA) or any other twelve step program in existence. But the powerful shadow of God that he sensed was his comfort. Even with that loving shadow, Matt was purported to have said to his hopeful mother: “I’ll never be able to overcome this.” Gradually, Matt, though fully living in the world, was also withdrawing from it, focusing instead on the health of his soul and repairing it with God’s grace. He would go to confession, fast, pray the rosary, reflect, do acts of charity, do spiritual reading and intensify his devotion to the Cross of Jesus by way of his Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary. He tried to model himself on the sixth century Irish monks. The transformation of his spirit was so thorough that others around him began to seek him out for his prayers, for they knew instinctively that the Lord would condescend down to his little dock worker and intimately listen to him. It really is amazing the graces surrounding this man. Even Saint Pope John Paul II wrote a paper on him when he was a youth. At present, there is an investigation under way in Kansas of a possible miracle attributed to Matt Talbot’s intercession. The alleged miracle involved a toddler named Talbot Joseph Watkins, who, days before his birth, was found to have serious, life-threatening birth defects. However, he was born a healthy, regular boy, a fact medical experts are unable explain. His family gives credit to a prayer chain asking Matt Talbot to intercede on the baby’s behalf. The family apparently had a connection to the Matt Talbot Kitchen & Outreach (MTKO) which aids local homeless people. If verified as authentic, that would allow Matt Talbot to be declared blessed, one step under from being declared a saint.
While Eddie Doherty’s work-Matt Talbot was good-it was not great, primarily because of a literary device that he uses whereby he inserts himself as a character in the book. Authors, especially when writing about the life of another person, should not insert themselves in the book they are writing, especially if it is a biography. The presence of the author should be discerned in the tone of voice and the quality of the language that is within the work. It’s too distracting and takes credibility away from the subject at hand. It does a disservice to Matt Talbot. Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Regan by the renown historian Edmund Morris was justifiably panned for uses of such literary techniques. If a writer is going to stray from the norms of historical or biographical protocol, they should call their work a fictional memoir whereby they can incorporate a little bit of authentic personal history with imagination. Frederick Exley did it superbly with A Fan’s Notes, Pages From a Cold Island and Last Notes From Home. In the short and sweet of it, Doherty’s book does offer up new information on Matt Talbot, and the admiration he feels for his subject is most evident. That admiration, if anything, might light up a spark for a reader who does not know the life story of Matt Talbot to investigate further of his or her own accord. I would recommend Mary Purcell’s excellent book: Matt Talbot and His Times. Not only does she tell Matt’s story without any fanfare but she too gives a probing history of Matt Talbot’s country and of his social and political environment. Irrelevant of my opinion, let this book inspire.
Considered a full-blown hopeless alcoholic by the age of twelve and thirteen, Matt Talbot lived solely for hootch and went about getting the necessary cash by any means possible in order satiate that unrelenting dependence, not limiting himself to theft, starvation and sacrificing his own physical and mental well being. The mental discord that he left in his wake towards those who tried to help him was just the tip of the iceberg, all this while he was not even a fully developed teenager, a youth with potential who tossed it aside to gulp his life away. He wanted to die by increments. And alcohol of all types was his weapon of choice. However, they weren’t just weapons, they were also his conferrers, his saviors and chums all rolled into one. He could not turn away from his addiction, because it was not solely his enemy, it too was his friend and comforter.
When his friends and work mates headed off to the pubs after a day’s hard labor but were short on cash, Matt Talbot always gave what little he had left to help his buddies drink, igniting the buzz and living only in the “glorious” stupor. He did so, however, with the expectation that his charity would be reciprocated when he himself was low on funds and shaking and in dire need of booze to “stabilize” him. But when he found himself in just such a situation, thirsting and feeling the pangs of withdrawal, he was ignored by his buddies who only politely smiled and dismissed his outstretched hand for the payback that was reasonably enough due to him. Like the Lord on the Cross, the only thing he received was the taste of gall, and it was bitter and transformative. For people who do not see grace in the unpleasant, read a Flannery O’Connor short story and read the guises that blessings can take!
Humiliated and dejected, Matt Talbot turned away at aged 28 from what was most comforting and familiar to him and took the pledge against drink. While he never looked back, his first seven years were ones of agonizing withdrawal and ceaseless struggles against the tantalizing power that liquor had over him. Imagine this without Alcoholic’s Anonymous (AA) or any other twelve step program in existence. But the powerful shadow of God that he sensed was his comfort. Even with that loving shadow, Matt was purported to have said to his hopeful mother: “I’ll never be able to overcome this.” Gradually, Matt, though fully living in the world, was also withdrawing from it, focusing instead on the health of his soul and repairing it with God’s grace. He would go to confession, fast, pray the rosary, reflect, do acts of charity, do spiritual reading and intensify his devotion to the Cross of Jesus by way of his Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary. He tried to model himself on the sixth century Irish monks. The transformation of his spirit was so thorough that others around him began to seek him out for his prayers, for they knew instinctively that the Lord would condescend down to his little dock worker and intimately listen to him. It really is amazing the graces surrounding this man. Even Saint Pope John Paul II wrote a paper on him when he was a youth. At present, there is an investigation under way in Kansas of a possible miracle attributed to Matt Talbot’s intercession. The alleged miracle involved a toddler named Talbot Joseph Watkins, who, days before his birth, was found to have serious, life-threatening birth defects. However, he was born a healthy, regular boy, a fact medical experts are unable explain. His family gives credit to a prayer chain asking Matt Talbot to intercede on the baby’s behalf. The family apparently had a connection to the Matt Talbot Kitchen & Outreach (MTKO) which aids local homeless people. If verified as authentic, that would allow Matt Talbot to be declared blessed, one step under from being declared a saint.
While Eddie Doherty’s work-Matt Talbot was good-it was not great, primarily because of a literary device that he uses whereby he inserts himself as a character in the book. Authors, especially when writing about the life of another person, should not insert themselves in the book they are writing, especially if it is a biography. The presence of the author should be discerned in the tone of voice and the quality of the language that is within the work. It’s too distracting and takes credibility away from the subject at hand. It does a disservice to Matt Talbot. Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Regan by the renown historian Edmund Morris was justifiably panned for uses of such literary techniques. If a writer is going to stray from the norms of historical or biographical protocol, they should call their work a fictional memoir whereby they can incorporate a little bit of authentic personal history with imagination. Frederick Exley did it superbly with A Fan’s Notes, Pages From a Cold Island and Last Notes From Home. In the short and sweet of it, Doherty’s book does offer up new information on Matt Talbot, and the admiration he feels for his subject is most evident. That admiration, if anything, might light up a spark for a reader who does not know the life story of Matt Talbot to investigate further of his or her own accord. I would recommend Mary Purcell’s excellent book: Matt Talbot and His Times. Not only does she tell Matt’s story without any fanfare but she too gives a probing history of Matt Talbot’s country and of his social and political environment. Irrelevant of my opinion, let this book inspire.
August 17, 2020
At best, a fictionalized biography of a little known Irish man who achieved sobriety by prayer and abstinence.
At worst, just another in a long line of mid-20th century Catholic propaganda.
Few facts - less interest.
At worst, just another in a long line of mid-20th century Catholic propaganda.
Few facts - less interest.
July 31, 2025
I liked it more than I thought I would, but some parts, especially the last 40 or so pages, felt really unnecessary dragged out.
June 28, 2016
This book has really, really interested me in the life and legacy of Venerable Matt Talbot. The author's genuine love for this holy man of Dublin, a veritable urban mystic, is authentic. The writing, however, is, for lack of a better word, odd. I am hoping to find a better written, more modern and factual, account of Matt's life. He is truly an inspiring witness for all men and women who want to live good lives, especially those with addictions to alcohol or anything else that ensnares or enslaves the human spirit.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews