Father Joe

The Man Who Saved My Soul

By: Tony Hendra

Narrated by: Tony Hendra

Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

This runaway New York Times best seller is a book to savor and treasure. Author Tony Hendra, a National Lampoon and Spy magazine veteran and one of the world's greatest satirists, delivers a beautifully written, humorous, and profoundly moving memoir reminiscent of Tuesdays with Morrie.

At 14 years old, Tony began an affair with a married woman that ended when the jilted husband, a devout Roman Catholic, sent Tony to a Benedictine abbey. There, Tony met the remarkably kind and compassionate Father Joe. For the next four decades, Father Joe's guidance never faltered, even as Tony failed in marriage, fought substance abuse, and struggled to find meaning.

The New York Times says Father Joe "belongs in the first tier of spiritual memoirs ever written." It is a wondrous celebration of a saintly man, and it is impossible to forget.

©2004 Tony Hendra (P)2004 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"The writing is certainly quite smart....[A] heartfelt tribute to a kind and wise teacher." (Kirkus Reviews)

Very moving story!

Every fallen away Catholic needs to read this. I pray God brings a Father Joe into your life.

Ultimately Unsatisfying

I was about half-way through listening to "Father Joe" when I learned of the accusation made by Tony Hendra's daughter from his first marriage that Hendra had left one important transgression out of this confessional auto-biography. The daughter maintains that Hendra sexually abused her when she was a child. This accusation, which Hendra denies, is unproved legally, though the daughter has written her own book ("How to Cook your Daughter," its title derived from an article Hendra wrote for the "National Lampoon") giving a detailed account of the alleged abuse.

Learning of that accusation, however, did not color my consideration of "Father Joe" overly much, because I had already come to the conclusion that, while Father Joe, the monk who befriends Hendra as a teenager and provides spiritual guidance to him throughout his adult life (and, as it turns out, many, many others), is a fascinating character, this story is really about Hendra and his supposed redemption. The problem is, it is quite clear that Hendra is not truly redeemed, or at least that he doesn't fully "get" what being redeemed means.

Despite the fact that this book is written retrospectively at a time when Hendra supposedly had re-embraced his Catholic faith and learned to take responsibility for his own life, Hendra repeatedly lapses into self-pity and vitriolic recriminations against those who have "wronged" him. His attacks on those who followed him at the "National Lampoon," his co-workers on "Spitting Image," conservative politicians (which borders on the paranoid), and, ironically, liberal theologians and the post-Vatican II Catholic Church, all belie his claim of redemption. Clearly, Hendra still has "contempt for the world," and not the selfless detachment of "contemptus mundi," despite Father Joe's painstaking efforts to teach him the difference.

That having been said, Hendra's narration style is excellent. The book, if ultimately unsatisfying, is nonetheless a good listen.

Too much descriptive sex.

I can't make it very far in listening to this book. The descriptive sex and the reader's tone are repulsive. Am trying to discover how it became a best seller. Perhaps I could try the "children's" version?

disappointing

I found it a bit tedious. The book is poorly paced and the writing, line-by-line, uninspired; the efforts at humor were effortful. This was one of the times I really regretted wasting one of my book credits.

Father Joe

I was very disappointed by this book. It is 4/5 Tony Hedra droning on about his life and all the people he knew, and 1/5 about this wonderful monk who allegedly had suchg a big impact on his life. The snipets of Father Joe conversations are teriffic, but Tony is tiresome.

Word of the Day: Tedious

I couldn't agree more with an earlier reviewer that said, "I found it a bit tedious. The book is poorly paced and the writing, line-by-line, uninspired; the efforts at humor were effortful."

I'm the kind of person that can listen to nearly anything and find something interesting ... not so with this book. Yes, thee Father Joe sounds interesting, but there is so little actually there about Father Joe. It took real effort to force myself to listen, the whole time thinking that something would happen that would redeem the tediousness.

I had heard Tony on The Moth podcast and loved him - decided that moment to listen to his book. Big mistake! His ~10 minute rendition of the story on the podcast was a hundred times better than the 10 hour book.