Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for How To Be A Saint:
Difficulty Level: No thanks.
Quick synopsis:
A humorous look at the sometimes whacky ways to become a saint in Catholicism.
Fact for Non-History People:
There used to be a person in the canonization of saints process called the Devil’s Advocate who basically listed all the reasons someone shouldn’t be a saint. Sick title, but they got rid of it. Lame.
Fact for History Nerds:
There are two types of martyrs: red and white. Red means you died violently. White means you were basically a hermit or isolated somehow.
My Take on How To Be A Saint:
I laughed a lot. Does this mean I am going to hell?
While an extreme long shot to become a Saint, I found a lot to like about Kate Sidley’s How to Be a Saint. Sidley looks at some of the most interesting people in the Catholic Church, and sometimes they are even real! Clearly, I should state who the audience for this book is. The way I see it, there are 3 types of people I’d like to speak to directly:
1. Non-Catholics, people who hate the Catholic Church, and people who don’t care even a little bit – this book will totally be fun for you! Sidley is funny, and she is going to be pointing out a lot of weird stuff you probably already have when you have made fun of your Catholic friends. You don’t need to believe in the Jesus stuff because there are still some quick and eye-opening stories that will make you say, “Well, I’m glad I don’t have to worry about becoming a martyr.”
2. Catholics, but who are not about to lead a crusade anytime soon. You try and go to church, and you are sometimes successful. You believe, but when your non-Catholic friends ask, “Hey, isn’t it super weird that in Catholicism,” you cut them off and say, “Yeah, there is a lot of weird stuff, and I just push passed it. Can we talk about politics or something?” This is my category, and I had a wonderful time. I even remembered some stuff from my 13 years of Catholic school! Congrats, Sister Pat, Sister Agnes, Sister Lynn, Sister….I think there was a Helen in there. Anyway, something got through!
3. You are very Catholic. Religion is no laughing matter. You may go on crusade soon. Uh, you should skip this.
The book is very funny, and I didn’t take it as mean-spirited. In fact, I don’t think a non-Catholic could write it. There is a love to the mocking almost like an older sibling who knows what buttons to push but only knows because they pay attention. Now, I am going to go pray that this review doesn’t get me sent straight down. Amen.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by NetGalley and Sourcebooks.)
Verdict:
Hilarious. Buy it here!
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