C. Matthew Hawkins

Grace in the "Bleeding, Stinking, and the Foolish"

Revisado: 04-20-21

If you are a Christian, this book is likely to change your understanding of the world around you and the price of your faith. If you are a Christian fiction writer or a reader of Christian fiction, then this book is likely to make you a better reader and writer. If you are non-Christian because all the Christians you have met seemed to be overly sentimental, this book may well change your understanding of Christianity.
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Centering his study on Baron von Hugel's theological influence on Flannery O'Connor and using O'Connor's second novel, The Violent Bear it Away, as his primary case study, while connecting and comparing it with her other work, Michael Means Bruner unpacks O'Connor's "subversive gospel," and the allegorical, typological, and especially the anagogical reading of her work. Bruner relies heavily on O'Connor's own letters about her work as well as the sources she read that inspired her. He also engages contemporary scholarship on O'Connor. The result is a challenging theological perspective that equips the reader to be what O'Connor might call a "Catholic realist." The work does not ignore the role that the Protestant South played on O'Connor's Old Testament theological perspective.

Bruner explores O'Connor's subversion of transcendentals of "beauty, goodness, and truth," finding the offering of grace in the grotesque, the violent, and the foolish, otherwise stated as following embracing discipleship through the "bleeding, the stinking, and the mad." Never separating grace from nature, Bruner builds a case that O'Connor saw God's beauty as a "terrible" beauty, God's goodness as "violent" goodness, and God's truth as a "foolish" truth. The Christian life is costly for the Christian; the highest realities are expressed in the lowest forms, and at the center of our faith is a mystery.

Far from an escape from reality, Bruner's book and O'Connor's fiction will enable the discerning reader to enter more deeply and more meaningfully into it -- and get deeper meaning out of some of the most difficult and disturbing passages in the Bible.

Bruner's narration is lively and personable, like having a conversation with a scholar who is passionate about his work and who is able to make you passionate about it too. I especially appreciate the way he went "off script" (I think it was in the case study section) to describe the chart in his book that lays out his theo-literacy framework with which he approaches O'Connor's work.

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An Enchanting Story, Beautifully Told

Revisado: 10-10-20

Go out at night onto a vacant golf course or into a field under the stars and allow the narrator of this tale to transport you.

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Enthralling Tale of the Seeds of 21st Century

Revisado: 09-20-20

A riveting, accurate, and informative account of American politics in the mid-20th century, setting the stage for all that would follow. Perlstein has a storyteller's skills and an historian's respect for selecting key events and getting all perspectives. This book provides the essential but often missing context behind today's headlines. The reader for the audiobook brings the whole thing to life.

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The Masks We Wear

Revisado: 09-01-20

This is an insightful analysis of the masks African Americans wear to survive and to thrive, but a shadow lurks in the background: even the mask that is arguably the most liberating for black talent, that of the "bargainer", ultimately prevents one from publicly acknowledging that the success or failure of black Americans is ultimately in our own hands.

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Excellent Content but Distracting Audio

Revisado: 03-10-20

Lennan offers a thorough and engaging introduction to the essential ecclesiastical issues facing the Catholic Church in the 21st century. He provides an insightful context and background information necessary to engage these issues. The audio suffers, however, from frequent and distracting, inexplicable gaps in the recording. Nothing is lost during these gaps but this recurring technical problem is highly distracting and may discourage all but the most determined listener.

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The Content is Great, the Performance is Less So

Revisado: 02-22-20

Zaretsky's book is well-written, vivid, and engaging. It makes Camus' life and times, and his philosophy and literary work, accessible to the reading with a decent knowledge of life and thought during the Cold War era. Many of the questions and problems that Camus was wrestling with and that he was living through are relevant in a different way in the post-Cold War world, especially with the rise of austerity measures, populism, and authoritarianism. The reading of this audiobook, however, leaves much to be desired. It appears at times that the reader, who actually has a good voice, is reading the text for the first time. He pauses where the text does not call of pauses, thereby distorting the text's meaning and he occasionally re-reads sentences he has just read. At times his voice drifts away from the microphone and back again, giving the volume and uneven feeling. It is as though the publisher would not pay for a second or third take or for editing. Nevertheless, the writing is great and the audio is not completely unworkable. One only wishes the reader had been given a good sound editor and a chance to get to know the text he was about to read.

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Perfect Story for Advent and Christmas

Revisado: 12-09-18

Often Advent and Christmas are overshadowed by stories that boost commercialism while failing to touch the heart and the mind. This story will leave you uplifted and inspired, especially in this time fear of the "other" and of "outsiders". It is based on an event that took place during the First World War. The characters in the story are engaging and the plot develops in a way that holds your attention. The sound effects, the narrator, and the actors' voices make the story come alive. In a time when politicians appeal to our worst instincts and our greatest fears this story confirms our essential humanity and gives us hope.

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Surprising Ways We Are Undermined by Our Egos

Revisado: 11-24-18

In this book, Ryan Holiday explores the surprising ways we undermine ourselves through our own egos. This book pulls apart many of our misunderstandings about what makes people creative, charismatic, insightful, and successful. It is especially helpful when it is coupled with another of Holiday's books: "The Obstacle is the Way". The combination of "The Ego is the Enemy" and "The Obstacle is the Way" gives the listener counterintuitive wisdom that one needs to hear again and again.

I remember reading where a young singer said in an interview, as his career was beginning to skyrocket, "You've got to have a big ego, mate, or you will be crushed like a grape seed in this business." I intuitively had the sense that his comment, which reflected his state-of-mind, revealed something within him that would eventually be his undoing. Soon afterward his career fizzled and he was never heard from again.

At that time I couldn't put a finger on why the singer's mindset was poorly adapted to the reality of what he would need for continued success, after all, it is perfectly reasonable to believe that one must have a large ego to survive in a world full of "haters" who are constantly trying to pull down anyone who is good at what one does, isn't it?

Through many insightful stories and quotations, Holiday corrects the self-defeating attitudes that many of us have adopted under the mistaken belief that these attitudes would protect us and make us stronger. Holiday offers, in "The Obstacle is the Way" and "The Ego is the Enemy" survival skills for people in all walks of life. Not only will the insights in these recordings help one to survive, they will also empower one to thrive.

One final note, as an African American I have found Holiday's work in these two texts particularly insightful for people who work in environments where they are underrepresented and where their contributions tend to be undervalued, to say the least. If I could pass on any advice to future generations who are marginalized due to their race, gender, class, or any other socially identifiable marker, much of that advice would come from the contents of these two books. As the legendary Stan Lee was fond of saying, "'nuff said".

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A Synthesis of Stoic Thought Applied to Daily Life

Revisado: 11-22-18

I almost didn't buy this audiobook because of some of the negative reviews from a few other listeners. They criticized Holiday's work in general and the sound of his voice in this reading. I'm glad I overcame my reluctance to purchase this audiobook.

What Holiday offers is a well-thought-out synthesis of stoic thought applied in the post-modern age with many contemporary examples. His voice in this reading is paced with an inflection that is calm and even, not exaggerated and over-the-top. This makes the audiobook something one may listen to again and again.

The focus of the audiobook is that life is tough -- that's reality -- and if one is to live one's life fully and overcome the rough patches one must learn to embrace it as it is, and use this as a lever to transform it. This, according to the Stoics, does not mean denying one's emotions, rather one acknowledges them while extracting strength from situations and circumstances that would otherwise destroy one.

Some have criticized Holiday's work as merely being "common sense" even as they acknowledged his extensive reading and research. Some have said that it would be better to read each of the works individually that Holiday cites rather than reading (or listening to) Holiday, who draws from these classic texts. Of course, it is always a good idea to read the primary texts that have inspired any work, but this audiobook is more than merely a collection of those inspirational texts -- Holiday brings the individual texts together in a way that adds value for the reader or listener and that says something new for the contemporary reader or listener.

If one appreciates hearing timeless wisdom, and hearing its application in the contemporary context, one will appreciate what Holiday has done here.

And the great thing about this audiobook and its subject matter is that one may listen to it when one most needs to hear these stories and examples. One most needs to hear them when one's mind is full of confusion, fear, anxiety, and doubt. During such times it is healthy to fill one's mind with a strong dose of reality, wisdom, and insight -- yes, found in the original texts but also uniquely assembled in this audiobook. It is like listening to a well-read conversation-partner who not only remembers what he has read but has also given considerable thought to what it means and how to apply it.

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The Spirituality of Saint Paul

Revisado: 03-22-18

Richard Rohr explores the often neglected spirituality of of the letters and Epistles of Saint Paul. Rohr argues that Paul is often misunderstood as a moralist and this prevents many readers from learning from Paul's spirituality. Rohr begins this series of lectures by identifying the major and recurring themes in Paul's work, providing listeners with the tools to interpret Paul and enter into his spirituality. Few hours of my life have been spent more fruitfully than listening to this series of lectures.

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