Reader’s Diary

David Gibson

It’s rare to find a book about the Catholic Church in America that doesn’t promote its author’s pet changes. “The Coming Catholic Church” is one of those rare books. Gibson identifies problems with Church leadership but does not draw the common conclusion that such failures mean that dogma and disciplines need to change. He does warn of the need for changes to avoid the dangers of clericalism and the lack of financial transparency seen in many dioceses.

Gibson occasionally misses the mark. For example, he underestimates the effects of younger priests and laity: the “John Paul II Catholics”. While covering the past glories of the American Catholic Church and chronicling its recent problems, he ignores the renewal that’s coming from that post-baby boom, post-Vatican II generation.

David Monagan

David Monagan moved his family from New England to Ireland. Their experiences resulted in this engaging, thoughtful book about risking an adventure and about Ireland. It’s not about the Ireland of the imagination, but the new, prosperous Ireland, one that may be losing values as well as shedding stereotypes.

Kinky Friedman

Reading this short travelogue/memoir made me want to go to Austin. Actually, it made me wish I’d moved to Austin in 1972. If Kinky’s report is accurate, there’s not a lot to see in Austin, but there are lots of good places to drink and listen to music, and even better places to eat after the bars close. And I think Kinky’s on to something when he points out that an awful lot of serial killers are named “Wayne”.