Rating: 
Summary: It Helps If You Are Irish!
Review: "The Bishop In The West Wing" by Andrew M. Greeley, 8 Cassettes, Audio Renaissance 2002.
There is a saying, "There are two kinds of people: the Irish and those that wish they were." The author, Rev. Andrew M. Greeley, may have used this saying for a theme in his this latest mystery. The newly elected president,an Irish Catholic, Jack McGurn, from Chicago, surrounds himself with a close staff that is Irish Catholic, and, artistic license,(patently) they are all portrayed as beautiful, bright, and filled with witty anecdotes and stories. The major exception in the close staff is an Italian Catholic Ph.D. from Brooklyn, the resident expert on China. Everything would be fine (except for the opposition of the usual Republicans and right wing radicals) but there is a poltergeist in the White House.Fr. Greeley defines the poltergeist as a presence that causes a ruckus but does no real physical harm. (I checked on the Web, and there are plenty of examples where the poltergeist presence typically does some nasty physical things... example, biting a young girl on the behind and leaving teeth wounds.) But any way, artistic license again, (patently) and this White House poltergeist just throws things around; nothing or no one is hurt. She is constantly knocking down the portrait of George Washington in the West Wing. Bishop Blackie has to figure out which woman, of nine potential candidates, is the cause of all the ruckus. This is the central mystery in the book. By the way, all the candidates are beautiful, and all are Catholic, except the least good looking, a WASP with angular features. By the last cassette, the "elevator doors have opened" and the good Bishop has identified the culprit woman (patently). Paul Michael did a great job on reading the book, with accents for all the characters, although I think that he only approximated a New York accent, not a Brooklyn accent, for lady Ph.D. expert on China. In my writing conferences, I am constantly being taught to throw out any thing, no matter how well I've written it, that does not advance the central theme or the plot. So, I do not understand why Fr. Greeley spent so much time on the conversation (almost an altercation) between the character of President McGurn and the bishop of Washington, DC. It advanced nothing in the story. Same thing with the references to stealing the Presidential election in Florida (in 2000). I counted at least three mentions. Finally, besides being a noted author, Andrew Greeley is an established sociologist. In that role, I would expect him to take notice of the fact that many Irish Catholics from big cities are no longer Democrats. As an Irish Catholic from NYC, I once was a Democrat. My oldest daughter came home from college and convinced me to register Republican (in Massachusetts!). My daughter and I and the other three children in the family are all Republicans. Sociologist Greeley should be aware of this shift in the newer generations of Irish Catholics.
Rating:
Summary: It Helps If You Are Irish!
Review: "The Bishop In The West Wing" by Andrew M. Greeley, 8 Cassettes, Audio Renaissance 2002.
There is a saying, "There are two kinds of people: the Irish and those that wish they were." The author, Rev. Andrew M. Greeley, may have used this saying for a theme in his this latest mystery. The newly elected president,an Irish Catholic, Jack McGurn, from Chicago, surrounds himself with a close staff that is Irish Catholic, and, artistic license,(patently) they are all portrayed as beautiful, bright, and filled with witty anecdotes and stories. The major exception in the close staff is an Italian Catholic Ph.D. from Brooklyn, the resident expert on China. Everything would be fine (except for the opposition of the usual Republicans and right wing radicals) but there is a poltergeist in the White House. Fr. Greeley defines the poltergeist as a presence that causes a ruckus but does no real physical harm. (I checked on the Web, and there are plenty of examples where the poltergeist presence typically does some nasty physical things... example, biting a young girl on the behind and leaving teeth wounds.) But any way, artistic license again, (patently) and this White House poltergeist just throws things around; nothing or no one is hurt. She is constantly knocking down the portrait of George Washington in the West Wing. Bishop Blackie has to figure out which woman, of nine potential candidates, is the cause of all the ruckus. This is the central mystery in the book. By the way, all the candidates are beautiful, and all are Catholic, except the least good looking, a WASP with angular features. By the last cassette, the "elevator doors have opened" and the good Bishop has identified the culprit woman (patently). Paul Michael did a great job on reading the book, with accents for all the characters, although I think that he only approximated a New York accent, not a Brooklyn accent, for lady Ph.D. expert on China. In my writing conferences, I am constantly being taught to throw out any thing, no matter how well I've written it, that does not advance the central theme or the plot. So, I do not understand why Fr. Greeley spent so much time on the conversation (almost an altercation) between the character of President McGurn and the bishop of Washington, DC. It advanced nothing in the story. Same thing with the references to stealing the Presidential election in Florida (in 2000). I counted at least three mentions. Finally, besides being a noted author, Andrew Greeley is an established sociologist. In that role, I would expect him to take notice of the fact that many Irish Catholics from big cities are no longer Democrats. As an Irish Catholic from NYC, I once was a Democrat. My oldest daughter came home from college and convinced me to register Republican (in Massachusetts!). My daughter and I and the other three children in the family are all Republicans. Sociologist Greeley should be aware of this shift in the newer generations of Irish Catholics.
Rating:
Summary: Blackie Ryan visits the White House
Review: Andrew Greeley's newest well-paced mystery will capture the reader's interest, as Blackie Ryan visits the White House to investigate a possible poltergeist. He's invited by President Jack McGrath, a Chicagoan of Irish descent, a widower whose enemies have tried to paint him as a womanizer. (See a previous reviewer's characterization of a possible "Clinton done right". I also wondered if that were Greeley's intent.)
McGrath is innocent of these allegations, as he is numb, locked into celibacy by grief over his wife's untimely death in a plane crash while campaigning. His two lively adolescent daughters connive to interest him in a brainy, attractive aide, but he hasn't the heart to pursue.
Greeley's usual blend of suspense, nuanced characterization, humor, and insight into the Irish and the church, provides the reader with another enjoyable tale. Recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Appealing Characters,
Review: Any book that mentions the name of my good friend (Bill Clinton) gets my attention ASAP... I enjoyed Andrew M. Greeley's "The Bishop in the West Wing. I found the storyline, dialogue, and characters to read true to life. An appealing combination. John Savoy
Savoy International
Motion Pictures
B.H. California
Rating:
Summary: Appealing Characters,
Review: Any book that mentions the name of my good friend (Bill Clinton) gets my attention ASAP... I enjoyed Andrew M. Greeley's "The Bishop in the West Wing. I found the storyline, dialogue, and characters to read true to life. An appealing combination. John Savoy
Savoy International
Motion Pictures
B.H. California
Rating: 
Summary: Last Greeley Book I'll read
Review: As others have said, this book is really an apology for the Democratic party. That would be fine, but I would expect better of someone of Father Greeley's intellect than repetitive phrases such as "Republicans have always been good at stealing things, especially elections." By the way, where was the ACLU when there was a mass said in the White House. A building belonging to the people of the United States, terrible, terrible, the sky will probably fall on us all now. I stopped in disgust three quarters of the way through the book. I had already figured out the ending anyway.
Rating:
Summary: Hurray for Our Side
Review: At last. Andrew M. Greely has had the courage to portray Democrats accurately - noble, enlightened, selfless and wise, like President McGurn - and to contrast the Republicans as the evil, vindictive election-stealers everyone knows they are. Greely smoothly envelops the reader in America the way Saint Algore intended it to be, without annoyances like conservatives that make sense (really, ARE there any?), balanced viewpoints and uncomfortable political compromises. Principles are flexible, Democrats are clever, Republicans are oafish, and teenagers are witty and wise. The book squarely hits its target audience - those who think that to become President, you should be at least seventeen. All the Democrat-boosting and Republican-bashing would ring a little false except for Greely's solid grounding in the real world. For example, when the Bishop witnesses a missle attack on the White House, he quickly writes down the license number of the fleeing vehicle. Then, he cleverly ignores the police, waits a half hour and gives it to, who else, the President's China advisor. Such episodes lend stunning credibility to the book's characters and, by extension, its politics. One flaw, however, is that Greely left out the chapter where conservatives tied the maiden to the tracks. I really missed that. This book was so good I couldn't finish it. I literally had to stop reading, struck to sheer numbness by Greely's extra-ordinary characters and story line.
Rating:
Summary: Ghost in the party machine.
Review: Bishop in the West Wing has its charms, especially, I imagine, for Democrats right now. The ghost sub-plot is amusing, and the story moves well. The book compares favorably, say, to the Da Vinci Code, which it in some ways it resembles. Both are essentially works of mild, entertaining paranoia. Da Vinci unfairly makes the Catholic Church the working villain for most of the tale; Greeley directs his jabs at Republicans. Greeley does better at getting his facts straighter, in general. I was going to nail him on mistakes about China, but he didn't make many, apart from the unlikely premise of civil war.
My first Greeley book, the Book of Love, set up expectations that this volume overturned, however. For sure, Greeley's political subtext here -- wouldn't it be nice if red and blue got along? -- sounds great. But if "love hopes all things," how is it every Republican in this book turns out to be a fascist, dunderhead, or closet Democrat? (Or some combination of the three?) How realistic is it to have the Wall Street Journal advocate assassinating a new president? (For no evident reason.) And yes, it is a bit much for Greeley to dedicate the book to President Clinton, when the plot involves an ideal president who is falsely accused of indiscretions of which he is wholly innocent, egged on by a pernicious, blackmailing "Christian Family Union." I wasn't in the States during most of the Clinton years, but this strikes me as obsequious. To tell the truth, despite the recent political hysteria, a lot of the compliments Greeley paid his ideal president actually seem to me to apply to the guy we have now more than to Clinton.
Nor does Greeley make it clear why he thinks we ought to find the president's two foul-mouthed daughters so charming. In the old days, the Catholic Church demonstrated its lack of prudery by painting Sistine Chapels. Now Greeley does the same by having dim-witted 13 year olds talk dirty. I liked the old ways better.
Overall, despite the cheap shots and manifest lack of understanding directed at conservatives, I found the story moderately enjoyable.
author, Jesus and the Religions of Man
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: Let me preface this review by saying I have read most of the Blackie Ryan series and have loved them all, despite a few irritations. Let me also disclose that I am a moderate Republican and practicing Roman Catholic. If that shoots my credibility in the foot for you, move on to the next review. I found the story line in Bishop in the West Wing to be very thin. The central problem of the poltergeists in the White House is brought up from time to time to string it all together, but it seems an afterthought. The true purpose of this novel seems to be to recount Father Greeley's visits to the White House during the Clinton administration, with Blackie playing the part of Greeley and President McGurn as President Clinton. While I would be interested in reading about that subject, I would prefer it in a nonfiction text, as opposed to under the guide of fiction. Having Republicans as a group stereotyped as hate-spewing elists, as they are in this book, is no more fair than stereotyping all Catholic priests as pedophiles, which they are most certainly not. Also, there is a real Rasputin-ish quality to the part that Blackie plays in the White House in this novel. Am I the only one who noticed this? I was bothered by Father Greeley's characterizations of teenage girls in this novel, as I have been in his past novels. It seems especially evident in Bishop in the West Wing. He portrays them as modern-day "Valley Girls", with ditzy personalities and brainless slang used in every sentence. When one conducts a conversation with most teenage girls and young women, I believe one will find that most of them, especially those of the type Father Greeley is representing in his novels, speak much like the rest of us. I won't even get started on the "ebonics" he imposed on a high-level African-American White House aide in the book. I am hoping that this novel is an abberation in the Blackie Ryan series, and not a sign of things to come in future novels. Despite the negative tone of this review, I would still nonetheless recommend this novel to Blackie fans such as myself (hence the two stars instead of one). Blackie is a fun, clever character, and spending some time in his world is always an escape from our own. Just hold your nose in parts and pray that Father Greeley will juice things up in the next Blackie novel.
Rating:
Summary: To The Devoted Fans of Blackie Ryan - A Good Read, Patently
Review: This book took me forever to read because it was extremely slow-paced and uneventful. The idea of poltergeist attacks sounded interesting to me but this book focused more on the sour relationships between the Democrats and Republicans in office than the acutal poltergeist attacks (which were more of a side note). I also found the character of Bishop Blackie to be rather annoying. Perhaps though, I just do not like political novels.
|
