Rating: 
Summary: I love it when a book hits close to home
Review: Home is exactly where it hit and every word is true. From the Burger Den to Agway. I really felt like I was there experiencing his every move. I laughed and it made me think of how lucky I am to live in such a great area with great people. Excellent and touching book to read and share. All the love to Georgia and Milo........
Rating: 
Summary: I'm going back to Henry David
Review: And I thought this would be the 21st Century version of Walden Pond. Big mistake. 17 pages of this poorly written, pointless narrative is all I took. And mind you, this is only the second book in my life that I have failed to finish after starting. And that includes Scarface. Terrible! How this guy has been published several times is a puzzle.
Rating:
Summary: Take this trip...
Review: My dad gave me this book..this has never successfully happened before..and I loved it. This guy, probably completely unknowingly, has defined what the men's movement (if there were such a thing) should be about -- compassion, friendship, introspection and being better men. Go, Katz. You have a lot of guts and this book deserves a long and happy life.
Rating:
Summary: From a compulsive reader who loves Merton - fabulous
Review: I enjoyed this book tremendously. Anyone who sees the contemplative spirit in his dog is not only funny but wise. If you get nothing else out of this book, you can admire how Katz comes to terms with his fragile self image and in a very moving passage describes leaving his old self in the dust and seeing himself in a new, stronger, freerer way. That was, to me, a very sure sign that he had indeed met God on the mountain. Merton would love this book. Get it!
Rating:
Summary: Warm, and potent..Don't Look To Be Born Again
Review: This book isn't about spirituality, reality, but a person facing a critical point of life and trying to deal with it in an honest way that doesn't hurt people. Hope he's as nice as he seems. Don't look for a religious epiphany here, that's not what the books about. Merton is a guide, not the point. I loved it. A lot.
Rating:
Summary: Go get this one..
Review: I have enthusiastically recommended this book to at least a half dozen friends. I laughed a dozen times. I like this guy. I like his trip. I love his dogs, and I'm going out to read some Merton
Rating:
Summary: What a powerful work..
Review: Jon Katz has written an amazing book here. A very piercing and honest account of a person's life, and of his wish to be a better person. Wow! I have given it to every member of my synagogue, and my sister, who is Catholic, has given it to all of the many Merton lovers at her Church. No pretense at all..Katz isn't trying to be Merton or anybody else..just himself. A wonderful, funny read. I can't wait to give it to my Dad for FDay!
Rating: 
Summary: An affirmation of life
Review: When you get down to it, Katz is trying to live a better life, and that's a pretty universal goal. That he expresses that so warmly, humorously and movingly is just another bonus. Great read.
Rating:
Summary: Read Merton or Thoreau
Review: Reading this book I was reminded of the debate during which a certain vice-presedential candidate was rebuked with the words "you, Sir are no John Kennedy".I can't help but feel compelled to tell the author Jon Katz that "you Sir are no Thomas Merton". Nor for that matter are you another Thoreau. These authors undertook signifacant journeys of solitude which changed them, sometimes in unexpected ways. Katz on the other hand seems more to have taken a journey of self indulgence which I think had a predictable outcome. Basically, he brought his preconceived suburan notions to a new location and proceeded to change it to his liking. I saw little if any change in the author himself. All of this is his business, of course, until he undertakes to write a book under the guise that it describes some spritual transformation. At best it describes a mid-life crisis. That in fact is the only redeeming value that this book might have. It redescribes the fact that, yes, we all come to a time in our life when we wonder what it's all about. We then set out to find answers and discover that they are inside and not without. It's true enough but it has been said a million times and in about nine-hundred thousand of those times, better than Katz said it. My advice, do yourself a favor, if you are interested in spiritual journeys read Merton, read Thoreau, read eastern philosophy, read western philosophy, read the sayings in fortune cookies and on cocktail napkins. Your time will be better spent.
Rating:
Summary: Warm, very funny and quite moving
Review: This book is a treasure for any Dad or wannabe Dad. A peek into the soul of a man at a key transition point. And short!
|
