Rating: 
Summary: A guide to taking Jesus seriously
Review: This book isn't a mere biography of St. Francis. Instead, it is a guide to the ethos and pathos that made Francis a saint. From a startlingly clear sighted examination of Francis's youth through to the unvarnished look at his death, this work rings true in the way the many "pious accounts" do not. And yet, despite staying true to the historical nature of Francis (who once said "Don't make a Saint of me too quickly, I am still perfectly capable of fathering a child"), the book resounds forcefully with the charism of this special folk hero. St. Francis's simple and unyielding commitment to take the Gospel seriously is a challenge to every Christian. This book makes that challenge clear and unambigious. I have read many biographies and collections of stories about St. Francis. This is one of the few, I think, that might not make the Seraphic Father wince.
Rating:
Summary: Pace e bene
Review: After reading the other reviews I was almost afraid to write anything at all. I thought this was a well-written version of St. Francis' life. For more detail, read Celano, his biographer. I would suggest reading both. I liked this version. It really spent a good deal of time exploring who St. Francis was both before and after his calling from God. It painted a fairly detailed look at what life was like back then. Good job looking at his family and other influences. The book was well done. If you have a problem with St. Francis, then I don't know of any book on him you would like.
Rating:
Summary: Pace e bene
Review: After reading the other reviews I was almost afraid to write anything at all. I thought this was a well-written version of St. Francis' life. The Chesterton version is much more detailed. I would suggest reading both. I liked this version. It really spent a good deal of time exploring who St. Francis was both before and after his calling from God. It painted a fairly detailed look at what life was like back then. Good job looking at his family and other influences. The book was well done. If you have a problem with St. Francis, then I don't know of any book on him you would like.
Rating:
Summary: Pace e bene
Review: After reading the other reviews I was almost afraid to write anything at all. I thought this was a well-written version of St. Francis' life. For more detail, read Celano, his biographer. I would suggest reading both. I liked this version. It really spent a good deal of time exploring who St. Francis was both before and after his calling from God. It painted a fairly detailed look at what life was like back then. Good job looking at his family and other influences. The book was well done. If you have a problem with St. Francis, then I don't know of any book on him you would like.
Rating: 
Summary: A very good and HONEST book!
Review: I do not understand a previous reviewer's comments (that of Christopher Alsruhe). He writes: " This book gets 5 stars for exposing the truth of Francis of Assisi, and 1 star for being a book that can be trusted to lead people into the truth of the Bible." This book is not intended to be a source for leading people into the truth of the Bible. It is a BIOGRAPHY about Francis. Nothing more! Learn the difference. This book digs into Francis's past and tells the truth very well. I have read Chesterton's biography of Francic and it does "clean up" Francis's past and focuses on what people would like to read about him. The interesting note here is that most men of the cloth, whether in the distant past or today, have a little of Francis's sordid history in them. Being a cleric, or man of the cloth, does not absolve one's past or guarantee a clean future.
Rating:
Summary: A very good and HONEST book!
Review: I do not understand a previous reviewer's comments (that of Christopher Alsruhe). He writes: " This book gets 5 stars for exposing the truth of Francis of Assisi, and 1 star for being a book that can be trusted to lead people into the truth of the Bible." This book is not intended to be a source for leading people into the truth of the Bible. It is a BIOGRAPHY about Francis. Nothing more! Learn the difference. This book digs into Francis's past and tells the truth very well. I have read Chesterton's biography of Francic and it does "clean up" Francis's past and focuses on what people would like to read about him. The interesting note here is that most men of the cloth, whether in the distant past or today, have a little of Francis's sordid history in them. Being a cleric, or man of the cloth, does not absolve one's past or guarantee a clean future.
Rating:
Summary: Believable and beautifully written
Review: I'd like to add my five-star vote for this wonderful little work. After reading it I'm convinced St Francis had a difficult life but despite the difficulty (maybe because of it) he persevered and kept obstinately optimistic and decent. He was cheerful because he gave himself to God, not because God gave him so much to be cheerful about. I could understand why he is so beloved, even though he gave us a tough example to follow. The prose is beautiful and the optimism is encouraging.
Rating:
Summary: Believable and beautifully written
Review: I'd like to add my five-star vote for this wonderful little work. After reading it I'm convinced St Francis had a difficult life but despite the difficulty (maybe because of it) he persevered and kept obstinately optimistic and decent. He was cheerful because he gave himself to God, not because God gave him so much to be cheerful about. I could understand why he is so beloved, even though he gave us a tough example to follow. The prose is beautiful and the optimism is encouraging.
Rating:
Summary: It was a wonderful book
Review: It is sad that some reviews of this book are full of non-scriptual judgement and lacking the loving spirit of Francis. It is always too easy for the unjust to criticize those who are tuly of God. No... Francis, almost a millinium ago, did not lead his own "Reformation" in the spirit of Luther. But Francis, in his simplicity, did lay the groundwork for a string of Franciscans to revolutionize the world with love, forgiveness, piety, and a desire for God's grace. Francis saw the good in all because he was simple-minded and not single-minded. Readers who read this book in the future will do well to grow in this same direction.
Rating:
Summary: Let's keep some perspective!
Review: Saint Francis of Assisi is a biographer's dream. One needs only consider the Saint's life to find evidence that God works in mysterious ways. "The further we press into Francis's life," Julien Green writes in his radiant biography of the Saint, "the more he tends to alude us. His very simplicity baffles our our desire to understand him . . . His reactions disconcert us, to the very end he would be a man of contrasts. One follows him as best one can"(p.224) Treating his subject with compelling depth, Green revisits the life of Saint Francis from his birth in 1181 or 1182 to his death at age 45 in 1225. The son of a wealthy Assisi merchant, a "little Italian boy whose eyes burned with intelligence"(p.10), Francis wasted his youth on "wine, women, and farandoles"(p.48) before renouncing his worldly life at age 25(p.32) for a life of poverty and prayer. "I shall go naked to meet the Lord" he announced on April 10, 1206(p.83), after stripping off his clothes. From blessing the birds ("May the Lord be with you")(p.165), to his pilgrimages, to his return to Assisi soon before his death, weakened by physical suffering, riding an ass, "with his feet swathed in bandages, and his hands hidden beneath his long sleeves"(p.253) to conceal the stigmata wounds of the Crucifixion, this book succeeds in bringing Saint Francis to life. Green has created an enchanting, medieval experience in the 273 pages of this book you won't soon forget. G. Merritt
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