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Rating: 
Summary: Neuhaus hits the mark
Review: "I almost died." That phrase in particular characterizes the style of "As I Lay Dying." If you are familiar with Fr. Neuhaus's books, you'll know what I'm talking about: There is no hand-holding, no reassurance, no "it'll be okay." The only consolation the author offers us is the truth: facing death is scary, even for the faithful. Its normal, and you can deal with it.
Father describes his bewilderment, his helplessness, and his embarrassment, in a matter-of-fact way: don't read this book expecting to hear the violins which so often accompany the telling of near-death experiences. The only truly honest reflection on this matter I've ever read.
Rating: 
Summary: From the heart...
Review: First of all, I'm very skeptical about anyone being visited by super-natural beings. Indeed, I believe it is wise be skeptical about those kinds of reports. It is essential to test, and critique those accounts. However, with that said, I am also a person who has very much enjoyed the previous writing of Neuhaus - especially `The Naked Public Square'. As a result, I wasn't sure how to take this book. Here are some thoughts.........--Someone once said, `death is an interesting statistic, it's one out of one'. We will all face death and as a result our awareness of death can be both existentially shocking as well as an intense motivator for pursuing ultimate reality and religious truth. Neuhaus does a great job of guiding the reader to this realization. --Neuhaus writes a book, which is dramatically different from books like `Embraced by the Light'. It is a book not about warm and subjective feelings, but it is about how we face the difficulty of dieing. How do people who believe very different things deal with death and react to dieing? Where can we find comfort? What is true about the after-life? These are complex questions requiring honest answers. Neuhaus is honest, but I wish he had been more specific regarding how he answers these questions. --I do appreciate his non-sentimental writing and his willingness to write a book as personal as this one. There's no question this book ends up being inspirational, however, I'm still not sure on exactly what Neuhaus prescribes for the problem of the human condition. Is it religion, relationship, forgiveness, faith? Since he is a Catholic his religious convictions do come through, but if I had my way, I wish he was a bit more theological in his conclusions.
Rating:
Summary: From the heart...
Review: First of all, I'm very skeptical about anyone being visited by super-natural beings. Indeed, I believe it is wise be skeptical about those kinds of reports. It is essential to test, and critique those accounts. However, with that said, I am also a person who has very much enjoyed the previous writing of Neuhaus - especially 'The Naked Public Square'. As a result, I wasn't sure how to take this book. Here are some thoughts......... --Someone once said, 'death is an interesting statistic, it's one out of one'. We will all face death and as a result our awareness of death can be both existentially shocking as well as an intense motivator for pursuing ultimate reality and religious truth. Neuhaus does a great job of guiding the reader to this realization. --Neuhaus writes a book, which is dramatically different from books like 'Embraced by the Light'. It is a book not about warm and subjective feelings, but it is about how we face the difficulty of dieing. How do people who believe very different things deal with death and react to dieing? Where can we find comfort? What is true about the after-life? These are complex questions requiring honest answers. Neuhaus is honest, but I wish he had been more specific regarding how he answers these questions. --I do appreciate his non-sentimental writing and his willingness to write a book as personal as this one. There's no question this book ends up being inspirational, however, I'm still not sure on exactly what Neuhaus prescribes for the problem of the human condition. Is it religion, relationship, forgiveness, faith? Since he is a Catholic his religious convictions do come through, but if I had my way, I wish he was a bit more theological in his conclusions.
Rating: 
Summary: Buyer Beware
Review: Neuhaus is the ideological equivalent of a Pat Buckhanan, or a Jesse Helms.
It's unfortunate that such personages attain perpetually sponsored platforms to make comfortable careers perched on soapboxes pontificating arrogant, narrow, bigoted, disrespectful, negative commentary on those they choose to target--and are afforded with consistent respect and never personally challenged all the while. Buyer beware: Neuhaus is not a benevolent, spiritual personage. He is calculated social mover aligned with various neo-conservative organizations. He leads a think tank which which serves as a ruthless pro-Vatican (and anti-anyone-else-who-should-happen-to-cross-my-path) propaganda machine. He routinely publishes rabidly hompohobic articles, and demonstrates little respect or toleration for religious or human diversity. This isn't the work of a wise, gratious spiritual person, or a great intellectual: It's neo-conservative agenda pushing. Just be aware of this before buying...
Rating:
Summary: Death : The Perennial Taboo Subject
Review: Richard John Neuhaus is the distinguished editor of "First Things" magazine and writes often on many important subjects. His seminal work on the "Public Square" is one I appreciate particularly as he argues that public media today seem to try their best to 'marginalize' any view that comes out Christian -- they think we Christians have no place on the "public square." Obvioudly he takes no truck with that -- and says so. But in this book, he encounters a different foe -- Death. And he came away a man with a greater understanding of what it is to live and what it is to die -- or nearly die. His doctors had apparently missed a cancerous tumor in his colon -- and he nearly missed living through the experience of emergency surgery -- two of them for the spleen was nicked and internal bleeding required a second surgery on top of the first. All of this meant a *long* recovery and he recounts it with clarity as well as humor. Having been through a similar (but not so drastic) experience of recovering from major surgery and being hooked up to lots of bleeping and pulsating machines for lengthy periods -- I very much identified with his narrative. He gets it right. The book is only about 170 pages or so and can be read in a sitting or two. The author rises to crystalline prose at times and I found it to be not only an instructive but enjoyable read. He is not a proponent of the 'near death' experiences exploited by TV shows etc. --- but reveals his own experience with clarity and truth, and believablity. You'll come away from reading this book with thankfulness for the life you have -- and a determination to live it more fully. That is, I think, the job of a Gospel messenger -- and while this is not a 'devotional' book in that sense -- he lays out very squarely what this experience meant to him, and what clear thinking about that "inevitable event" that happens to us all, ought to mean to us. Jack Buttram
Rating:
Summary: Superb meditation
Review: This little book is a superb meditation on the mysteries of death (and life) for a Christian. With characteristic clarity, Neuhaus offers a series of ruminations on his own near-death experience, from which he emerged with his faith fully intact.
Rating:
Summary: Superb meditation
Review: This little book is a superb meditation on the mysteries of death (and life) for a Christian. With characteristic clarity, Neuhaus offers a series of ruminations on his own near-death experience, from which he emerged with his faith fully intact.
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