The Bishop in the West Wing

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: Funny
Review: I don't care much for politics, but I really enjoyed the sense of humor running through the book and the characters themselves. There is a strong sense of family here, as it is with most of Greeley's other books and I love the dialogue.

Rating:
Summary: Blackie has fun tweaking the self-righteous...
Review: I enjoyed this Blackie Ryan entry, but the reviewers who thought Fr. Greeley slams the GOP a little too often do have a point. I am myself a fairly liberal Democrat, so it didn't turn me off. In fact, it is a nice counter to having arrogant know-it-alls like Ann Coulter on top of the best-seller list for slamming liberals as if we are all direct helpers of Satan. Don't take the politics of the book seriously... it is meant to be a rather light-hearted mystery that is a quick read, an enjoyable few hours, a peek inside the workings of the White House, and an informal education into poltergeist phenomena. On that level the book delivers. I also liked his previous entry, "Beggar Girl of St. Germain" quite a lot, maybe better than this one. I was not impressed with the one before that, "Missing L Train." That was truly weaker than we expect from the prolific priest. I've read dozens of Greeley books, and always learned something useful about life, love, Catholicism, Chicago, the Irish, and writing itself. Accept his fiction as being meant for fun, while appreciating the optimistic life philosophy he sneaks in every few pages. Greeley's books are good medicine, but not strong medicine. Take two a week and you'll feel better for years!

Rating:
Summary: Needs more story and less politics
Review: I have read every work of fiction that I can find that Father Greeley has written, and I love the Father Blackie mysteries. However, I was disappointed in this book because so much time was devoted to promoting the Democrats as victims of a vicious Republican conspiracy. I have always known that Father Greeley was a Democrat, but this was a bit much. It seemed he even went so far as to imply that maybe our former president was not guilty of some of the moral decadence that he finally admitted to, but was really set up by the Republicans of that time period. If you can get past or ignore the political chapters, the Father Blackie story is a good one. I hope this was a one time only jaunt into this level of politics or I may have to find another favorite author.

Rating:
Summary: I want Jack"Machine Gun" Mc Gurn on the next pres. ballot!
Review: I love the characters, the story, the humor (especially the "tongue in cheek"). I like that Fr. Greeley always has a lesson or story within the story (such as the informaton about poltergeist in this story). I know many people believe Fr. Greeley "makes up" much of the "outrageous" parts of the story, but I don't think so! Partially because I have read many of his non-fiction books. Many scenes in "White Smoke" came directly from his non-fiction book "The Making of the Popes 1978."

I think Blackie Ryan is great and it's a crime none of his stories have been made into a movie --- this would be a great one.

Of course I love all Fr. Greeleys stories and the stories within the stories!

Rating:
Summary: To The Devoted Fans of Blackie Ryan - A Good Read, Patently
Review: I've read most of Father Greeley's work, but had a hard time finding some of the older material. But if it's anything like the Bishop in the West Wing, I'm definitely going to find them all. By the by, I am not Catholic, am a Republican, and I LOVE the Blackie Ryan series.

Bishop John B. "Blackie" Ryan (Blackwood, as Milord Cronin calls him) is called to the White House, unceremoniously, by a former parishoner turned president (POTUS, as we might know him). He has been accused of sexual harrassment, has a government overthrowing in China looming in the background, and, (the REAL reason why Sean Cardinal Cronin asks Blackie to go to Washington) poltergeists are in the President's House!

We meet John Patrick "Machine Gun Jack" McGurn, a recent widower, with three kids (2 still in school, one as his Press Secretary) who has become POTUS. He calls Blackie in to deal with the malevolent spirit. Along the way, Blackie manages to, in his usual "invisible" style, restore order and dignity to the White House. He uncovers the plot of the persons who want to make the POTUS a laughingstock as a sexual offender. He also screws up a potential presidential assassination. He also manages to bring two couples together (par for the course for him), and he does what he is always called to do as the "sweeper": clean up the messes that others make.

This is a must-read for Blackie Ryan fans. You'll love the mystery, the romantic innuendo, and of course, Blackie's "patent" observation of the goings-on of the Oval Office and it's occupant. McGurn is a president you'll like, his 2 daughters are laughable, and the ongoing romps of the Senior Staff are memorable.

Rating:
Summary: Bishop Blackie Goes to Washington
Review: John Patrick McGurn, derogatorily referred to as "Machine Gun Jack" in some circles, is the first Chicago South Side Irish Catholic to be elected President of the United States. His move to "public housing on Pennsylvania Avenue" is accompanied by poltergeists and Father Andrew Greeley's Bishop John Blackwood Ryan (a/k/a "Blackie") is dispatched from Chicago to "See to it!"

While investigating the pesky Poltergeist phenomena, Father Greeley and Blackie inform and entertain in their inimitable style with Irish wit and charm. Candidate Jack's acceptance speech, as Fr. Greeley himself admits, is "A comic masterpiece." "The Republicans, he warned, had never met a rich businessman for whom they didn't feel sorry. Nor could they overcome their deep compassion for tobacco companies and gun dealers. They wanted to protect the lumber industry, he suggested, from the incursion of gray wolves. They were eager to provide tax credits for those who owned mansions on the shores of the oceans so they could rebuild their homes farther inland before global warming inundated them. They thought it would be wise public policy to protect the mining companies from toxic waste - that is from suits based on the harm done by arsenic poisoning and other toxic chemicals. They had done such a wonderful job of being compassionate to the wealthy and to big business that they deserved every single vote from all those who earned more than ten million dollars a year."

I don't think Rush Limbaugh & his Dittoheads will be recommending this book - but I do! Best line: "I am a Cub fan. It is a matter of faith."

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: Prejudiced views
Review: The prejudice of the author comes through loud and clear from the dedication to Bill and Hillary to the bashing of conservative views at every opportunity. I was extremely disappointed. It's the last of Greeley's books that I'll waste my time reading. Also, it was much too easy to figure out who and what was happening.

Rating:
Summary: Bishop Blackie visits the White House
Review: There are poltergeists haunting the White House. President Jack McGurn, from Chicago is the president and the Executive Mansion is being turned on its ear by a mischievous spirit. He suspects that an "evil" republican is behind it. The Cardinal sends Blackie to solve the mystery.

I always enjoy the Blackie Ryan mysteries, and I did enjoy this one, but vilifying Republicans is a foolish and thoughtless way to write a story. The characters are vivid and real and the mystery well worth reading, but he should really find another bogeyman, after all the Democrats of the last administration were hardly moral examples for the nation were they?