Rating: 
Summary: Good book with some problems
Review: On the whole I found the book to be well balanced and insiteful. The text is quite readable and there is a degree of scholarship apparent. However, as a piece of non-fiction, it lacks a much needed index and list of sources. I received the book as a gift. I would not have bought it because of the lack of an index.
Rating: 
Summary: Beware Review of Those Who have not Read the Book
Review: One (or no) star reviews (and sometimes 5 star reviews) are to be looked upon with doubt. Some people who have not opened the book (look at a sample review here) simply use this forum to revile ideas they do not like. I read reviews to see how others felt about a book not to listen to the diatribe of a non-reader. I will admit I have not read this book and will not review its subject matter based upon a dust jacket reading. I wrote this because I was angered by what I perceive as a growing problem with such reviews. How 59 out of 95 readers or 10 out of 17 can say they found such a review "helpful" is beyond me! (N.B. Because the form forces me to rate the book I selected 3 stars as a mid-point).
Rating: 
Summary: Too Early -- Too Narrow
Review: This book is essentially a waste of time and a waste of money. It is so for two reasons. The first being that the priest scandels are not finished yet. This story is far from over and further developments are sure to come. When the scandel starts to rack the seminaries, then we may have reached the middle act. Being a Protestant myself and given the sexual horror stories extant in churches in which women play a greater leadership role, "priests" already can marry, and the laity have a far more powerful voice in the direction the Protestant churches will go, it is difficult to see how all these "reforms" will fix what's ailing the Catholic Church.The second reason concerns a common shortcoming among American Catholic Church activists: they fail to recognize that the American Catholic Church is only a small part of the Universal Catholic Church. American activists fail to see that what is high of their list of concerns has little play outside America and Northern Europe. The fastest growing evangelistic fields for the Church are in Africa and Asia. Peoples in these areas have provided the most gains and excitment for Rome; and Asians and Africans don't warm up to the West's new-fangled notions. In listening to all this talk about "the next pope" and all these "big changes" that will come when the present pope passes away, one can only wonder what planet these folk come from. The next pope may very well come out of Africa and he may be far more "orthodox" than the American Church is prepared for.
Rating: 
Summary: Tough, fair, brilliant -- and very welcome!
Review: Until now, the books about the current crisis in the Catholic Church have come from two flanks: the crotchety right, blaming everything on a lack of fidelity or those rascals behind Vatican II (George Weigel et al) ... and the defiant left, blaming everything on an ailing Pope who refuses to get with the program (Gary Wills et al). Now, at last, comes a balanced and clear-eyed view from the vast middle -- not only that, but it comes from a convert with a passion and genuine affection for his beleaguered Church. David Gibson's "The Coming Catholic Church" manages to synthesize two centuries of triumph and turmoil in the American Catholic Church into a coherent, intelligent and altogether revelatory work that, at this moment, stands as a definitive account of how the church got where it is today -- and where it may be headed tomorrow. Drawing on history, sociology, theology and just plain good storytelling, Gibson presents the most complete and compelling picture of the modern church that I've found (and I've slogged through a lot of them!) He brings to the book a journalist's eye and a committed Catholic's concern, and the result is an invaluble document that should be required reading for every American Catholic, both lay and religious. Gibson gives equal time to arguments from conservatives and progressives, and avoids taking sides; both, he suggests, have their strengths and weaknesses, and neither is completely right or wrong. That gives the book a credibility and balance that I found most welcome. And he divides his book clearly into three sections: the laity, the clergy, and the hierarchy, showing the fundamental role each must play in the Church, how each has reacted to the recent scandals, and how each will be challenged to change its relationship with the other if the Church is to be renewed and reformed. "The Coming Catholic Church" will help readers see the Church as the wonderful, flawed, monumental and maddening institution it is and always has been -- and understand, perhaps for the first time, why. What you will find here are tales of a confused and conflicted clergy, an angry and impassioned laity, and the defensive and sometimes helpless hierarchy. What you will also find is a quiet but insistent plea: we are all in this together, and must work together to renew our Church. The book's ultimate theme is one of hope and redemption -- the triumph of Easter over the despair of Good Friday. I can't overstate how important and necessary this book is. I'm sending one to every Catholic I know, with the urgent message: "Read this. Now." I can't state it any plainer than that. For any Catholic who cares about the Church, and wants to know what the future may hold, pick up this book. It's all there. Read this. Now.
Rating:
Summary: The John Dominic Crossan of Catholic journalists
Review: Well, let's see. This is a really stupid book. The author knows nothing and basically sucks, as does his book. It makes me understand why journalists are generally considered to be scum.
For example, the author ridicules Mary Ann Glendon, a perfectly respectable Harvard law professor, celebrated author, and conservative Catholic, while giving a free pass to "Catholics for a Free Choice," a group whose name is a contradiction in terms, kinda like if there were a group called "Cannibals Against the Consumption of Human Flesh."
You know what really irks me about this book? The author's supposed objectivity and fairness. Yes, he quotes both conservative Catholics and liberal Catholics, but not in any kind of even-handed way. As in the above case, conservative Catholics are always put in a negative light, whereas liberal Catholics (with a few key exceptions, when they are so far out that only a Matthew Fox or Margaret Starbird would affirm their position) are always put in a positive light.
Not only that, this book is sensationalist and pandering: sensationalist in the way it presents information, and pandering in the way it plays to fellow journalists and the media in general. After reading it, it made me realize how incredibly idiotic most journalists are, how craven, sold-out, and just plain dumb they are. Proof? Take the title of this book. Is it an unintentional bad pun? Who knows? And isn't it just a little bit arrogant to think you can prognosticate about what's gonna happen with Catholicism in the next few years? Hey, but so what? Divining the future sells books, doesn't it? So let's go with it, especially with the mildly prurient title.
In any case, this piece of dog waste should make the Garry Willses and David Traceys--as well as the rest of the puny but strangely influential (at least among themselves) ranks of disaffected, alienated Catholics--happy.
For a fair, balanced, nuanced look at the recent "Catholic troubles," see George Weigel's fine book, The Courage to Be Catholic (which the author, surprise! Surprise! dismisses).
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