In Good Company: The Fast Track from the Corporate World to Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience

Rating:
Summary: A Great Read
Review: James Martin's book is just the right thing for anyone with an interest in the contemporary Catholic Church. It's especially helpful for those thinking of joining a religious order or becoming a priest--or those who are interested in why a person would make such a commitment in this day and age. Martin's writing style makes this a personal and provocative read. One of the reviewers on the back cover says Martin is a Thomas Merton for this time--perhaps, but in his own style. I'd highly recommend it to anyone with even a passing interest in religion.

Rating:
Summary: Priesthood Never Looked So Good
Review: James Martin's newest book, "In Good Company" is a candid testament to the fullness that a life of commitment promises. Martin communicates that very message through the story of his life, as well as through the wit of his style. Bravo Father Martin!

Rating:
Summary: Priesthood Never Looked So Good
Review: James Martin's newest book, "In Good Company" is a candid testament to the fullness that a life of commitment promises. Martin communicates that very message through the story of his life, as well as through the wit of his style. Bravo Father Martin!

Rating:
Summary: Great story.
Review: Martin's personal journey of faith, which eventually led him into the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), is quite a story. He was a young successful business man rising quickly through the corporate ranks at General Electric. But the "unseen hook" brought him to change dramatically - literally from riches to poverty. The reader gets a sense of Martin's sincerity as they journey with him through his younger years in business, and eventually, his experience as a Jesuit novice.
Though the story itself is powerful, I rated this book with only three stars because I found Martin's prose to be lacking at some points in the story. Perhaps I'm being harsh; forgive me.
I recommend this book to any reader who wishes to understand the Catholic preisthood better, especially those young men considering joining the Jesuits.

Rating:
Summary: Great story.
Review: Martin's personal journey of faith, which eventually led him into the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), is quite a story. He was a young successful business man rising quickly through the corporate ranks at General Electric. But the "unseen hook" brought him to change dramatically - literally from riches to poverty. The reader gets a sense of Martin's sincerity as they journey with him through his younger years in business, and eventually, his experience as a Jesuit novice.
Though the story itself is powerful, I rated this book with only three stars because I found Martin's prose to be lacking at some points in the story. Perhaps I'm being harsh; forgive me.
I recommend this book to any reader who wishes to understand the Catholic preisthood better, especially those young men considering joining the Jesuits.

Rating:
Summary: Obedience to the calling of God
Review: Simply put, this book is about finding one's real truth in God. He works for a large corporation, then leaves to become a Jesuit Priest and accept his calling that he has always had. I had a wonderful time exploring his view of this path he chose. Well Done.

Rating:
Summary: Obedience to the calling of God
Review: Simply put, this book is about finding one's real truth in God. He works for a large corporation, then leaves to become a Jesuit Priest and accept his calling that he has always had. I had a wonderful time exploring his view of this path he chose. Well Done.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Read
Review: Some of my Catholic friends really liked this book, so I read
it. But it made me wonder about one BIG question. The author
never says a word about his reactions to taking a vow of
celibacy. Isn't this a pretty important thing? Isn't
sexuality an important part of life, whether or not you choose
to be celibate? There is not a word said about girlfriends
or lack of girlfriends when he was a layman. This too is
curious. A rector of major Catholic seminary has recently
written a book saying many seminarians are homosexuals. I
personally do not believe that, but a book like this makes
me wonder about the author. He also avoids the severe decline
in numbers that the Jesuit order is going thru. Why is this?

Rating:
Summary: Something's really wrong here....
Review: Some of my Catholic friends really liked this book, so I read
it. But it made me wonder about one BIG question. The author
never says a word about his reactions to taking a vow of
celibacy. Isn't this a pretty important thing? Isn't
sexuality an important part of life, whether or not you choose
to be celibate? There is not a word said about girlfriends
or lack of girlfriends when he was a layman. This too is
curious. A rector of major Catholic seminary has recently
written a book saying many seminarians are homosexuals. I
personally do not believe that, but a book like this makes
me wonder about the author. He also avoids the severe decline
in numbers that the Jesuit order is going thru. Why is this?

Rating:
Summary: BEFORE HR MANAGEMENT, THERE WAS IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA
Review: This is one great book. Who would believe that a charter member of America's corporate culture with the gold rolex, the rep tie and the ray bans to prove it could do such a total about face and accept the calling to become a Jesuit priest bound by iron vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience? And yet, no lie, this is what this book is all about. Martin is simply magnificent in he way he draws the contrast between his old corporate life as a human resources executive with General Electric and his new life as a Jesuit novice. The descriptions of GE in the merger mania, downsizing, and frenzy of the 1980's are vivid and by turns frightening and amusing to say the least. His descriptions of his spiritual journey are candid and self-deprecating. However, the old habits die hard. Martin's writing is brisk and spare like the memos in the business world he left behind. The meandering intellectualization and name-dropping of somebody like Thomas Merton is clearly absent here. I intend to read any other books by Martin I can find.