Product Details
Free Press, October 2006
Trade Paperback, 416 pages
ISBN-10: 0743249089
ISBN-13: 9780743249089
Description
Vows is a compelling story of one family's unshakable faith that to be called is to serve, however high the cost may be. Peter Manseau's riveting evocation of his parents' parallel childhoods, their similar callings, their experiences in the seminary and convent, and how they met while tending to the homeless of Roxbury, Massachusetts, during the riot-prone 1960s is a page-turning meditation on the effect that love can have on profound faith.
"This is a strange and marvelous story, told with unerring grace. In the Manseau family, the call to religious service is like the call of the ancient Sirens. And yet they survive. Peter Manseau's writing is keen-eyed, lyrical, muscular, and more, and while Vows is a story about big ideas -- religion, devotion, sacrifice -- it is above all a love letter to his own family."
-- Stephen J. Dubner, coauthor of Freakonomics and author of Turbulent Souls
"[Vows] forms a history of how the priesthood evolved -- and how people navigate the boundaries between religious tradition and modern life. In the process, Manseau paints a picture of liberal -- and devoutly religious -- Catholics facing up to the church's authority."
-- Terry Gross, Fresh Air
"With the grace of a gifted storyteller and a son's love for his parents, Peter Manseau tells a story that's not been previously told....Vows...isn't sensational or hostile, but rather a revelatory and nuanced exploration of his parents and their relationship with the Catholic Church, which has both blessed them and wounded them."
-- Paula Voell, The Buffalo News
"There are moments in Vows...when the prose is so achingly beautiful that the reader must stop for a moment.... If you've ever graced a pew or wondered about the people who do, Vows goes a long way toward explaining faith."
-- Hartford Courant
"Peter Manseau's spectacular memoir, at once darkly comic and serious as a crucifixion, ranks itself instantly as one of the great reflections upon the life of faith and American Catholicism. A superbly written page-turner and a contemporary historical document for the ages. I can think of five ecclesiasts -- Catholic and non-Catholic, practicing and lapsed -- whom I will buy it for immediately."
-- Wilton Barnhardt, author of Gospel
Jackson Sun, June 6, 2009
...scientific experiment proves the existence of God, 'that doesn't mean science won't come up with one.' Peter Manseau The book: 'Rag and Bone: A Journey Among the World's Holy Dead' Peter Manseau has made - from teeth and whiskers, fingers ...
NPR, April 22, 2009
...discuss their work. The child of a former Roman Catholic priest and a mother who was a nun, Peter Manseau is making a career of writing about religion and spiritualism at its most unorthodox. , which he co-wrote with Jeff Sharlet, is a ...
NPR, April 21, 2009
...discuss their work. The child of a former Roman Catholic priest and a mother who was a nun, Peter Manseau is making a career of writing about religion and spiritualism at its most unorthodox. , which he co-wrote with Jeff Sharlet, is a ...
Peter Manseau's Books
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Songs for the Butcher's DaughterAn inventive, charismatic fiction debut from a stand-out literary talent that explores the lives of a Yiddish poet and his young translator.Read More
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Killing the BuddhaNow in paperback -- the book that caused a religious and critically acclaimed stir. Publishers Weekly called it "the most original and insightful...Read More
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