Chestnut Hill College Books

Did not like this book. It is not up to the standard I usually read from Andrew Greeley.

Andrew Greeley has written a magical tale of love, keeping in tune with the Christmas spirit. Greeley is one of my all time favorite authors, and I have yet to read one of his books, which has not captivated me and given me food for thought.

The reader will find this heartwarming a tale a quick read, as the reader is held in suspense until the very end. Greeley weaves his wit, charm and mystical musings into the romantic tale of Jack, an Irish Catholic lad meeting a beautiful Russian college student at Harvard. Odessa, a bit of a Russian mystic, weaves her own kind of magic with everyone who comes into her presence. Her charming and innocent ways at looking at life incorporate the mystical and spirituality of her culture.

Jack decides to bring Odessa home to Chicago to meet his family for Christmas. With her simplicity, innocence, charm, and grace, Odessa manages to mend the uptight Flanigan family and bring them closer together than anyone thought was possible!

This is a wonderful tale and helps to bring home the message that people come into our lives for a reason, as God reveals him/her self to us in those that we meet.

Another uplifting winner from Farther Andrew Greeley!

I'm a sucker for a Christmas story, and an admirer of Greeley's work. No one makes family dynamics more fascinating, or has a greater appreciation for women. This is an offbeat little love story, with love being the operative word. Tatiana, the Russian student Irish Catholic Jack takes home to meet the folks in Chicago for Christmas, is a magical heroine who brings joy and hope to a dysfunctional family. It leaves you smiling and believing in the wonder of the season.

Wow! A wonderful immersion into both the Irish-American Catholic and the Russian Orthodox cultures, this little book is full of Christmas spirit! While taking a class over at Harvard University, Boston College student Jack Flanigan meets an enchanting beauty named Tatiana. The two strike up an unlikely but sweetly romantic friendship. Jack reluctantly invites her to Chicago to spend Christmas with his large and quite boisterous family, fearing that the deeply religious Tatiana will be turned off by the commercialism and overwhelmed by the dysfunctional crowd. But as Tatiana has found a way into confirmed bachelor Jack's heart, she also manages to win over his family.

There are no words to describe how much I loved this story. It was very well-written, with wonderful characterizations, descriptive settings, and positive dialogue. This couple, who personify true love, as well as the irresistable Flanigan family, will stay with me long after I put this book down.

Greeley's Irish Chicago meets sexy lay Russian Orthodox women's Christian mysticism somewhere between Boston College and Harvard Yard. Its improbability viz the Greeley corpus actually helps him compress a short, simple, yet spiritually sublime plot-and-reflections. (No Ryan family-tree to keep straight in your head!) If Odessa/Tatiana doesn't "seduce" you in many different (good!) ways, get your head, heart, spirit, and hormone-levels examined!

This book is little, but read it nice and slow, sometimes a page a day when herself is showing boyfriend Jack, his disgruntled family, and us a truer world-next-door spiritually. And read it over and over...maybe every December during the crush of the holidays. (Deeper than that Christmas pageant story they put on TV back in the '80s.) You'll find more than one new gem each time through--'pearls of great price,' for no great price! And it might just improve your life...and that of your significant others! Give it to a friend or two, too.

Profound, fun, cross-cultural, sexy but not "steamy" (Darn!), not a murder mystery but that's OK; further developments in Greeley's study and reporting of 'normal' Christians' approach to life. Technically, some typos and words missing, but it's usually clear what it is, so you lose no meaning. And stay with the meaning, because it's overflowing with it! And hardback is OK because it'll get used over and over for years to come. Sounds like he's working on a series of compressed, reflective, theological Christmas-y novels; great idea!