Catholic Review of: Bad Catholic's Guide to Good Living

It is not often that you come across a book that can find humor in Catholicism without resorting to low blows, stereotypes or outright blasphemy.  The authors of The Bad Catholic's Guide to Good Living do an incredible job poking fun at our rich Catholic heritage without ever getting too irreverent.  The book is designed to follow the Church calendar with short essays for all the major feast days and holidays followed up with a recipe or activity to help you celebrate like a Catholic.  But don't think you can take a year to read the book.  Read one essay and you won't be able to put it down.

The one requirement for reading this book (or the sequel) is that you must be able to laugh at your heritage.  If chapters like "Bernardine of Feltre (1439-1494): Holy Pawnshop!" and "Feast of the Immaculate Conception: The Addams Family Chapel" raise your blood pressure then maybe humor isn't for you. 

One of my favorite chapters is for July 24th when John Zmirak tells the story of three saints who were nearly impossible to kill.  One of them was anchored to the bottom of a lake, tossed in a furnace and deprived of his tongue but only died when struck with a volley of arrows.  These saints are called the Terminator saints because of their incredible durability. 

The great thing about this book is that the educational value is not lost in all the fun.  I learned about new saints and historical events and discovered treasured incidents in the lives of saints that I thought I already new.  And this is really the point of the Guide.  The Catholic faith is so much more than attending weekly Mass.  I'm not talking so much about the struggle of living your faith in the world, but rather making Catholicism a part of your fun and your celebrations.  This book will make you proud to be a Catholic.