FATHER JOE The Man Who Saved My Soul

NATIONAL LAMPOON alum and co-creator of numerous lauded and berated comedy broadcasts, Tony Hendra bares his midlife soul in a dazzling, touching, and humorous memoir. The unchanging center of Hendra's development from misfit youth to debauched Hollywood cliché was Father Joe, an unkempt, charming Benedictine monk. Hendra delivers his story with considerable appeal and honesty, his amiable, rueful British tones illuminating his journey over the decades, as he time and again struggles with his worldly self, always returning to the abbey and Joe for guidance and solace. Father Joe, a modern saint with the heart of a rogue, fully lives and breathes in the telling; Hendra's impression of the witty and compassionate Joe is a bravura performance. This not-to-be-missed recording delivers a considerable payoff through its slow and honest revealing. D.J.B. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 05]