The Last Catholic in America (Loyola Classics) by John R. Powers

The Last Catholic in America (Loyola Classics) Reviews

• 
  Dave Mevis

  As a public school kid from the suburbs of Chicago in the 70's, this book gave me a peek at what life was like in the Catholic elementary schools of Chicago. I think those who went to Catholic school would laugh along with the author's recollections. A humorous, light read. Not exactly sure what the title has to do with the novel, nor am I sure why the last chapter was included at all. Other than that, an enjoyable, quick read.
• 
  Marlyn

  My son just turned 39 and I read this book when he was 13 years old and in a hospital bed in another room, he had perthes disease and had to stay immobile. I was reading this book which took me back to my traumatic childhood catholic education and I laughed so hard that my son was calling to me to ask what was going on! What was going on was memories in vivid detail.
• 
  Sue

  Pretty funny - especially if you went to Catholic schools in the 50's and 60's and actually knew some of those nuns!
• 
  Greg

  My dad gave me a copy of this book almost 35 years ago, I lost that copy, but now I have 3 others. I re read these every few years.
• 
  booklady

  This is the first in the ten or more books I've read from the
  Loyola Classics series which I have not enjoyed. Ironically, this novel is supposed to be a comedy. Although fiction, Powers' book is based on the South-Side Chicago Catholic environment in which the author grew up. Each chapter is a short story unto itself complete with a clever title and deadpan recall of 1950's boyhood. The parish priests and nuns are mostly brutal, only vying each other in terms of their capacity for cruelty. But then most of the adults in Powers' world are at best indifferent to children. I've tried but failed to see the humor in this book. Oh well...
  
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  The trouble I'm having with this book is I know it's supposed to be funny and yet I'm not laughing. Mostly I just feel maternal toward the author; I wish the young John Powers could have known compassion and adult affection/attention. I do see shades of my own childhood in the book but I also wonder how I missed becoming so cynical. And yet, if the stories are to be believed as accurate without exaggeration or embellishment, then perhaps I too might have taken that path.
• 
  Bonnie

  I grew up a Catholic and went to Catholic schools in the Chicago suburbs. My boyfriend also grew up Catholic and raved about how funny this book was and said I just had to read it.
  
  Like another reader, “I couldn’t wait to finish this book, hoping it would get better.....it didn’t. It is an ok book but not great”.
  
  The nuns when I grew up were Stalinists to put it mildly. I laughed sometimes but not that often. I think a boy and the “dirty book” thing, etc. would relate more to a boy than a girl.
  
  It did bring back some memories---the Baltimore Catechism, practicing for First Holy Communion, mission fund raising, etc. but I think boys that went to Catholic school would relate more.
  
• 
  Jim

  Funny book about the Catholic Church in Chicago. It reads well, and a lot of the stories are fun, but you get the feeling you are in the hands of a lapsed Catholic who holds a grudge against the church. There always seems a bitter edge to the humor. I recommend the book, but only as an enjoyable read. It's not a fair or accurate description of what it's like to grow up Catholic.
• 
  Janis

  Powers' fictionalized account of growing up -- as I did -- as a baby-boomer south-side Chicago Catholic certainly captures some moments (the "Confession" chapter nails it!) but misses something in overall cohesiveness.
• 
  Pete Dematteo

  i thought this book was hysterical. stifled creativity, oppressive regimentation, nasty nuns and priests, this was written before the church was in real trouble. perhaps readers should have taken this more seriously back in the '70's. Unreal!
• 
  Marvin

  A fictionalized memoir about growing up in a Catholic neighborhood in Chicago--a lighweight but amusing book.
• 
  Marc

  Well, I just give up. Most of the way through the chapter on confession and this guy either can't get to the point or doesn't know what his point is in the first place.
• 
  Tracy

  Like stepping inside a hilarious time capsule.
• 
  Kerry Zukus

  Funny, funny, funny. Powers' first book, a literal stand-up routine on growing up Catholic in America. Great fun.
• 
  Joy Patton

  want this book
• 
  Crizzle

  In the author's words, this is a "social portrait of Catholicism in the mid-twentieth century". It's a fictionalized memoir that I couldn't wait to be done with and half-way through began skimming to the end; each chapter was its own story, so that didn't matter. For a humor book, there were just a couple times when I may have inwardly smiled. Otherwise, it was kind of sad.
• 
  Ron Sadowski

  6-24-2011
• 
  Katie

  My maternal grandfather grew up Catholic in Chicago in an insular Polish neighborhood, and my mother went to a primary school run by nuns. I heard so many stories growing up about the "mean nuns" who ran the school through intimidation. I never had those experiences as a child, so it was interesting to take a peek into that world. This book had a lot of sharp and funny observations. It was a quick read.
• 
  Douglas Graney

  This was a gift from a student in my Philosophy class. I was looking forward to good-humored jabs at some of the absurdities the Catholic Church promulgates. While there was some of that this book did not live up to my expectations. If you went to Catholic school, this might resonate more with you than it did me.
• 
  Ron

  I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and have re-read it many times. Get this book! The author's love for his community really shows through and reminded me of when neighborhoods were "tight" at one time. It didn't matter that I was a Catholic attending public school, I could relate well enough to the experience Powers portrayed.
• 
  Kathy D

  This was published about 40 years ago. Had I read it then (or soon after) it probably would have seemed better but like some movies and TV shows, this is a book that didn't age well for me. It did have some funny anecdotes but you need to be patient for them.