The Life You Save May Be Your Own Audiobook By Paul Elie cover art

The Life You Save May Be Your Own

An American Pilgrimage

Preview

Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Life You Save May Be Your Own

By: Paul Elie
Narrated by: Lloyd James
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $24.92

Buy for $24.92

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

In the middle of the twentieth century, four American Catholics, working independently of one another, came to believe that the best way to explore the quandaries of religious faith was in writing. The four writers were Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, Flannery O'Connor, and Walker Percy.

Called the School of the Holy Ghost, for three decades they exchanged letters, ardently read each others' books, and grappled with what one of them called a "predicament shared in common".

Paul Elie tells these four writers' story as a pilgrimage from the God-obsessed literary past to the chaos of post-war American life. And it is a story about the ways we look to great books and writers to help us make sense of our experience, about the power of literature to change, and to save, our lives.

©2003 Paul Elie (P)2004 Blackstone Audiobooks
Authors Catholicism Christian Literature & Art Literary History & Criticism Ministry & Evangelism United States
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Critic reviews

"This thoroughly researched and well-sourced work deserves attention from students of history, literature, and religion, but it will be of special significance to Catholic readers interested in the expression of faith in the modern world." (Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about The Life You Save May Be Your Own

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    71
  • 4 Stars
    31
  • 3 Stars
    14
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    47
  • 4 Stars
    26
  • 3 Stars
    9
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    50
  • 4 Stars
    23
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Gripping, thought-provoking, though incomplete to an agnostic

I enjoyed this listen and will re-read. Worth the re-read.

This was like sitting in a room with four incredible, good people: people concerned with poverty, social welfare, war…

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

well worth the price and time

This book/audio follows the lives and thought of four Catholic literary figures from the 20th century: Flannery O'Connor, Walker Percy, Thomas Merton and Dorothy Day. The perspective is clearly on the literary aspect of the lives of these well known Catholics. This is its strength and its weakness.

I found the work to be insightful and informative regarding the life stories of its protagonists, giving a helpful understanding of the contexts in which these persons lived and wrote. I was particularly taken by the portarits offered of O'Connor and Percy. Of course, these were to two persons of whom I had the least detailed knowledge.

The author's handling of Day and Merton left me somewhat frustrated. Perhaps this is because I have a better working knowledge of these two authors. The scheme of a life story with a literary focus worked well with the protagonists whose focus was literary. It didn't prove satisfying with those protagonists whose literary output was not the primary focus of their life's work.

These frustrations duly noted, my over all impression was that the tale told by the author was well worth the time spent listening. The audio quality of the spoken version is excellent and the narrator is quite good.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

41 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Great detail of information

Writer gives great insight into the lives and writings of these four Catholic writers. I liked the insight into their lives set in the context of historical events as well as the reference to their writings and their interaction with each other.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great book!

I totally enjoyed listening to this book and it inspires me to seek out books written by the authors mentioned in it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

4 life long pilgrimages worthy to walk along with

When you walk along with them, you begin to reflect upon what your own pilgrimage is.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!