Coincidentally this past week, I also read another book by an Italian-American, Dion, you know, the guy who sang Runaround Sue and The Wanderer. He wrote this book with Mike Aquilina.
Dion grew up in an Italian neighborhood in the Bronx, so he's got a similar style of expressing himself as in the previous book I just read, except that he's much more articulate and can convey beautiful and profound thoughts. I didn't realize that Dion had been a heroin addict for 14 years. He lived the rock n roll lifestyle. He married his childhood sweetheart when they were still pretty young. At one point the marriage was quite rocky and in an effort to keep things together he consented to move from New York to Florida because his wife wanted to be near her parents who lived there. Under the influence of his father in law, Dion managed to quit heroin and eventually became an evangelical Christian. He spent years church shopping trying to find the 'right' church. He got into studying the Bible. Puzzled about all the different denominations, he got into a discussion with a Presbyterian minister who quoted St. Augustine at him. From there Dion eventually found himself back at the Church where'd he been baptized (his parents had only been cultural Catholics who didn't even go to Mass on Sundays).
This book could really be subtitled Dion's Apologetics. The end of the books is really inspiring. I love Dion's critique of John Lennon's song "Imagine." And the two letters to a friend that Dion include,s in which he's defending the Catholic Faith are wonderful. Dion, it turns out, is a soulful, prayerful, joyous and wise man.
For more reviews visit 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
I just posted about this one, too, Faith. Great stuff.
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