ISBN 978-1-929490-34-9
Hardcover
May 2007
256 pages
5 1/2 x 8 1/4"
$24.95
Advance Praise
"It is hard to think of any reader of this magazine who would not enjoy N. John Hall's memoir. . . . What makes his account so readable is the quality of the writing: at turns convincingly honest, intellectually consequent, and unexpectedly funny."—Richard Cohen, Commonweal
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Belief
A Memoir
by N. John Hall
This is the story of a young man who became
enthralled with Catholicism around 1950, went on to become a priest, served in
three northern New Jersey parishes, and left the priesthood in 1967. What makes
his story different is the phenomenon of the will to believe. As the author
writes: "In my first year of divinity school, in 1951, at Seton Hall, I felt my
faith come crashing down. But such was the allure, the pull, the command that
the 'triumphant' Catholic Church at the time had upon the mind of an
impressionable youth, that I soldiered on, trying my best to recover my faith. I
exercised what John Keats called Negative Capability, the art of remaining in
doubt and mystery, of being content with half-belief while suppressing the
reasoning side of one's mind."
Hall's memoir chronicles an intellectual, emotional, and "spiritual" journey. Along the way it offers an insider's picture of Catholic life
and Catholic education in the 1950s and 1960s. Additionally, it sets forth and
elucidates issues that confront (or should confront) all religious believers.
This book is a voice for skepticism, presented not in the
form of a treatise or argument, but through a personal story, a story by turns
sad and funny, but also compelling. It culminates in the delight and
exhilaration that come with intellectual freedom.
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N. John Hall is considered the world's leading authority on Anthony Trollope and Max Beerbohm. His books include Trollope: A Biography and Max Beerbohm: A Kind of Life. He twice has been a Guggenheim Fellow and is Distinguished Professor at the City University of New York. Since 1967 he has lived in Greenwich Village.
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