Official Review: Sister Mercedes and the Temple of Doom

[Winter]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Sister Mercedes and the Temple of Doom" by Brian C. Petti.]

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Made up from a collection of blog posts, this book gives you the chance to meet Brian C. Petti and his family. He tells us stories about his childhood as an overweight kid, fearing monsters in the dark, learning to ride a bike, playing baseball with a team of inspiring misfits, and growing up in an Irish-catholic household. He goes on to talk about his role as a husband and father, with stories about his house falling apart (literally), an unwelcome visit from a possum, his kids “raging” while playing video games, and much more. He shares his struggle with illness, for which he had to undergo multiple operations. He gives his views on subjects from politics to the paranormal. He discusses his experiences as a writer, and includes excerpts from a few of his plays. The whole is doused in the author's own personal blend of humor, and you often find yourself wanting to laugh and cry at the same time. It is a highly personal piece of work that makes you remember to keep laughing through thick and thin, appreciate your loved ones, and hold onto every precious moment in life.

This book is absolutely hilarious. I know there are passages I’m going to read again, and it really makes me want to start following Petti’s blog. I would find myself chuckling at a joke well after I had put the book down. Even when writing about sad, even tragic parts of his life, Petti somehow manages to hang on to his sense of humor. Also, I love how real the book is. It’s not a big success story, it’s not about the rich and famous – it’s a normal person telling you about his life and thoughts, and that’s refreshing. It also makes it easy to relate to.

The main criticism I have of this book is that I felt it needed to be more polished. There were numerous typos, and as well as some grammatical errors. Also, for me, it did not read like a “book.” The fact that it is made up of a collection of blog posts doesn’t in and of itself bother me, but I felt they needed some re-working in order to make a more coherent piece of work. There was often repetition between different sections. It’s a shame, because the writing is so engaging, and it’s such a good read overall. It just needed that one extra push.

As I saw it, there were three types of sections in the book: those about Petti’s life and family, those about his views on various subjects and current events, and the excerpts from his plays. I thoroughly enjoyed his stories about his family and childhood. It was a joy to get to know him, his wife and kids, and the rest of his family. These were my favorite parts of the book. I wish there had been more of them! I had mixed feelings about the sections on his views. Some of them I really enjoyed, like his section on defending men who cry, and the one on good actors who take on bad roles. Others, however, I found out of place, especially some of those that addressed current events. They age the book instantly, which I found unfortunate (except that I LOVED the one about the Olympics so much that I don’t care if it gets out of date!). Also, some of the references caused problems for me. For example, one section was on commercials that aired in the United States at the time he was writing. I am an American, but I live abroad, so I hadn’t seen any of them. Lastly, the excerpts from his plays were unfortunately the parts I liked the least, simply because I found them very out of place. I would have understood if they had been put at the end of the book as a bonus, but it seemed odd to me to have them integrated into the text itself.

I gave this book 3 out of 4 stars. I often wanted to give it four for the writing and the stories, as well as for the way it draws the reader in. However, I had to give it three because of the points discussed above. Overall, I had a blast reading it. I’d love to see more from this author.

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Buy "Sister Mercedes and the Temple of Doom" on Amazon

[H0LD0Nthere]

Thanks for this, it sounds fun. Not at all what I expected from the book's title, but you did a great job of describing it.

[Winter]

Thanks! Yes, the title surprised me too.

[ALRyder]

Ha, kind of like David Sedaris's book, "When You Are Engulfed in Flames", and it has a picture of a skeleton smoking a cigarette on the cover. If you didn't know the author you'd have no idea it was a comedic read. Anyway, this definitely does look like a corky sort of read as well (and the title actually did catch my attention, so it's doing its job I suppose). Great review!