The Bad Catholic's Guide to the Seven Deadly Sins - A Vital Look at Virtue and Vice, with Quizzes and Activities for Saintly Self-Improvement

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The Bad Catholic's Guide to the Seven Deadly Sins by John Zmirak

The latest installment of the Bad Catholic’s Guides examines the greatest threats to the virtuous life—the seven deadly sins. Theological and historical insights, tongue-in-cheek vignettes of history's greatest saints and sinners, and cringe-inducing quizzes entice readers to tally their scores on the virtue and vice index and calibrate to what degree they have imperiled their immortal souls. Andy Warhol, Ayn Rand, and Mother Angelica are invoked as exemplars of the best and worst of human behavior, while a heady blend of serious theology and pointed satire—punctuated by trivia, charts, and vignettes—brings theology into sharp, hilarious relief, and demonstrates that religious education need not be boring.

"Gloriously funny and massively serious - A thoroughly orthodox and sane treatment of the Seven Deadly Sins by the Tom Wolfe of Catholic apologetics. He capers through the entirety of Catholic doctrine, hagiology, literature, history and contemporary culture." - Thomas Howard, author of Evangelical Is Not Enough

"The sins he describes may be deadly, but Zmirak's prose is lively. Only gradually does the reader realize how many serious insights were packed between the laughs." - Philip Lawler, author of The Faithful Departed

John Zmirak is a journalist, screenwriter, political commentator, and writer-in-residence at Thomas More College of the Liberal Arts.  He is the author of The Bad Catholic’s Guide to Good Living and The Bad Catholic’s Guide to Wine, Whiskey, and Song and an editor of Choosing the Right College. He lives in Nashua, New Hampshire.
 

Table of Contents:

Acknowledgements
Bibliography
Introduction
Lusting for the Suburbs
Chastity: Silk Vestments and Fishnet Stockings
Wrath: Massive, Disproportionate Retaliation
Patience, for Christ's Sake
Gluttony: God in the Belly
Losing Your Temperance
Greed Is for the Good
Generosity: How to Give without Being Taken
The Joy of Sloth
Diligence: Blessed Are the Sweaty
Vainglory: The Few, the Proud, the Damned
Humility: Please Allow Me to Humiliate You
Envy: I See You in Hell
Pack a Magnum in Your Animus

 

An Amusingly Serious Look at the Seven Deadly Sins

I was rather intrigued when I first heard about John Zmirak's The Bad Catholic's Guide to the Seven Deadly Sins, a vital look at virtue and vice, with quizzes and activities for saintly self-improvement.  The book is pretty much a tour of the seven deadly sins, their polar opposites (the neurosis) and the virtue that is the balance.

This book is one that requires the reader to have a sense of humor.  If you're easily offended or lack a sense of humor, this book is likely not for you.  That said, I found this book to be incredibly humorous.  Zmirak's wit and sarcasm kept me turning the pages to see what he'd say next.  Before I give you the impression that the book is simply there to entertain the reader, let me assure you that there is a certain element of seriousness as well.  Throughout the book you will fin Full Review...

A "how to" stay out of hell book

 

The Bad Catholics Guide To The Seven Deadly Sins reminds me of the "complete Idiot" books of years past.  What made these "how to" books great was the fact they had no information gaps.  You could repair almost anything because they never skipped a step in the instructions and identified necessary parts with colors, illustrations, and pictures.  Who would have thought that a theological subject, the Seven Deadly Sins, could be written with no information gaps and be accompanied by classical and commercial art, posters, portraits, and my personal favorite, cartoons!  

 

This is the first book where I actually laughed at the Table of Contents especially chapter fourteen: Pack a Magnum in your Animus.  You have to read this wonderful chapter to realize how funny and ho Full Review...

Exploration of the Seven Deadly Sins with Humor

Mr. Zmirak has taken what some might consider a very ‘serious’ subject ( the seven deadly sins) and brought a sense of levity while still respecting the true seriousness of each topic covered in his book, The Bad Catholic's Guide to the Seven Deadly Sins.

Within the pages, you will find both some background to each vice as well as the corresponding virtue along with ample examples to really solidify things. If that wasn’t enough, there’s a quiz following each presentation of the vice and corresponding virtue just to see if you’re paying attention. Things are then rounded out with suggested activities to help us mere mortals continue to strive towards the ultimate goal of joining the saints in heaven.

The tone of the book is what some might consider a bit ‘snarky.’ That term is something that I have a Full Review...

Laugh and Learn!

Don't be misled by the title of this book.  The Bad Catholic's Guide to the Seven Deadly Sins is not written for people who want to get around the teachings of the Church.   It's funny, but not irreverent.  This book does not mock the Church in any way, but inspires and instructs the readers through hilarious anecdotes and examples from history.

 

You'll find some of the world's greatest saints and sinners featured in this book by John Zmirak.  But this is not a light read.  It's definitely a challenge to the reader.  Even the "Cosmo-style quizzes" on ethical problems are more Philosophy 102 than Trashy Magazine.  Each set of two chapters ends with hints on how to turn a vice into a virtue:

• Lust can be turned toward Chastity
• Wrath can be turned toward Patience Full Review...

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