THE SAINT I AIN'T by Bobby Johnston - Review & Giveaway

 


Bobby Johnston's little book, THE SAINT I AIN'T (Fomite) packs a huge message. It took me back to the 1970s, when I attended Catholic School. Bobby attended St. Agnes on Sycamore Street in rust-belt Ohio. I went to St. Lawrence on Montauk Highway in Suffolk County, Long Island.

THE SAINT I AIN'T is a first person narrative that is humorous, but heartbreaking at the same time. It's a compilation of short stories, that read like poems without any pretention.  Bobby is "sentenced to serve kindergarten through eighth grade" at St. Agnes. His was one of many "families drowning in quicksand" living paycheck to paycheck. He wanted to "sustain long enough (in Ohio) to escape circumstances before they consumed him." 

No book about growing up Catholic is complete without the nuns. According to Bobby, "the nuns who taught and tyrannized us at St. Agnes School went downhill from day one of first grade." It was the same at St. Lawrence. We were either considered a "liar, thief or quitter." Attending daily mass and confession were huge. Getting a gig as an altar boy was pretty cool. There were no altar girls in those days.

Bobby Johnston is a musician. I'd love to hear some of these stories put to music. Thank you for taking me "back to the day." It really isn't so awful from this perspective.

Bobby Johnston is a Los Angeles-based film composer and multi-instrumentalist. His credits include original scores for directors Stuart Gordon, Larry Clark, Laura Gabbert, Drake Doremus and Darren Lynn Bousman.

Johnston broke onto the film music scene with an unusual approach to film composition – using only acoustic instruments and performing every instrument himself. In subsequent years he has accented his process by bringing in many instrumental soloists. Johnston has composed original music for film, television, commercials, museum exhibits and major theme parks (San Diego Zoo). His music has also been featured extensively on the popular radio program “This American Life”.

His recent credits include the award-winning documentaries “Bleed Out” (HBO) and “City of Gold”, which Apple/iTunes placed on it’s 25 best soundtrack releases of the year (#13).

Thanks to MindBuck Media we have one copy to giveaway. Just tell us what your experience was like with Catholic school....That is, if you attended. We'll announce a winner soon. Good luck.


GIVEAWAY: USA only please

To purchase THE SAINT I AIN'T



Comments

  1. DonnaMarch 31, 2021 at 8:08 AM

    I did not attend a Catholic school though I grew up in a Catholic neighborhood. The church was within walking distance from my home. My brother-in-law is Catholic and several of my friends are Catholic including my book club group. I've heard stories about the ruler on the knuckles being used. I would love to read and then share this book with all of my Catholic friends.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nancy PApril 1, 2021 at 5:40 PM

    I had a religion class when I went to school in Canada that was quite interesting because we learned & drew pictures about stories in the bible. Almost everyone there is Catholic & one of my aunts was a nun but it never felt like religion to me.

    ReplyDelete
  3. bn100April 2, 2021 at 1:14 PM

    n/a
    bn100candg at hotmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Marcia CrabtreeApril 7, 2021 at 3:23 AM

    I did not attend a Catholic school, but my best friend attended Catholic schools her entire life, including college and law school. After marrying and having 2 children and deciding that she did not agree with the teachings of the Catholic Church, she decided that she would become Jewish and raise both children as Jews. All 3 of them went through the necessary rituals, including bathing in a Mikva, and both children and my friend all became bar and bat mitzvah, when they were ready and eligible. I, myself, attended a Jewish religious school for a very brief time during my childhood, but it was not a priority for my parents for me to attend, but as an adult I finally studied and became a bat mitzvah. My friend and I, and many others, all became adult bnai mitzvah together.

    ReplyDelete
  5. travelerApril 8, 2021 at 7:36 AM

    I didn't attend a Catholic school but when I was growing up we lived very close to one and I walked by this school everyday on my way home from my school. I had friends in the neighborhood who attended this school.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

HOW I'LL KILL YOU by Ren DeStefano - Spotlight

Image
  Make him want you. Make him love you. Make him dead. In Ren DeStafano's novel, HOW I'LL KILL YOU (Berkley), i dentical triplets have a nasty habit of killing their boyfriends, and see what happens when the youngest commits their worst crime yet: falling in love with her mark. Sissy has an...interesting family. Always the careful one, always the cautious one, she has handled the cleanup while her serial killer sisters have carved a path of carnage across the U.S. Now, as they arrive in the Arizona heat, Sissy must step up and embrace the family pastime of making a man fall in love and then murdering him. Her first target? A young widower named Edison—and their mutual attraction is instant.  Then something happens that Sissy never anticipated: She begins to feel protective of Edison, and before she can help it, she’s fallen in love. But the clock is ticking, and her sisters are growing restless. It becomes clear that the gravesite she chooses will hide a body no matter what ha...
Read more

INSTAMOM by Chanel Guertin - Review & Giveaway

Image
It's the influencer's golden rule: know your niche. In INSTAMOM (KensingtonBooks) by Chantel Guertin, Kit Kidding knows her audience. Kit promotes living and enjoying a childfree life in her instagram account hashtag #childfree. Kit believes women who choose not to become mothers and not to have children should not be judged or feel guilty.  But things change when Kit meets a smart and sexy dad with a daughter. She's smitten by Will MacGregor and his whip-smart darling eight year-old daughter, Maddie. Kit's picture perfect childfree life faces being turned completely upside down. You know where this is heading so I won't tell you anymore. Except to say, that INSTAMOM is about love and making life choices. It's about being true to yourself and being able to change, even though it may modify everything you once thought was true. It's a fun romcom you'll want to put in your summer bag and take to the pool or beach. Remember to always wear sunscreen. Chantel...
Read more

THE GHOST CAT by Alex Howard - Spotlight & Excerpt

Image
  A charming novel f or fans of  Before the Coffee Gets Cold  and  How to Stop Time ,  following a cat through his nine lives in Edinburgh, moving through the ever-changing city and its inhabitants over centuries Early morning, 1902. At 7/7 Marchmont Crescent, Eilidh the charlady tips coal into a fire grate and sets it alight. Overhearing, Grimalkin the cat ambles over to curl up against the welcome heat and lick his favorite human's hand. But this is to be his last day on earth…before he becomes the Ghost Cat. Follow Grimalkin as he witnesses the changes of the next 120 years, prowling unseen among the inhabitants of an Edinburgh tenement while unearthing some startling revelations about the mystery of existence, the unstoppable march of time and the true meaning of feline companionship. HERE'S AN EXCERPT OF THE GHOST CAT FIRST HAUNTING,  APRIL 1909  On the morning of his first haunting, Grimalkin felt supple and alive; more alive, in fact, than ...
Read more