Work in Progress
Confessions of a Busboy, Dishwasher, Caddy, Usher, Factory Worker, Bank Teller, Corporate Tool, and Priest
by James Martin, SJ
HarperOne, 2026. 352 pages.
Review written June 11, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review
I just finished reading a book by the same author about the life of Jesus – in the context of the author’s trip to the Holy Land. It was packed full of spiritual insights and meaningful applications from the Bible and blessed me on every page. This book was completely different.
Don’t get me wrong – Fr. Martin is a great writer, and I enjoyed this book thoroughly. But it’s a memoir about growing up in Philadelphia – and all the different jobs he tried and what he learned from them. Yes, there’s some wisdom along the way (mostly what he didn’t learn as a kid) – but this is a just plain fun story.
The subtitle gives you a hint at the variety of jobs he covers. And he tells about them with a full dose of humor at the kid he was, doing good work, but mainly wanting to have a good time.
I enjoyed the stories – beginning with when the Bicentennial Wagon Train went by the Ice Cream Inn where he was working, he cleared all the tables while the customers were out watching it, not realizing what was going on. Fr. Martin is apparently only a few years older than me, so I remembered being young during those same years.
Honestly, there were few hints that this kid – who he freely admits was partying, drinking, and smoking pot – would end up becoming a priest. He covers that calling in the last chapter, and yes, we get some spiritual insights to go with the fun there.
But mainly this is a story of student jobs in the America of the 70s and 80s – in the hands of a skilled and personable writer. A lot of fun to relive the escapades with him.
Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Nonfiction/work_in_progress.html
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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.
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