A Monk's Alphabet

June 12, 2006
What do the following words have in common—O'Keeffe, Orchard, Oyster
? Not much apart from their initial letter, and therein lies a problem with this book of alphabetical meditations. Driscoll, a Benedictine monk who commutes between an abbey in Oregon and a seminary in Rome, claims Marcus Aurelius, Evagrius Ponticus and Blaise Pascal as his literary models (they all wrote "short, provisional essays... to provoke thought") and promises that "the many and varied thoughts come together and begin to sketch certain patterns, not created by ourselves trying to remain in control, but formed from a deeper logic." The book's introduction is actually quite fascinating. But by the time readers hit Bluntly, Breathless, Bugs
, they may be longing for Kathleen Norris's Amazing Grace
or Frederick Buechner's Wishful Thinking
, abecedarian books with fresher insights and more focused ramblings. Much of Driscoll's writing is highly personal, as if lifted from private journals; depression is a recurring theme. Though he tends to belabor the obvious and is sometimes annoyingly self-absorbed, he tells a few good stories, asks some thoughtful questions and will appeal to readers who have always wanted an unedited peek inside a monk's head. Mistakes, Monastic, Moose.