Work in Progress

In this humorous memoir, New York Times bestselling author Father James Martin, SJ shares summer by summer, job by job, how a former paperboy, lawnmower, busboy, dishwasher, caddy, usher, waiter, bank teller, assembly-line worker, corporate tool became a Jesuit priest.

Work in Progress is a snapshot of several years--from a boy, then a teenager, and finally a young adult--of being thrown into a series of jobs that Father Martin had zero training. He never once set foot in a restaurant kitchen before working as a busboy; never stepped onto a golf course before working as a caddy; and never once seen a factory floor before working as an assembly-line worker. He almost always felt uncomfortable, unsettled, and uneasy. But, we've all done jobs we didn't love because we needed the money.

This is a come of age in the 1960s and 1970s story but not all aspects. It is a lighthearted tale for readers that enjoy personal narratives and is unlike anything Father Martin has written before. As he puts it, "This is a spiritual memoir from a different angle, then told "slant" as Emily Dickson might say."

Each chapter features treasured photos of memories and milestones throughout Father Martin's life. If you're an aficionado of snafus, you won't be disappointed. He's not the hero in these stories, more a hapless teenager who learns in each job, even the ones he loathes, something about the value of work, about what it means to be an adult, about people, and about life overall.

Work in Progress teaches us small lessons that we should all practice: work hard, be on time, don't be mean, apologize when you need to, forgive frequently, ask if you don't know something, don't misuse power, pay attention to those struggling, be kind, and listen.