Get ready to have your faces melted...
An almanac isn’t a book you get excited about, is it? You might want to glance at last year’s average rainfall, I guess, just so you’ll have something to talk about at funeral receptions. There’s some good stuff about meteor showers, too, if you’re in to that kind of thing. Other than that, why would I want an almanac situated within arm’s reach on my desk?
But that was before the Catholic Company sent me the 2011 Catholic Almanac to review. I was flabbergasted—with extra flabber.
It has EVERYTHING.
Part I has big news and events from last year—and you’re thinking: that’s not good enough, Dan. In fact, you’re not just thinking it—you’re saying it, in the same voice as Vizzini from The Princess Bride: that’s not good enough, Dan! Only a fool would spend $32 on old news! It’s incontheivable!
Ah, but dear reader that is because you have failed to realize the existence of Part II: The Teachings of the Catholic Church!! You want Vatican II documents? JPII documents? O.K. then! Take ‘em! They’re right there in Part II—a big “Best Of” Vatican II, JPII, B16. There’s a glossary. Details on the Church Calendar. In two words: hot stuff.
Uh-oh! Look out behind you! Part III!!! Ecumenical Councils, current events in Church-State relations, U.S. Catholic history…that’s worth $32 clams right there, doggie daddy!
Aaaaaaand there’s a Part IV, filled with all the stats on the consecrated life, stuff on education, on Catholic communications, on interreligious dialogue…it’s amazing!
Nuttin’s perfect, though, and one tiny criticism I have is that there are a fair number of typos. I discovered some of them the first day, just flipping through the pages randomly. For instance, in the Table of Contents we are informed that on Page 616 we can find “Message for the Feast of Diwali,” but when we (the royal ‘we’…that’s why I keep writing ‘we’) flip to page 616 we instead find “Message for the Feast of Deepvali.” Granted, my Hindi or whatever isn’t as polished as it was last Thursday, so it’s probably true that ‘Diwali’ is pronounced ‘Deepvali.’ Then again, maybe it’s the other way around. Can’t be sure about that one.
All told, though, the typos can be easily tolerated considering the gold mine of stuff contained in the 2011 Catholic Almanac. Heck, I’m all ready for next year’s Catholic Almanac. Too bad it’ll be the last one ever, according to my Mayan desk calendar.
See? Right there...upper right, next to the jaguar: 2012.
P.S. The Catholic Company is also a great source for serenity prayer and baptism stuff! Hooray!
Hats off to you Dan!! That has to be the funniest book review I’ve ever read… hands down. Now I’m going to order my almanac giggling.
Thank you, Zack!
The Hindu festival of Diwali is also called Deepavali. Deep means lamp and Diwali is called the festival of lights
Ah HA! Thanks, Laryssa. I suspected there was some obvious connection like that but I couldn’t be sure. I hereby dub you TSOW’s official Hinduism Expert, whom we shall call upon from time to time as the need arises. Phir milenge!