The Good Life

McCarthy is a masterful writer with an astute eye for the encapsulating anecdotes of our everyday lives. Digging in the garden of consumerist America, his spade roots out many economic and romantic assumptions, revealing the shallow but tenacious grip that many of those 'weeds' have on our lives. McCarthy invites us to cultivate a garden bearing real fruit, a fruit we often do not even realize we want, but when tasted, draws us on. --John Berkman, The Catholic University of America With style, warmth, and humor, David Matzko McCarthy challenges us to bring the gospel into our homes. His stories of spouse, children, neighbors, and friends help us remember that Christians can rise above personal foibles and social pressures to enjoy surprising generosity, love, and grace. --Lisa Cahill, Boston College How can we resist the empire's demand for our allegiance? This remains a fundamental question for Christian discipleship, and in 'The Good Life', McCarthy poses it afresh. But now the empire is not Rome but the market, and the arena of challenge is not the coliseum but Wal-Mart. He offers challenging wisdom to those of us in minivans who are trying to discern what God's disruptive grace means for our friendships, our neighborhoods, and our consumer habits. --James K. A. Smith, Calvin College A splendid theological analysis of everyday life for people who live ordinary, middle-class realities. McCarthy illumines everyday life with beautiful interpretations of scripture and the creed. He is clearly the best theologian today writing on the vocation of parenting and neighborly existence. --D. Stephen Long, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary Don't let the charm of his style or his mastery or the telling detail mislead you. McCarthy's 'The Good Life' is both a sustained critique of the consumerism that enslaves and a profound account of how God's graciousness can set us free. This is theology at its best. A 'how to' book about something that matters. --Elizabeth Newman, Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond A wonderful book. Rooted in Scripture, informed by the Christian tradition, perceptive in its analysis of contemporary American culture, 'The Good Life' is full of practical wisdom for middle-class Christians seeking to live more faithfully in their relationships to people, places, and things. Take up and read! --Steve Bouma-Prediger, Hope College 'The Good Life' provides middle-class Christians a rich resource for theological reflections. McCarthy writes like a pastor and has a gift for making resistance to mainstream American culture seem both necessary and possible. --Julie Hanlon Rubio, author of A Christian Theology of Marriage and Family David Matzko McCarthy is The Father Forker Professor of Catholic Social Teaching and an associate professor of theology at Mount St. Mary's University in Emmitsburg, Maryland. He is the author of 'Sex and Love in the Home: A Theology of the Household'.