The Bishop in the West Wing: A Bishop Blackie Ryan Novel

At last. Andrew M. Greely has had the courage to portray Democrats accurately - noble, enlightened, selfless and wise, like President McGurn - and to contrast the Republicans as the evil, vindictive election-stealers everyone knows they are.Greely smoothly envelops the reader in America the way Saint Algore intended it to be, without annoyances like conservatives that make sense (really, ARE there any?), balanced viewpoints and uncomfortable political compromises. Principles are flexible, Democrats are clever, Republicans are oafish, and teenagers are witty and wise. The book squarely hits its target audience - those who think that to become President, you should be at least seventeen.All the Democrat-boosting and Republican-bashing would ring a little false except for Greely's solid grounding in the real world. For example, when the Bishop witnesses a missle attack on the White House, he quickly writes down the license number of the fleeing vehicle. Then, he cleverly ignores the police, waits a half hour and gives it to, who else, the President's China advisor. Such episodes lend stunning credibility to the book's characters and, by extension, its politics.One flaw, however, is that Greely left out the chapter where conservatives tied the maiden to the tracks. I really missed that.This book was so good I couldn't finish it. I literally had to stop reading, struck to sheer numbness by Greely's extra-ordinary characters and story line.

I love the characters, the story, the humor (especially the "tongue in cheek"). I like that Fr. Greeley always has a lesson or story within the story (such as the informaton about poltergeist in this story). I know many people believe Fr. Greeley "makes up" much of the "outrageous" parts of the story, but I don't think so! Partially because I have read many of his non-fiction books. Many scenes in "White Smoke" came directly from his non-fiction book "The Making of the Popes 1978."I think Blackie Ryan is great and it's a crime none of his stories have been made into a movie --- this would be a great one.Of course I love all Fr. Greeleys stories and the stories within the stories!

Andrew Greeley's Blackie Ryan mysteries are like my favorite candy; there's never enough! While Grreely's mysteries aren't "edge of the seat", "nail-biting affairs", the protagonist, Bishop Blackie Ryan, more than makes up for the softer sided "who-dun-it" that he is usally investigating through his own entertainly odd personality. Blackie is drawn as a bumbling, scholarly Bishop who would appear to be "clueless" about most things going on around him. Greeley creates a countercultural Bishop in Blackie in that he is messy, wears a baseball jacket most of the time over his clerical shirt, hates a suitcoat and just gets put on end when he is expected to dress up in the full regalia of the Roman Catholic Bishop. He is an engaging and comical character that I am always expecting to be bumping into walls or falling down stairs. Yet, of course, appearances can be quite deceptive. Beneath the seeming absentmindedness, lies the eyes of a very present, keenly observant sleuth! Blackie laughs at his own schtick of appearing so utterly idiotic as to be dismissed by those around him. His style cleverly allows him to start to become "part of the woodwork". Well the woodwork always ends up with a birds eye view of what's happening in the midst of the confusion that is created as people nervously go about trying to act normal when fairly abnormal and rather strange things are afoot. In the Bishop in the West Wing, Blackie is called to the White House to investigate the presence of a ghost of sorts. The ghost in question throws tantems by tossing around objects, pitching pictures off the wall in the Oval Office, moving furniture and just creating a kind of friendly havoc. Despite the fact that the ghost seems harmless and almost playful, Blackie is called to help the Chicago-native President restore a sense of propriety about the White House and to bring an end to "spirits" roaming free in the most important house in the world. Blackie of course bumbles his way through the house, getting to know each of the people that he believes may know something about the ghost, ingratiating himself with the helpful staff and ultimately, finding the source of the White House hauntings. A fun wholesome tale, exceedingly well written, led by a man one would hope to find more often in the woodwork of the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy. Like candy, there are just never enough Blackie Ryan stories. Although, for the reader new to Andrew Greeley's Bishop Blackie series, there are quite a few of these to catch up with and I'm one reader who is fairly convinced that many will develop a very faithful following for Blackie's antic adventures. Delightful read! James J. Maloney Saint Paul, Minnesota USA

John Patrick McGurn, derogatorily referred to as "Machine Gun Jack" in some circles, is the first Chicago South Side Irish Catholic to be elected President of the United States. His move to "public housing on Pennsylvania Avenue" is accompanied by poltergeists and Father Andrew Greeley's Bishop John Blackwood Ryan (a/k/a "Blackie") is dispatched from Chicago to "See to it!" While investigating the pesky Poltergeist phenomena, Father Greeley and Blackie inform and entertain in their inimitable style with Irish wit and charm. Candidate Jack's acceptance speech, as Fr. Greeley himself admits, is "A comic masterpiece." "The Republicans, he warned, had never met a rich businessman for whom they didn't feel sorry. Nor could they overcome their deep compassion for tobacco companies and gun dealers. They wanted to protect the lumber industry, he suggested, from the incursion of gray wolves. They were eager to provide tax credits for those who owned mansions on the shores of the oceans so they could rebuild their homes farther inland before global warming inundated them. They thought it would be wise public policy to protect the mining companies from toxic waste - that is from suits based on the harm done by arsenic poisoning and other toxic chemicals. They had done such a wonderful job of being compassionate to the wealthy and to big business that they deserved every single vote from all those who earned more than ten million dollars a year." I don't think Rush Limbaugh & his Dittoheads will be recommending this book - but I do! Best line: "I am a Cub fan. It is a matter of faith."