Poor Souls is an account of American Catholic parish life, laced with subtle, yet probing satire, as told through the eyes of seminarian Martin Flanagan. Set in the Diocese of Covert at the Parish of Our Lady of the Poor and Forgotten Souls in Purgatory, Catholics and non-Catholics alike will delight in Hyacinth, the ever-vigilant, long-time parish housekeeper; Pastor Emeritus, Father Boniface; the irascible and irreverent Father Jack Ash; and a host of other dysfunctional souls. Beyond the sanctuary, Poor Souls reveals a great mix of sin and grace among broken believers. "An unexpected revelation of life in the seminary and parish, McMullen reveals the very human lives of Roman Catholic clergy knowingly yet lovingly. McMullen's novel is so real it will make you laugh and cry at the same time. Uproariously shrewd and marvelously told." - Doug Chambers, The Joshua Decree "POOR SOULS gives the reader a rollicking tale of seminarians and priests in their service of the church. McMullen, writing as an insider, masterfully strikes insightful chords of humor without resorting to ridicule."- Clark Gabriel Field, The Celibate "Poor Souls is unpretentious; it doesn't aim at the high drama of a Graham Greene or the fetching mystical aura of Diary of a Country Priest. The intention of the author is to 'highlight the ordinary, and indeed the sinful, as being transformed by grace into something worthy of God.' It employs the banality of everyday living to convey the Catholic element without ever resorting to signs and wonders or, worse, 'pious-speak'." - Leo Madigan, Literary Critic

Poor Souls

Literature & Fiction

McMullen, John William

Humor & Satire

Bird Brain Publishing

The Miracle of Stalag 8a - Beauty Beyond the Horror: Olivier Messiaen and the Quartet for the End of Time

The Miracle of Stalag 8A is a retelling of the fascinating story of Olivier Messiaen's composition of his Quartet for the End of Time. Set in France &amp; Germany from 1939 to 1941, Messiaen served in the French army, was captured at Verdun, and sent to Stalag 8A in Gorlitz, Germany, where he composed the great work, The Quartet for the End of Time. The enigmatic Messiaen, an avant-garde composer and also a devout Catholic, along with Etienne Pasquier, an agnostic cellist, Henri Akoka, a Jewish Trotskyite Clarinetist, and Jean le Boulaire, an atheistic violinist, become the famous quartet of Stalag 8A. These four very different men collaborated to create musical history in the most unlikely of places. Messiaen's Quartet, composed in a Stalag, transforms man's inhumanity to man with hope. Yet to the avant-garde, he was too traditional and too religious; to the traditionalists and religious, he was too avant-garde. As a result he will always stand somewhere outside of Time. The first performance of the Quartet for the End of Time at Stalag 8A in January 1941 has become, in the words of Paul Griffiths, "one of the great stories of twentieth-century music". - From the Publisher

Biographies & Memoirs

Arts & Literature

Bird Brain Productions

The Miracle of Stalag 8A is a retelling of the fascinating story of Olivier Messiaen's composition of his Quartet for the End of Time. Set in France & Germany from 1939 to 1941, Messiaen served in the French army, was captured at Verdun, and sent to Stalag 8A in Gorlitz, Germany, where he composed the great work, The Quartet for the End of Time.   The enigmatic Messiaen, an avant-garde composer and also a devout Catholic, along with Etienne Pasquier, an agnostic cellist, Henri Akoka, a Jewish Trotskyite Clarinetist, and Jean le Boulaire, an atheistic violinist, become the famous quartet of Stalag 8A. These four very different men collaborated to create musical history in the most unlikely of places.   Messiaen's Quartet, composed in a Stalag, transforms man's inhumanity to man with hope. Yet to the avant-garde, he was too traditional and too religious; to the traditionalists and religious, he was too avant-garde. As a result he will always stand somewhere outside of Time. The first performance of the Quartet for the End of Time at Stalag 8A in January 1941 has become, in the words of Paul Griffiths, "one of the great stories of twentieth-century music".

Genre Fiction

Poor Souls is an account of American Catholic parish life, laced with subtle, yet probing satire, as told through the eyes of seminarian Martin Flanagan. Set in the Diocese of Covert at the Parish of Our Lady of the Poor and Forgotten Souls in Purgatory, Catholics and non-Catholics alike will delight in Hyacinth, the ever-vigilant, long-time parish housekeeper; Pastor Emeritus, Father Boniface; the irascible and irreverent Father Jack Ash; and a host of other dysfunctional souls. Beyond the sanctuary, Poor Souls reveals a great mix of sin and grace among broken believers. - the Publisher Praise for POOR SOULS "...The intention of this writer is to highlight the ordinary, and indeed the sinful, as being transformed by grace into something worthy of God. Poor Souls is a front-runner of the Catholic novel, though this is not immediately apparent because of its unpretentiousness. "So why does it haunt me and why do I want to hail it as an outstanding Catholic novel? Because the writer is an unswervingly honest professional with something pertinent to say, and because he says it with quiet sobriety without ever resorting to 'pious-speak'." - Leo Madigan, Fatima-Ophel Books "...McMullen clearly demonstrates in this book the breadth of his knowledge of Church and seminary life and mores [by revealing] all the varying weaknesses and foibles to which humans are susceptible, whether layperson or clergy." - Frost, Two Lips Reviews "...There is a realism that made me double check the genre to make sure it wasn't nonfiction. You probably know the people in this novel...." - Amanda Killgore for Huntress Reviews "...Being a priest isn't always the easy way in life. And the inhabitants of the Poor Souls parish aren't all as Catholic as Martin would wish. But God will help him, God and many, many prayers. If Poor Souls has taught me one thing, then it's that priests are human just as much as we are, but of course we knew that. It's a difficult decision to take and a bumpy road to follow, being a priest and staying one. McMullen makes you wonder and laugh at the same time...a no-nonsense book, just the way I like it." - Annick for Euro Reviews "POOR SOULS gives the reader a rollicking tale of seminarians and priests in their service of the church. McMullen, writing as an insider, masterfully strikes insightful chords of humor without resorting to ridicule." - Clark Gabriel Field, (The Celibate) "An unexpected revelation of life in the seminary and parish, McMullen reveals the very human lives of Roman Catholic clergy knowingly yet lovingly. McMullen's novel is so real it will make you laugh and cry at the same time. Uproariously shrewd and marvelously told." - Doug Chambers, (The Joshua Decree) "McMullen's tale of seminarian Martin Flanagan is a delightful read, especially in these times when many people are concerned about the future of the Catholic priesthood." - BJ Conner, (Irish Legacy) "Half of the Catholics who read POOR SOULS will love it; the other half will want to burn the author at the stake." - Bill Groves, Manager of Corporate Services, Ivy Tech Community College

From the forgotten history of 1830s Indiana, John William McMullen unearths the true story of Benjamin Petit, a French Attorney turned missionary priest, and his mission to the Potawatomi People in the Diocese of Vincennes, Indiana. Under the urging of the saintly Bishop Simon Bruté, Petit joined the northern Indiana Potawatomi tribes in 1837, a year before their forced removal west. McMullen retells the incredible journey of Petit who traveled with the Potawatomi People and became part of their history. "The deportation of Chief Menominee and his tribe of Potawatomi Indians from their reservation at Twin Lakes in Marshall County, in September, 1838, is one of the darkest pages in the history of Indiana. The farther in time we get away from this event the clearer this will appear and the more interest will be attached to the route which is consecrated by the blood of that helpless people at the hands of a civilized and Christian state: The Potawatomi Trail. "Of all the names connected with this crime, there is one, Father Benjamin Petit, the Christian martyr, which stands like a star in the firmament, growing brighter and it will shine on through for ages to come." - Benjamin Stuart, Indiana journalist, early 20th century "For American Indians the scars of injustice inflicted upon them in the past are deep, painful, and, tragically, are inherited from one generation to the next. Those injustices have become ghosts in the cultural memory of a people crying out for justice. We must fully disclose the past in order to deal with the many years and generations of unresolved grief and distrust." -Thomas Hamilton, member of Citizen Potawatomi Nation. John William McMullen resides in Evansville, Indiana with his wife and children

The Last Blackrobe of Indiana and the Potawatomi Trail of Death

History

Americas

In LOST SOULS, full of satire and folly, author John William McMullen sees what we rarely want to see: life without love or grace. These are not necessarily tales of morality, but if one is stricken with the realization that certain characters have no conscience, then congratulate yourself because your conscience is not quite dead yet. But be prepared: some of these stories are delightfully dark. McMullen's writing attempts to see all things through the prism of grace, which is far more merciful than human judgment. His view of American life in the United States takes on political expediency, unbridled capitalism, sexual promiscuity, loneliness in the midst of overwhelming social networking, love and marriage, adults who have never negotiated a path out of adolescence, and draws out narcissism, neuroses, fear, religious fervor and just plain human stupidity with an impish grin. These stories illuminate, if not entertain, by revealing the sublimely ridiculous or the ridiculously sublime. - The Publisher

Lost Souls

Roman Unparalleled Outrage

ROMAN is a tale set in the often neglected and complicated era of American history during the 1840s where a xenophobic public finds itself at odds with the increasing numbers of Irish and German Catholic immigrants washing ashore. Meanwhile, in the frontier town of Evansville, Indiana, an Alsatian missionary priest, the Rev. Roman Weinzoepfel, is charged with the rape of one of his parishioners while hearing her confession. The year: 1842.

Religion & Spirituality

Christian Books & Bibles

AuthorHouse

2084

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by McMullen, John William. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by McMullen, John William

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by McMullen, John William. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Poor Souls

The Miracle of Stalag 8a - Beauty Beyond the Horror: Olivier Messiaen and the Quartet for the End of Time

The Miracle of Stalag 8a - Beauty Beyond the Horror: Olivier Messiaen and the Quartet for the End of Time

Poor Souls

The Last Blackrobe of Indiana and the Potawatomi Trail of Death

Lost Souls

Roman Unparalleled Outrage

Roman Unparalleled Outrage

2084