Saint-Watching

By Phyllis McGinley

1969

First Published

3.78

Average Rating

243

Number of Pages

7H25M

Audio Length

Now that the saints are marching out, this charming, affectionate and often wisely speculative little appreciation by the McGinley-of-like-attributes will undoubtedly aid the laity in a spirited contemplation of the saintly parade whether to or fro. "The saints differ from us in their exuberance... Moderation is not their secret." Saints are also literal. "Give all thou hast to the poor," for the saints means just that, rather than a tax-deductible percentage. Mrs. McGinley regards the goodly company and a few that are unappealing: the humble, the aristocrats, the organizers, the gentle friends of animals, the solitary and the boisterous, the witty and austere, feminine and masculine partners. Considering the times and places and the accomplishments, the author touches on the special talents and geniuses of her favorites or unfavorites. There is a section in praise of three "unordained" saints—Florence Nightingale, Gandhi, Wesley—and what amounts to an apology for Saint Paul which softens his more misogynistic pronouncements. "Mankind needs the brave and just. All heroes appeal to us" and these extravagant heroics are modestly enjoyed and revered.

Avg Rating

3.78

Number of Ratings

5 STARS

18%

4 STARS

47%

3 STARS

31%

2 STARS

1 STARS

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Author

Phyllis McGinley

Author · 10 books

McGinley was educated at the University of Southern California and at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. After receiving her diploma in 1927, she taught for a year in Ogden and then at a junior high school in New Rochelle, New York. Once she had begun to establish a reputation for herself as a writer, McGinley gave up teaching and moved to New York City, where she held various jobs. She married Charles Hayden in 1937, and the couple moved to Larchmont, New York. The suburban landscape and culture of her new home was to provide the subject matter of much of McGinley's work. McGinley was elected to the National Academy of Arts and Letters in 1955. She was the first writer to win the Pulitzer for her light verse collection, Times Three: Selected Verse from Three Decades with Seventy New Poems (1960). In addition to poetry, McGinley wrote essays and children's books, as well as the lyrics for the 1948 musical revue Small Wonder.