Leah Libresco asks, “So, where should a gal go to meet some saints?” I replied in her combox, but others might have the same question. What you want, my brave and geeky friend, is the old 1956 edition of Butler’s Lives of Saints. As I told Leah: You do not want the updated (sanitized) bazillion-volume paperback thing, which is desperately bland.
The 1956, in contrast, combines piety with deadpan academic wit in a way you just won’t find anywhere. Plus: Hundreds upon hundreds of obscure early-medieval saints with the coolest names. You’ll learn all kinds of history you never knew you didn’t know.
Image via Ave Maria Press, used for this book review.
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