James O'Donnell Reviews

Added September 26, 2005

Walking with Arthur

Finding God on My Way to New York

Author: James O'Donnell
Publisher: Northfield Publishing
Available At: Bookstores Everywhere
Publishing Date: February 2005
Genre: Nonfiction: Biography/Memoir/Christian
Format: Trade Paperback
Price: $12.99
ISBN: 1-881273-67-9
Reviewer: Phillip Tomasso III

Walking With Arthur is a memoir. It is the testimony of James O'Donnell in basic and simple forms. This taut tale shows how God turned a disciple, Arthur, into a disciple-maker. That in and of itself is powerful and shows a purpose to the writing of this book. But it doesn't stop there. No. The cycle continues. God then uses the author, a new disciple, making him a disciple-maker.

James O'Donnell was a man who had it all. He was wealthy and married with children. Clearly he was on a road toward effortlessly achieving continued success. However all of this was about to change. The year 1984 was that pivotal year which turned his world, his life and his soul up on end. It sounds harsh, but was actually the best thing that could have happened.

Though the book centers on a growing relationship with a man named Arthur, I find the main story of the book to be about much, much more. Armed with an Ivy League education, James worshiped money, power and connections to the point of blurred or blinded vision. What he thought he would be best was to divorce his wife. And then he met Arthur.

Through a casual beginning, meeting on the way to work, making small talk, and slowly getting to know one another, James is almost perplexed at the openness with which Arthur expresses his thoughts, feelings and otherwise personal emotions. This genuineness that Arthur exhibits disarms James to the point of vulnerability. And then Arthur almost blows it when he begins including God and his faith in their talks.

Arthur almost blows the friendship, but doesn't, even after extending a number of invitations allowing James to join in Bible studies and a three-day men's retreat. The retreat, Tres Dias, was where Arthur first began a relationship with the Lord only months before meeting James. And it is at this same retreat where James experiences God first-hand. From that point on James realizes his life is not what it should be. That he no longer wants to divorce his wife, and that he wants to be the father his children need. None of the change happens over night, but James is aware of the truth that he cannot continue on in the role he once played.

Walking With Arthur ends on a powerful note. Throughout the book, James credits Arthur for helping lead him toward salvation. In the brief epilogue, James allows Arthur to pen the last few pages. Humbled, Arthur admits that if he had been a writer he would have written an identical book, only he would have called it, Walking With James. The two fed off each other without realizing it.

The chapters are short. There is no rhyme or reason with regard to timeline, even within a particular chapter. The memoir is almost thrown together, bits from the past, bits from the present, and bits on the future--but at the same time, reads easy and with purpose. Though we meet and learn about Arthur and James' friendship, I'd have liked more detail. Though we meet and learn some about James' role as husband and father, I'd have liked more detail. Though we hear and learn about the importance of Tres Dias, I'd have liked more detail. What I learned by the time I finished reading the taut novel is that the book isn't about Arthur, or James' wife and kids. And neither is it about a men's retreat. This is, as stated at the beginning of my review, one man's testimony on giving his life to Christ. Thankfully he is an author who can articulate his experience so that others can read about it (and in this way has become a disciple-maker). Walking With Arthur is well written. It is as much a story about selfishness, suffering, and rejection as it is a story about love, friendship and the ultimate acceptance . . . accepting the Love God is offering.

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