In sum, the book tells the tale of Hendra's life and struggles, and his relationship with Father Joe.   He first meets Father Joe as a teenager after an awkward sexual encounter with a married woman.  He immediately recognizes Joe as a different cat with a message that resonates with young Tony.

Hendra recounts many of the conversations he had with Joe over the years, while bouncing back to the reality of his life as a rising (then later established) satirist.  Joe's biggest message?  Unselfishness.  This theme repeats itself in several forms, but his message that he tried to hammer home to Tony is that the key to happiness (and to Joe's heaven) is to remove the focus on oneself and even this lifetime. 

And what is hell like?  Per Joe, it is not the fire and whips and boulders, etc., it's an eternity caught up in oneself - alone, stressed, anxious, because of all the torments we place upon ourselves when we are caught up in our daily being.

My take:

- Hendra can flat out write.  Compared to some other popular books I've read recently (see The Da Vinci Code), Hendra simply writes circles around these guys.  He is clearly a brilliant guy.

- Hendra is also a major pinko left winger.  Throughout the book he spits at Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan.

- You are impressed with Father Joe as soon as we meet him in the book.  Hendra was convinced out of high school that he wanted to join Joe at the Abbey by becoming a monk himself.  Then he finds comedy and satire at Cambridge and this changes his life.  He maintains his relationship with Joe but yet Tony leads a life of drug use, marital problems, etc.  You can't judge the guy, but you can't help but wonder how a guy so brilliant (who actually found some enlightenment in the form of Joe) could lead such a life.  But Tony finally gets the message in the end (we think).

- Don't skip the Epilogue - there's an interesting anecdote/twist in there.

- Being a satirist, Hendra laces the book with humor and his wit is sharp.

- Recently Hendra's 39 year old daughter from his first marriage, came out with allegations of sexual molestation (NY Times).  You just wonder about this guy.  Perhaps this book was a means to help counter balance his heavy conscience over these incidents? 

- I would have liked to have read more analysis/detail on Father Joe, less on Hendra.  I found myself looking ahead in the book to find out when he sees Joe again.  You can't help but love Father Joe.  He is amazing.

- If you read the book, this will crack you up.  The Quarr Abbey actually has a website (http://www.quarrabbey.co.uk/).