AUGUSTINE: A New Biography

Though labeled a biography, this book on the fourth-century North African saint is better read as a complex study of the man and his thought. Eschewing a chronological cradle-to-grave narrative, O'Donnell, professor of classics and provost at Georgetown University, circles back and forth in time, starting with a vignette of Augustine preaching, skipping back to just after his baptism, then ahead to after he became a bishop and so on. For a reader new to the subject, this will be confusing, but it is all part of O'Donnell's scheme to present Augustine afresh after centuries of overfamiliarity. In O'Donnell's view, there are many Augustines, two of whom he wants to illuminate: "the one who lived and died a long time ago and the one who lives to be remade by us and is known from his works." Balancing historical detail and interpretation of Augustine's works, the book proceeds through many topics, including the Confessions , Augustine as social climber, his role in inventing Christianity as we know it and his controversies with heretics. Throughout, O'Donnell introduces new approaches—consistently spelling God as "god"; downplaying the sack of Rome—that sometimes sound authentic and sometimes just gimmicky. The book is erudite and original, but the style can be glib and the discussion too abstruse for an introduction. The result is an opinionated, insightful meditation for more seasoned readers. (Apr.)