num_pages: 256
description: The central characters in this stunning literary find are Mario – the “witness” of the title – and Franciscan friar Brother Benigno, the heart and soul of St. Ansgar’s, the working-class German Catholic “Dutchie” church on Manhattan’s West Side. Mario is an assistant to Brother Benigno, mornings, afternoons and weekends, through high school and up until he joins the army to fight in World War II. Those who enjoy re-creations of old New York by the likes of Pete Hamill and E. L. Doctorow will find much to enjoy in Nielsen’s rich portrait of the working-class neighborhood anchored by Stanley Street. But perhaps more compelling is the evocation of life inside a religious order; The Witness of St. Ansgar’s is as honest and deft, insightful and revealing, inspiring and cautionary as any ever written, a book that has the potential to become regarded as an enduring fixture of Catholic American literature.
language: English
title: Witness of St. Ansgar's
titlecomplete: Witness of St. Ansgar's
ratings_count: 6
publisher: Steerforth